Most used, strongest evidence
Verbal Learning
Measures list-learning across repeated study and recall trials, followed by recognition questions in the participant language.
6 to 8 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
AEvidence2,503 papers, up 14%
Episodic memory tests you can run online
Episodic memory tests measure how well people learn material and later recall or recognize it.
Episodic memory tests
33 tests
- Shortest, papers rising fastest
Category Fluency
Measures semantic category fluency. Participants type as many animals, and then fruits and vegetables, as they can, with 60 seconds per category by default.
3 to 5 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
AEvidence2,471 papers, up 54% Short Story Recall
Measures verbal episodic memory with a brief narrative, free recall, and recognition questions in the participant language.
4 to 6 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
AEvidence1,038 papers, up 10%Recognition Memory Test
Measures episodic recognition by asking participants to identify studied words among matched new words.
5 to 7 minutes · Desktop or laptop
BEvidence642 papers, down 3%Complex Figure Copy and Recall
A research measure of visual memory and drawing. Participants copy a detailed line figure and later draw it from memory, on figures ConductScience drew for this task. A stated geometric rule gives up to 2 points for each of 18 parts, and every stroke is saved so raters can score the drawings too.
8 to 12 minutes · Desktop, laptop or tablet
BEvidence566 papers, up 4%Retrieval Practice Task
Measures the testing effect: how much better word pairs are remembered after a practice test than after restudy. Participants study 24 word pairs, restudy half and recall the other half with feedback, then recall all pairs after a short break.
10 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence522 papers, down 6%Judgments of Learning Task
Measures how well people predict their own memory. Participants study 30 word pairs, rate the chance of recalling each second word, then recall the pairs after a short break.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence379 papers, up 11%Delayed Recall Module
Measures delayed verbal recall and retention after an encoded word list and delay interval.
6 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence367 papers, up 21%Paired Associate Learning
Measures visuospatial episodic memory by asking participants to learn and recall the locations of patterns hidden in boxes on a grid.
6 to 8 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence332 papers, down 9%Delayed Match-to-Sample
Measures visual recognition memory by showing a sample pattern, imposing a delay, then asking participants to identify the matching pattern among alternatives.
5 to 6 minutes · Desktop or laptop
BEvidence305 papers, down 13%DRM False Memory Task
Measures false memory. Participants study 8 lists of related words, then judge whether test words were shown, including a related word that never was.
9 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence284 papers, up 4%Levels of Processing Task
Measures how the way a word is processed affects memory. Participants answer questions about each word's letters, sound or meaning, then take a surprise recognition test.
8 to 11 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence278 papers, down 20%Free Recall Task
Measures memory for word lists. Participants see lists of words one at a time and type the words they remember from each list, in any order.
10 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence258 papers, up 17%Virtual Maze Navigation
Measures spatial learning and memory with a hidden star in a maze seen from above. Participants walk through a maze our code grows, seeing only along the paths from where they stand, and learn where the star is over several starts from the sides. The main score is how directly they reach it from corners never used before.
5 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence199 papers, up 39%Mnemonic Similarity Task
Measures how well people tell a picture they saw from one that only looks like it. Participants judge pictures as indoors or outdoors, then sort a second set as old, similar or new. The pictures are emoji from one freely licensed set.
7 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence195 papers, up 40%Object Location Memory Task
Measures memory for where objects were. Pictures show in places on a board; the board then empties, and each picture is put back where it was. Scores how far each one lands from its place.
7 to 10 minutes · Desktop, laptop or tablet
CEvidence193 papers, up 24%Directed Forgetting Task
Measures intentional forgetting with the item method. Each picture is followed by REMEMBER or FORGET; a recognition test of every picture then compares memory for the two kinds.
9 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
DEvidence191 papers, down 10%Prospective Memory Task
Measures remembering to carry out a planned action while busy with another task. Participants sort numbers as odd or even, first alone and then while remembering to press SPACEBAR for a number in a yellow frame and T at each full minute, with a clock they can check.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence177 papers, down 32%Associative Recognition Test
Measures memory for which pictures appeared together. Participants study pairs of pictures, then judge whether each test pair is a pair they studied or two studied pictures from different pairs.
6 to 9 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence166 papers, down 8%Repetition Priming Task
Measures how much faster people judge a picture they have judged before, a form of memory that needs no conscious recall. Participants sort emoji pictures as natural or made by people, then sort a second set in which half the pictures are repeats. The main score is the time saved on repeats.
5 to 6 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence149 papers, down 22%Misinformation Effect Task
Measures how a description read later changes memory for an event. Participants watch a short story in pictures, read a description that gets some details wrong, then choose which of two pictures was in the story. The main score is the drop in accuracy on the details the description got wrong.
7 to 9 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence143 papers, up 15%Face-name Memory Task
Measures memory for names and jobs paired with faces. Participants study 12 faces, type each name and job, then pick each face, name and job from three.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence125 papers, about the sameRemember and Know Test
Separates recollection from familiarity in recognition memory. After a list of pictures, each test picture is answered Seen or New, and each Seen answer is marked Remember, Know or Guess.
8 to 11 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence115 papers, down 20%Retrieval-Induced Forgetting Task
Measures retrieval-induced forgetting. Participants study category-word pairs, practice recalling half the words of half the categories, then recall every word from its category and first letter. The main score is the forgetting of unpracticed words in practiced categories against words of unpracticed categories. The words are in English.
10 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
DEvidence102 papers, down 26%Word Pair Learning
Measures how well people learn pairs of words. Participants study 12 English word pairs, half related and half unrelated, and type the second word of each pair when shown the first, over three rounds and once more after a short break.
