Skip to content
One Quick Try

Sequence Memory Test

Tiles light up one at a time. Tap them back in the same order. Each round is a new sequence, one tile longer.

Type
Memory
Takes
about 1-3 min
Result in
tiles

Sequence Memory

~1-3 min

  1. Tiles light up one at a time. Watch the order.
  2. Then tap the same tiles in the same order.
  3. Each round is a new sequence, one tile longer. One wrong tap ends the run.

Try saying the positions to yourself, or tracing the path.

Your result: — tiles

How it's measured
  • Visual Memory

    Remember which tiles lit up.~2 min
  • Digit Span

    Repeat the digits, forward or backward.~2-4 min
  • Object Location

    Put each object back where it was.~2-4 min
  • Verbal Memory

    Seen this word before, or new?~1-3 min
  • Trail Making

    Connect the circles in order: 1-2-3, or 1-A-2-B.~1-2 min
  • Object Tracking

    Keep your eyes on the marked dots.~2 min

How does the sequence memory test work?

Nine tiles sit in a 3×3 grid. They light up one at a time in a sequence; when it ends, tap the same tiles in the same order. If you get it right, a new random sequence plays, one tile longer than the last. One wrong tap ends the run. Each tile stays lit for 450 milliseconds with a 200-millisecond gap, and no tile lights twice in the same sequence until it is longer than nine.

How is your result calculated?

Your result is the length of the longest sequence you repeated without a mistake. Getting to round 8 and missing there means a result of 7. Tapping is not timed.

What does a sequence memory test measure?

It measures how many places in a row you can hold in mind and replay in order: spatial short-term memory for sequences. The idea comes from the Corsi block-tapping test, described by Philip Corsi in 1972, in which an examiner taps a series of nine wooden blocks and the person repeats it. This version runs on a regular grid in your browser, so Corsi norms are only a rough guide to it.

How to remember longer sequences

  • See the shape of the path. A sequence often traces a zigzag or a loop. Remembering the shape is easier than remembering single tiles.
  • Name the tiles. Numbering them 1 to 9 like a phone keypad and saying the numbers to yourself turns a spatial task into a verbal one, which some people find easier.
  • Split it into short pieces. Every round is a fresh sequence, so nothing carries over. Hold a long one as two or three short paths of three or four tiles each.

What this test does not measure

It measures your longest sequence in one run, on your device. It isn't a memory assessment and says nothing about dementia or any other condition. For memory for a whole pattern at once, try the Visual Memory Test; for sequences of numbers, the Digit Span Test.

Questions

What is the average sequence memory score?
About 5 when every round is a new sequence, as here. In a 2024 study of 340 adults aged 21 to 89 doing the Corsi block test, which works this way, the average span was 5.0, higher for younger people. Human Benchmark's test differs: each round replays the last sequence plus one tile, and its chart's middle score is 9 (read 13 October 2026).
Is this the Corsi block test?
It follows the same design: a new sequence of places each round, one longer each time, with no place used twice in a sequence. The Corsi test uses nine wooden blocks in irregular positions and an examiner; this version uses a 3×3 grid on a screen.
Can the same tile light up more than once?
Not within one sequence of up to nine tiles: each tile is used once. Longer sequences reuse tiles, but never twice in a row, so each flash is a separate step you can see.
Does speed matter?
No. Only the order of your taps counts. Take as long as you need.
What is the difference between sequence memory and visual memory?
Sequence memory is about order: which place came first, second and third. Visual memory, in the Visual Memory Test, is about a whole pattern shown at once.