Memory tests
These memory tests show how much you can hold in mind at once, using numbers, patterns and words.
- Number memory testFind out how many digits you can hold in mind.
- Visual memory testFind out how many squares you can remember on a growing grid.
- Sequence memory testFind out how long a sequence of lit squares you can repeat.
- Verbal memory testFind out how many words you can tell apart as seen or new.
- Chimp memory testFind out how many numbers you can remember after they vanish.
- Stroop testFind out how well you can ignore a word while you name its colour.
What memory tests measure
Most memory tests on this site look at short-term memory: how many digits, positions or words you can keep in mind for a few seconds. Each test gets a little harder as you go, and it ends when you can no longer keep up. Your result is the longest stretch you managed.
None of them says anything about how well you remember your life, your studies or your name. They are small, focused tasks.
Why results change
How well you remember depends on how rested you are, how closely you are paying attention and what is going on around you. A noisy room or a message arriving can cost you a level.
Try again in a quiet moment before you decide what your result says. One bad day is not a trend.
Sleep matters more than most people expect, because a rested mind holds more. If you are curious, take a test in the morning and again in the evening, and look at the difference between the two.
A few ways to remember more
People who remember long numbers usually group them into chunks, such as three or four digits at a time, and say them quietly to themselves. For patterns, try to see a shape or a path rather than separate squares.
These are habits you can practise, and your own results will show whether they help.
Which test to start with
The tests differ in what they ask you to hold in mind: digits, positions on a grid, a sequence of lit squares or words you have seen before. Try one that sounds fun and then another. Each takes only a few minutes, you can take them in any order, and none of them is a measure of how clever you are.
What the studies say
In a careful study of 763 adults, most could repeat between 5 and 7 spoken digits[1]. With long practice and a memory technique, one student raised his span from 7 to 79 digits[2]. Our Facts articles explain memory span, why a chimpanzee beat students at a memory test and what the Stroop test shows.
Sources
- Woods, D. L., Kishiyama, M. M., Yund, E. W., Herron, T. J., Edwards, B., Poliva, O., Hink, R. F., & Reed, B. (2011). Improving digit span assessment of short-term verbal memory. Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 33(1), 101–111.doi:10.1080/13803395.2010.493149
n = 763; Community volunteers in Rotorua, New Zealand, aged 18 to 65 (mean age 46.5), a random selection of residents - Ericsson, K. A., Chase, W. G., & Faloon, S. (1980). Acquisition of a memory skill. Science, 208(4448), 1181–1182.doi:10.1126/science.7375930
One student, trained in the laboratoryAbstract: "After more than 230 hours of practice in the laboratory, a subject was able to increase his memory span from 7 to 79 digits. His performance on other memory tests with digits equaled that of memory experts with lifelong training. With an appropriate mnemonic system, there is seemingly no limit to memory performance with practice."
(read on 2026-10-06: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/7375930/)