Read the numbers as a path
Try linking the seven numbered places into one ordered path. Keep each stop in the path; a line is a way to organize the positions, not a replacement for them.
Look at where 1 is, then where 2 is, then 3. Draw the line between them in your head. The line is what you remember.
Before tapping, follow the route from 1 to the last number to check its order. If you lose a stop, study that part again.
The name of this practice comes from a 2007 Kyoto University study in which young chimpanzees did a task like this one.
Cut the path where it turns
A path of seven is still long. Cut it where it turns.
The first group is 1, 2, 3 across the top row. That is one movement: left to right.
From 3, go down to 4. The second group then runs 4, 5, 6 back across the middle row, followed by 7 below the start.
Try remembering these two groups and how they connect. In the One second look and Half second look modes, viewing time is brief. Start with the untimed mode to learn the method, then try shorter views if you want.
Find the shape of this board
Here are five numbers. Trace the line from 1 to 5 before you answer.
Ask what the line does, not where each number sits.
Try it
What does the line from 1 to 5 do on this board?
- It runs across the top row, then down the right side.
- It runs down the left side, then across the bottom row.
Show the answer
It runs down the left side, then across the bottom row.
Right. Visit 1, 2 and 3 down the left column, then 4 and 5 across the bottom row. Those are numbered stops, not a count of grid-square moves.
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Practice Chimp test