What the memory test asks you to do
A grid appears with some of its tiles filled. You study it, either for five seconds or for as long as you like. The tiles then disappear, and you select the squares you remember. You can change your mind and clear a selection before you check it. A session is five patterns.
The grid and the pattern grow with the difficulty: three by three with three tiles, four by four with five tiles, or five by five with eight tiles. Accuracy is the correct tiles divided by the pattern tiles plus any extra squares you picked, so selecting widely to cover your guesses costs you.
What it measures, and what it does not
It measures visual short term memory: how much of a layout you can hold for a few seconds and place again. It is about positions, not words, faces, names or events. A good score here says nothing about whether you will remember where you parked.
A high tile accuracy also does not mean you remembered the tiles. Many people remember a shape instead and read the squares off it. That is the method this guide suggests. The score counts tiles either way, so it cannot tell you which one you used.
Where the numbers come from
Luck and Vogel measured the capacity of visual working memory in 1997. They found that people could retain information about only four colors or four orientations at one time (Nature, 390, 279 to 281).
The same study found that four objects carrying two features each were held as well as four objects carrying one, so visual memory appears to store whole objects rather than loose features. So a cluster of filled tiles that you can see as one shape may be easier to hold than the same tiles scattered.
Nelson Cowan's 2001 review of short term memory reaches a similar size from a different direction: about four chunks, once grouping and rehearsal are blocked (Behavioral and Brain Sciences). Five tiles is already more than that, which is why the shape matters more than the count.
How to practice it here
Look for a shape before you look at squares. A row, a corner, an L, two pairs. Name it once in your head. When the grid comes back, place the shape first and then read the squares off it.
Use the unlimited study time until the naming habit is automatic, then switch to five seconds. Start with the visual memory practice. Its lesson is Remember patterns in groups, which teaches exactly this method.
Related practices on this site
- Sequence memory. The same grid, but the order matters too.
- Go-board memory. Two colors of stone on a larger board.
- Card memory. Rows or a full deck, rebuilt in order.
Questions people ask
What is a visual memory test?
A visual memory test shows a layout for a short time and asks you to rebuild it from memory. The one on this site shows a grid with some tiles filled. You study it, the tiles disappear, and you select the same squares again. It measures visual short term memory for positions, not memory for words, faces, names or events.
How many things can visual memory hold at once?
About four, in the research this guide cites. Luck and Vogel found in 1997 that people could hold only four colors or four orientations at one time. Four objects with two features each were held as well as four with one, so visual memory seems to store whole objects. Cowan's 2001 review reaches a similar figure: about four chunks.
How do you remember a grid pattern?
Look for a shape before you look at squares: a row, a corner, an L or two pairs. Name it once in your head. When the grid comes back, place the shape first and read the squares off it. A cluster of tiles that reads as one shape is often easier to hold than the same tiles scattered across the grid.
Is there one test that measures all of memory?
No. There is no single memory test, and each one covers a different kind of memory. A test of positions on a grid says nothing about memory for names, events or where you parked. The test on this site measures one kind: visual short term memory for a layout, held for a few seconds.
How is the visual memory test scored here?
Accuracy is the correct tiles divided by the pattern tiles plus any extra squares you picked, so selecting widely to cover your guesses costs you. A session is five patterns. The grid grows with the difficulty: three by three with three tiles, four by four with five tiles, or five by five with eight tiles.