Most used
1-Back Task
Measures working memory by requiring participants to indicate whether the current stimulus matches the one presented N items ago.
3 to 4 minutes · Desktop or laptop
Counted with 2-Back Task
AEvidence3,210 papers, up 22%
Working memory tests you can run online
Working memory tests measure how well people hold and update information over a few seconds.
Working memory tests
24 tests
- Shortest
2-Back Task
Measures working memory by requiring participants to indicate whether the current stimulus matches the one presented N items ago.
3 to 4 minutes · Desktop or laptop
Counted with 1-Back Task
AEvidence3,210 papers, up 22% - Strongest evidence
Digit Span Test
Measures verbal working memory capacity by asking participants to recall sequences of digits in forward and backward order.
5 to 7 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
AEvidence2,755 papers, up 16% - Papers rising fastest
Corsi Block-Tapping Test
Measures visuospatial short-term and working memory by asking participants to reproduce sequences across a fixed nine-block layout.
5 to 8 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence514 papers, up 46% Mental Rotation
Measures mental rotation. Participants judge whether a turned shape is the same as an upright shape or its mirror image.
3 to 5 minutes · Desktop or laptop
BEvidence468 papers, down 3%Retro-Cue Task
Measures how much attention to one item held in visual working memory improves memory for it. Colored squares appear for 250 ms; during the delay an arrow points to the square that will be tested, or arrows point to every square, and participants report whether one square came back in the same color.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence288 papers, up 46%Operation Span
Measures working memory capacity with the automated operation span procedure. Participants check simple math problems while remembering letters, then recall the letters in order.
15 to 25 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone · Published norm
BEvidence237 papers, down 1%Spatial Working Memory
Measures spatial working memory and search strategy by asking participants to find hidden tokens in boxes while avoiding boxes where tokens were already found.
6 to 8 minutes · Desktop or laptop
BEvidence219 papers, about the sameReading Span Task
Measures working memory capacity with the automated reading span procedure. Participants judge whether sentences make sense while remembering letters, then recall the letters in order.
12 to 16 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence171 papers, down 15%Sternberg Memory Scanning
Measures how fast people search a short list held in memory. Participants see a list of 2, 4 or 6 digits one at a time, wait 2 seconds, and decide whether a last digit was in the list. The main score is the slope of response time on list length.
10 to 11 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence170 papers, up 15%Letter-Number Sequencing Task
Measures working memory with mixed runs of numbers and letters. Participants see each run one item at a time, then enter the numbers in ascending order followed by the letters in alphabetical order.
5 to 8 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence162 papers, down 15%Change Detection
Estimates visual working-memory capacity. Participants see 2 to 8 colored squares for 100 ms and, after a 900 ms blank, report whether one square changed color.
3 to 5 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence161 papers, down 22%3D Mental Rotation Test
Measures mental rotation of three-dimensional objects with the Shepard and Metzler procedure. Participants judge whether two figures made of cubes are the same object turned in depth or mirror images.
6 to 8 minutes · Desktop or laptop
CEvidence84 papers, up 25%Delayed Estimation Task
Measures how precisely colors are held in visual working memory. One, two, four or six colored squares appear for 100 ms; after a 900 ms blank, one place is marked and participants click its color on a color wheel. The main score is the mean error in degrees around the wheel, with the guess rate and precision of a mixture model at each number of squares.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop or laptop
DEvidence80 papers, up 31%Size Order Memory Test
Measures working memory with pictures of animals and foods. Participants see each list one picture at a time, then tap the pictures from smallest to largest in real life.
6 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
BEvidence76 papers, up 124%Perspective Pointing Test
Measures spatial perspective taking. Participants see objects laid out from above, imagine standing at one object and facing another, and point to a third on a circle. The main score is the mean angular error, with items not answered in time counted as 90 degrees.
8 to 10 minutes · Desktop, laptop or tablet
CEvidence42 papers, up 162%Brown-Peterson Task
Measures how fast short-term memory fades when rehearsal is blocked. Participants see three consonants, count back by threes from a three-digit number for 3 to 18 seconds, then enter the letters.
