Moderate-to-vigorous intensity active breaks are associated with slightly greater working-memory improvements than moderate intensity, in exploratory meta-regression¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · quant-synthesisr2·q2·i2medium
Currency · newest study 2026 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i2 Exploratory RVE meta-regression found moderate-to-vigorous intensity, compared to moderate intensity, was associated with a small but significant improvement in working memory (β = 0.25). → Melguizo-Ibáñez 2026
Evidence¶
Melguizo-Ibáñez 2026¶
Melguizo-Ibáñez, E., Zurita-Ortega, F., Tadeu, P., Ubago-Jiménez, J. L., & Alonso Vargas, J. M. (2026). Classroom Active Breaks as a Physical-Educational Intervention for Executive Functions and Mathematical Outcomes: a Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Educational Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-026-10146-3
q2 · i2 · quant-synthesis · r2
Exploratory RVE meta-regression across studies comparing intensity categories; the coefficient for moderate-to-vigorous versus moderate intensity was β = 0.25 (p = 0.02) for working memory. The design is observational between-study comparison, not causal.
"Exploratory meta-regression findings suggest that moderate-to-vigorous intensity, compared to moderate intensity, was associated with a small but significant improvement in working memory (β = 0.25, 95% CI [0.05 to 0.45], p = 0.02)."
Discussion¶
Learner Variables¶
- Working Memory — outcome: instruction changes it
Related Claims¶
- Classroom active breaks show no statistically significant effect on attention in schoolchildren — related
- Classroom active breaks produce a small but statistically significant positive effect on working memory in schoolchildren aged 6–16 — a broader claim this one bears on
- Daily moderate-to-vigorous physical activity is associated with better executive functioning in boys with ADHD — related
- Effects of active breaks on mathematical achievement are small and lose significance under Robust Variance Estimation — related
- Classroom-based physical activity interventions improve attention and/or on-task behavior in most reviewed studies of schoolchildren aged 4–18 — related
- Exercise effect sizes on ADHD functional outcomes are not related to exercise intensity, mean age of participants, or gender distribution — related
- Pooled active-break effect estimates are robust to sensitivity analyses varying within-study correlation and excluding individual studies — related
- Executive functions in childhood benefit from moderate-to-vigorous intensity and aerobic physical activity interventions — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
mvpa-intensity-moderates-working-memory-effect |
title |
Moderate-to-vigorous intensity active breaks are associated with slightly greater working-memory improvements than moderate intensity, in exploratory meta-regression |
description |
Moderate-to-vigorous intensity active breaks are associated with slightly greater working-memory improvements than moderate intensity, in exploratory meta-regression |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
weak |
newest_evidence |
2026 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-20 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — melguizo-ibáñez-2026 |
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