Sequence Memory Test
How many patterns can you remember?
How to Play
Your score is the longest sequence you can recall.
What is the Sequence Memory Test?
The sequence memory test lights up a pattern of tiles, one tile longer each level, and asks you to repeat it in order. It is modeled on the Corsi block-tapping task, a tool psychologists have used since 1972 to measure visuospatial working memory: your ability to hold ordered spatial information in mind for a few seconds.
What's a good score?
| Rating | Score | Percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Exceptional Memory | Level 15+ | Top 1% |
| Excellent | Level 12–14 | Top 10% |
| Above Average | Level 9–11 | Top 30% |
| Average | Level 6–8 | Top 50% |
| Below Average | Below level 6 | Bottom 50% |
Frequently asked questions
What is a good sequence memory score?
Most adults land between level 6 and 8, which lines up with George Miller's famous finding that people hold about seven items in working memory, plus or minus two. Reaching level 9 puts you in roughly the top 30%, and level 15 or beyond is top 1% territory.
What does the sequence memory test actually measure?
Visuospatial working memory: holding positions and their order in mind at the same time. It is the same system you use to remember where you parked or to retrace steps through a building. The Corsi task this test is based on is still used in clinical neuropsychology.
How is this different from the number memory test?
Number memory tests verbal working memory, the system that rehearses digits as inner speech. Sequence memory tests the spatial system instead. Cognitive models treat these as separate stores, which is why someone can be great at remembering numbers and mediocre at remembering positions.
How can I get better at it?
Group tiles into shapes or paths rather than memorizing each position separately. A sequence of six tiles is hard to hold as six items but easy as two triangles. Chunking like this is the same trick memory athletes use, and it works because it reduces the number of things you store.