10 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence101 papers, up 3%Face Memory Test
Measures memory for unfamiliar faces. Participants learn 6 faces, then pick each from three faces in the same pictures, new pictures and visual noise.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop, laptop or tablet
CEvidence93 papers, down 19%Think and No-Think Task
Measures memory suppression. Participants learn picture pairs, then see one picture of a pair and either bring its partner to mind or keep it out of mind; a final test compares memory for the suppressed pairs with pairs left alone.
15 to 19 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence81 papers, up 62%Picture Order Memory Test
Measures episodic memory for the order of events. Participants watch a series of pictures one at a time, then put the pictures back in the order shown, over several rounds.
6 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence79 papers, up 155%Spatial Recognition Memory
Measures spatial recognition memory by asking participants to recognize previously presented screen locations.
4 to 5 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence76 papers, down 10%Pattern Recognition Memory
Measures visual pattern recognition by asking participants to recognize previously studied abstract patterns among novel foils.
4 to 5 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence47 papers, down 13%Word Stem Completion Task
Measures implicit memory. Participants rate words for how much they like them, then complete three-letter word beginnings with the first word that comes to mind. The main score is priming: stems completed with a rated word minus stems completed with a word never shown. The words are in English.
7 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence40 papers, down 27%Picture Superiority Task
Compares memory for pictures and for words. Participants study a mixed list of pictures and picture names, then say whether each picture or word was in the list. The main score is how much better pictures are recognized.
7 to 9 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
DEvidence31 papers, about the sameHidden Path Learning
Measures spatial learning and memory with a path hidden in a 10 by 10 grid of squares. Participants find the path one square at a time from right and wrong feedback, over several rounds on the same path and once more after a short break. The main score is the number of wrong squares over the learning rounds.
8 to 12 minutes · Desktop, laptop or tablet
CEvidence23 papers, down 57%
How often researchers use them
Papers that name each test, counted for our test census. Tests counted together share a bar. Counts and grades describe the published research on each task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
- Verbal Learning2,503 papers
- Category Fluency2,471 papers
- Short Story Recall1,038 papers
- Recognition Memory Test642 papers
- Complex Figure Copy and Recall566 papers
- Retrieval Practice Task522 papers
- Judgments of Learning Task379 papers
- Delayed Recall Module367 papers
- Paired Associate Learning332 papers
- Delayed Match-to-Sample305 papers
- DRM False Memory Task284 papers
- Levels of Processing Task278 papers
- Free Recall Task258 papers
- Virtual Maze Navigation199 papers
- Mnemonic Similarity Task195 papers
- Object Location Memory Task193 papers
- Directed Forgetting Task191 papers
- Prospective Memory Task177 papers
- Associative Recognition Test166 papers
- Repetition Priming Task149 papers
- Misinformation Effect Task143 papers
- Face-name Memory Task125 papers
- Remember and Know Test115 papers
- Retrieval-Induced Forgetting Task102 papers
- Word Pair Learning101 papers
- Face Memory Test93 papers
- Think and No-Think Task81 papers
- Picture Order Memory Test79 papers
- Spatial Recognition Memory76 papers
- Pattern Recognition Memory47 papers
- Word Stem Completion Task40 papers
- Picture Superiority Task31 papers
- Hidden Path Learning23 papers
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Show the numbers
| Test | Papers, 2021 to 2025 | Compared with 2016 to 2020 | Use grade | Evidence grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Verbal Learning | 2,503 | Up 14% | A | A |
| Category Fluency | 2,471 | Up 54% | A | A |
| Short Story Recall | 1,038 | Up 10% | A | A |
| Recognition Memory Test | 642 | Down 3% | B | B |
| Complex Figure Copy and Recall | 566 | Up 4% | B | B |
| Retrieval Practice Task | 522 | Down 6% | B | B |
| Judgments of Learning Task | 379 | Up 11% | B | C |
| Delayed Recall Module | 367 | Up 21% | B | B |
| Paired Associate Learning | 332 | Down 9% | B | B |
| Delayed Match-to-Sample | 305 | Down 13% | B | B |
| DRM False Memory Task | 284 | Up 4% | C | C |
| Levels of Processing Task | 278 | Down 20% | C | C |
| Free Recall Task | 258 | Up 17% | C | C |
| Virtual Maze Navigation | 199 | Up 39% | C | C |
| Mnemonic Similarity Task | 195 | Up 40% | C | C |
| Object Location Memory Task | 193 | Up 24% | C | C |
| Directed Forgetting Task | 191 | Down 10% | C | D |
| Prospective Memory Task | 177 | Down 32% | C | C |
| Associative Recognition Test | 166 | Down 8% | C | C |
| Repetition Priming Task | 149 | Down 22% | C | C |
| Misinformation Effect Task | 143 | Up 15% | C | C |
| Face-name Memory Task | 125 | About the same | C | B |
| Remember and Know Test | 115 | Down 20% | C | C |
| Retrieval-Induced Forgetting Task | 102 | Down 26% | C | D |
| Word Pair Learning | 101 | Up 3% | C | B |
| Face Memory Test | 93 | Down 19% | D | C |
| Think and No-Think Task | 81 | Up 62% | D | C |
| Picture Order Memory Test | 79 | Up 155% | D | B |
| Spatial Recognition Memory | 76 | Down 10% | D | C |
| Pattern Recognition Memory | 47 | Down 13% | D | C |
| Word Stem Completion Task | 40 | Down 27% | D | C |
| Picture Superiority Task | 31 | About the same | D | D |
| Hidden Path Learning | 23 | Down 57% | E | C |
What the grades mean
- Use grade
- A: 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025
- B: 300 to 999 papers from 2021 to 2025
- C: 100 to 299 papers from 2021 to 2025
- D: 30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025
- E: fewer than 30 papers from 2021 to 2025
- Evidence grade
- A: at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome
- B: at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers
- C: at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies
- D: little published measurement evidence found
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