8 to 11 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence32 papers, down 6%Symmetry Span Task
Measures working memory capacity with the automated symmetry span procedure. Participants judge whether patterns are symmetrical while remembering where red squares appeared, then recall the places in order.
8 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence30 papers, down 35%Hebb Repetition Task
Measures learning of a repeated sequence through immediate recall. Participants see lists of digits, nine as standard, one digit at a time and enter each list in order; every third list is the same list, unannounced.
9 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence29 papers, down 17%Recent Probes Task
Measures interference from the previous trial in short-term memory. Participants see four letters, wait 3 seconds, and decide whether a capital letter was in the set. The main score is how much slower they reject a letter that was in the previous set.
10 to 11 minutes · Desktop or laptop
DEvidence17 papers, down 32%Running Span
Measures working memory capacity with lists that stop without warning. Digits appear one at a time, and when a list stops, participants enter its last 3 to 7 digits in order.
9 to 11 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence17 papers, down 41%Rotation Span Task
Measures spatial working memory capacity with the automated rotation span procedure. Participants judge whether turned letters are normal or mirror images while remembering arrows, then recall the arrows in order.
9 to 13 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence16 papers, down 6%Self-Ordered Pointing Task
Measures working memory with the self-ordered pointing procedure. Participants see the same pictures in new places on each screen and must choose a picture they have not chosen yet, until every picture has been chosen once.
7 to 10 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence10 papers, down 47%Keep-Track Task
Measures how well people update working memory. Pictures from six groups appear one at a time, and at the end participants choose the last picture they saw from each of two to four groups named before the list.
10 to 12 minutes · Desktop, tablet or phone
CEvidence4 papers, not compared
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.
- 1-Back Task and 2-Back Task3,210 papers
- Digit Span Test2,755 papers
- Corsi Block-Tapping Test514 papers
- Mental Rotation468 papers
- Retro-Cue Task288 papers
- Operation Span237 papers
- Spatial Working Memory219 papers
- Reading Span Task171 papers
- Sternberg Memory Scanning170 papers
- Letter-Number Sequencing Task162 papers
- Change Detection161 papers
- 3D Mental Rotation Test84 papers
- Delayed Estimation Task80 papers
- Size Order Memory Test76 papers
- Perspective Pointing Test42 papers
- Brown-Peterson Task32 papers
- Symmetry Span Task30 papers
- Hebb Repetition Task29 papers
- Recent Probes Task17 papers
- Running Span17 papers
- Rotation Span Task16 papers
- Self-Ordered Pointing Task10 papers
- Keep-Track Task4 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1-Back Task and 2-Back Task | 3,210 | Up 22% | A | A |
| Digit Span Test | 2,755 | Up 16% | A | A |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | 514 | Up 46% | B | B |
| Mental Rotation | 468 | Down 3% | B | B |
| Retro-Cue Task | 288 | Up 46% | C | C |
| Operation Span | 237 | Down 1% | C | B |
| Spatial Working Memory | 219 | About the same | C | B |
| Reading Span Task | 171 | Down 15% | C | B |
| Sternberg Memory Scanning | 170 | Up 15% | C | C |
| Letter-Number Sequencing Task | 162 | Down 15% | C | B |
| Change Detection | 161 | Down 22% | C | C |
| 3D Mental Rotation Test | 84 | Up 25% | D | C |
| Delayed Estimation Task | 80 | Up 31% | D | D |
| Size Order Memory Test | 76 | Up 124% | D | B |
| Perspective Pointing Test | 42 | Up 162% | D | C |
| Brown-Peterson Task | 32 | Down 6% | D | C |
| Symmetry Span Task | 30 | Down 35% | D | C |
| Hebb Repetition Task | 29 | Down 17% | E | C |
| Recent Probes Task | 17 | Down 32% | E | D |
| Running Span | 17 | Down 41% | E | C |
| Rotation Span Task | 16 | Down 6% | E | C |
| Self-Ordered Pointing Task | 10 | Down 47% | E | C |
| Keep-Track Task | 4 | Not compared | 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
Build a study from these tests
Pick tests from any domain and preview them before you invite anyone.