Episodic Memory
Drawing Memory Task
Also called: drawing effect, drawing versus writing, drawing as an encoding strategy
Measure the memory benefit of drawing: participants draw some words and write others over and over for the same time, then type the words they remember.
10-12 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 33
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
Measures the memory benefit of drawing. Participants draw a picture of some words and write others over and over, for the same time each, then type the words they remember.
Constructs
- Drawing effect
- Multimodal encoding
- Free recall
- Episodic memory
Research uses
- Memory and learning research on encoding strategies
- Aging and memory research
- Education research on study strategies
How the paradigm works
The Drawing Memory Task measures the memory benefit of drawing: words that people draw are later recalled better than words they write out for the same time. It follows the free recall procedure of Wammes, Meade and Fernandes (2016), who named the result the drawing effect. Words appear one at a time above a drawing area, each marked Draw or Write. For a word marked Draw, the participant draws a picture of it; for a word marked Write, the participant writes the word over and over in the same area. Every word stays for the same time, 15 seconds by default (the source allowed 40 seconds in its first experiment and 4 in its sixth). The standard list has 20 words, half drawn and half written, mixed in an order drawn for each session. Two practice words come first. After 2 minutes of true-or-false arithmetic, participants type every word they remember, in any order, on a visible timer. By default the instructions do not mention the recall, as in the source's first experiment; a setting announces it.
More about the paradigm
The main score is the drawing effect: the share of drawn words recalled minus the share of written words recalled. In the source's first experiment, participants recalled more than twice as many drawn as written words, and 26 of 30 recalled more drawn words. Drawing works with a mouse, a finger or a pen. Each drawing is kept as a pointer trace, as in the other drawing tests, and none is scored: drawing skill enters no score, and in the source's studies the benefit did not depend on it. The words are concrete nouns that are quick to draw, written for this task in each of the eight app languages; each session deals them to drawing and writing at random, so across sessions every word serves in both. With 10 words of each kind, one person's difference is noisy and is best used to compare groups. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Drawing Effect%
- Share of drawn words recalled minus share of written words recalled.
- Positive means drawn words were recalled more often
- Drawn Words Recalled%
- Share of the words drawn at study that were recalled.
- Higher is better
- Written Words Recalled%
- Share of the words written over and over at study that were recalled.
- Higher is better
- Words Recalledcount
- List words recalled, drawn and written together.
- Higher is better
- Intrusionscount
- Typed entries that name no word shown.
- Lower is better
- Practice Words Typedcount
- Practice words typed at recall; they are not list words.
- Informational
- Empty Drawing Areascount
- List words whose drawing area was left without a line, drawn or written.
- Shows the study task was done
- Delay Arithmetic Accuracy%
- Share of the true-or-false arithmetic answered correctly in the delay.
- Shows the delay task was done
Use and evidence
33 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 32% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 422 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 |
| 2024 | 10 |
| 2023 | 4 |
| 2022 | 3 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2015 | 3 |
| 2014 | 5 |
| 2013 | 5 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2010 | 0 |
| 2009 | 1 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 7 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2004 | 4 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2001 | 1 |
| 2000 | 3 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 4
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: includes some studies of drawing in art and therapy.
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means 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. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Study
- 20 words (standard; 10 to 30), one at a time above a drawing area, each for 15 seconds (standard; 4 to 40) after a 1-second blank: half marked “Draw a picture of this word” and half “Write this word over and over”, mixed in an order drawn for each session.
- Drawing
- With a mouse, a finger or a pen. Every pointer sample is kept with its time and stroke, as in the other drawing tests. No drawing is scored.
- Delay
- 120 seconds (standard; 30 to 600) of true-or-false arithmetic.
- Recall
- Typed one word at a time, in any order, for up to 120 seconds (standard; 60 to 300) on a visible timer, with a Done button. By default the instructions do not mention the recall beforehand; a setting announces it.
- Spelling
- Case, accents and punctuation are ignored, and plurals and other spellings count. In languages written in letters, one wrong, missing, extra or swapped letter is accepted in words of 4 or more letters unless the answer is another word of the language. In Japanese, kanji, hiragana and katakana count; in Chinese, simplified and traditional characters.
- Scores
- The drawing effect: the share of drawn words recalled minus the share of written words recalled (Wammes, Meade and Fernandes 2016). Recall of each kind and the number of empty drawing areas are also reported.
- Practice
- 2 words, one drawn and one written, with feedback on whether anything appeared in the area.
The words were written for this task in eight languages; no published word list is used. Drawing skill enters no score.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: the drawing_memory_recall row of the scored run, typed recall of the list, with the study and delay arithmetic rows of the same run. Typed recall has no chance level and no response is required, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Recalling no list word is flagged. Typing more words from outside the list than list words, with at least 6 of them, is flagged. Leaving the drawing area empty for half the list words or more is flagged. Blocked paste attempts are flagged. No arithmetic answered in the delay, or delay arithmetic at or below chance over at least 10 answers, is flagged. A hidden tab withholds the percentile.
Why these rules
Recall has no options to guess between, and recalling nothing can be a real result, so it is flagged for review rather than invalidated. The benefit of drawing needs the words to have been drawn and written, so many empty drawing areas mean the study task was not done. Many words from outside the list suggest the instructions were not followed, and pasting could bring in words from elsewhere. The arithmetic fills the delay so the last words are not rehearsed. A hidden tab lets the study, delay or response timers run without the participant, so a percentile is withheld after one.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Words | 20 | 10 to 30 |
| Time per word (seconds) | 15 | 4 to 40 |
| Delay before recall (seconds) | 120 | 30 to 600 |
| Recall time (seconds) | 120 | 60 to 300 |
| Recall test | Not mentioned beforehand (standard) | Not mentioned beforehand (standard), Announced in the instructions |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Drawing Memory Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Wammes, Meade & Fernandes, 2016), with the standard settings (words: 20; time per word (seconds): 15; delay before recall (seconds): 120; recall time (seconds): 120; recall test: Not mentioned beforehand). The main score was drawing effect (share of drawn words recalled minus share of written words recalled).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Wammes, J. D., Meade, M. E., & Fernandes, M. A. (2016). The drawing effect: Evidence for reliable and robust memory benefits in free recall. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(9), 1752-1776. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2015.1094494Drawing and writing words for the same time, mixed in one list, then free recall.
- Fernandes, M. A., Wammes, J. D., & Meade, M. E. (2018). The surprisingly powerful influence of drawing on memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5), 302-308. https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721418755385Review of the drawing effect across materials, tests and age groups.
Source papers
- Wammes JD, Meade ME, Fernandes MA (2016). The drawing effect: Evidence for reliable and robust memory benefits in free recall. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 69(9):1752-1776.Paradigm source
- Fernandes MA, Wammes JD, Meade ME (2018). The surprisingly powerful influence of drawing on memory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 27(5):302-308.Paradigm source
Questions
How long does the Drawing Memory Task take?
About 10 to 12 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Drawing Effect, Drawn Words Recalled, Written Words Recalled, Words Recalled, Intrusions, Practice Words Typed, Empty Drawing Areas and Delay Arithmetic Accuracy. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Drawing Memory Task used in research?
33 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 32% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 422 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Drawing Memory Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Words (10 to 30), time per word (seconds) (4 to 40), delay before recall (seconds) (30 to 600), recall time (seconds) (60 to 300) and recall test (Not mentioned beforehand (standard), Announced in the instructions). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese, with its words in the same language. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
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