N-back test online
Track grid positions and mark one when it repeats from N steps earlier.
Example
Example
An example to explore. No score or practice round is recorded.
1-back · 14 positions
One square lights up at a time. Select Match when it is in the same position as the square shown N steps earlier. The first N positions are for observation.
- Positions shown
- 0 / 14
- Active time
- 0:00
Remember each position.
One square lights up at a time. Select Match when it is in the same position as the square shown N steps earlier. The first N positions are for observation.
Explore the method
Check the required earlier position, not just whether a square looks familiar.
On by default unless you turn it off. Saved choices are kept. Shares starts, completions, replays and error categories. For ChatGPT visits, starts and completions may include the first QuickenBrain page and country. No answers, drawings or names.
How this data is usedHelp
One square lights up at a time. Keep the recent positions in mind.
At 1-back, compare with the position immediately before. At 2-back, compare with two positions before. At 3-back, compare with three positions before.
Select Match only when the current position matches the one N steps earlier. Each non-match you mark subtracts one point from the score, which never goes below zero.
Positions can repeat at other distances. Those are intentional non-matches.
Tap Match or press Space. Select it again before the next position to remove your mark.
If the page is hidden during playback, the same round returns ready at the beginning and your marks are cleared.
The changing grid is visual only and is not announced by a screen reader.
This practice is for personal training and does not provide a medical or cognitive diagnosis.
About this practice
Practice spatial working memory on a 3 × 3 grid. Select Match when the current square repeats the position from N steps earlier. Choose 1-back, 2-back, or 3-back.
One square lights up at a time on a 3 by 3 grid, a new one every 1.5 seconds. Select Match when the square is in the same place as the one N steps earlier. The first N positions are only for watching.
What it measures, and what it does not
It asks you to keep the last few positions in mind and update them at every step. Positions also repeat at other distances by chance, so a square that only looks familiar is not enough to mark. It is one task, practiced here, not a measure of memory in general.
What each level changes
- Levels 1 to 3: 1-back.
- Levels 4 to 6: 2-back.
- Levels 7 and 8: 3-back.
- Each level adds one position, from 13 at level 1 to 20 at level 8. About a quarter are real matches: three at levels 1 to 3, four at levels 4 to 7, five at level 8.
A worked example
Here are the first six positions of a level 1 round, which is 1-back: bottom center, bottom left, bottom left, top left, bottom center, bottom center. The third and the sixth are in the same place as the one just before, so they are the two matches. Suppose you mark those two and also the second. You catch 2 of 2 matches and mark 1 non-match, so your score for these six is 1 of 2.
What your result means
Your score is the matches you caught minus the non-matches you marked, out of the real matches in the round. It never goes below zero. That is why marking every position scores nothing. The result also lists the matches caught and the non-matches marked, so you can see which kind of mistake cost the points. A round you end early is scored only on the matches shown so far and is not saved.
For what one score can and cannot tell you, read the guide N-back test: what one score can tell you. The lesson Compare exactly N steps back shows how to keep count.
Report a problem
On by default unless you turn it off. Saved choices are kept. Shares starts, completions, replays and error categories. For ChatGPT visits, starts and completions may include the first QuickenBrain page and country. No answers, drawings or names.
How this data is used