Episodic Memory
Picture Order Memory Test
Also called: order reconstruction task, serial order memory task
Measure episodic memory for order: participants watch a series of pictures, put it back in the order shown, and repeat the series over several rounds.
6-10 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Preview any test free after you sign up.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 79
- Evidence grade
- B
- Registered clinical studies
- 143
One picture at a time
456
What it measures
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.
Constructs
- Episodic memory
- Memory for temporal order
- Learning over repeated rounds
- Visual memory
Research uses
- Aging and cognitive change studies
- Episodic memory research in clinical groups
- Individual-difference studies of learning and memory
How the paradigm works
The picture order memory task measures episodic memory for the order of events: learning a series of pictures and putting it back together. Pictures appear one at a time at the center of the screen. They then come back in a scrambled grid, and the participant puts them back in the order they were shown, one numbered place at a time. The same series, in the same order, is shown and put back in every round, so the rounds also show learning.
More about the paradigm
The task follows the method of Bauer and colleagues (2013) and Dikmen and colleagues (2014), in which adults learn a series of pictures in an arbitrary order over three rounds, 15 pictures up to age 60 and 9 after, and each round is scored by the adjacent pairs placed correctly. Here the series holds 15 pictures and runs for 3 rounds as standard. Each picture stays for 3 seconds with no gap, and a fixation cross shows for 1,000 ms before each showing. A practice series of 4 pictures comes first, with the right order shown after it. Settings change the series from 9 to 18 pictures, the rounds from 2 to 4 and the time per picture from 2 to 4 seconds. The answer is untimed: each picture tapped goes into the first empty place, and tapping a placed picture sends it back.
Every series is drawn from the session's seed out of 30 Noto Emoji pictures of animals, objects and foods, each easy to tell apart from the others, so the order has no theme to give it away. The scrambled grid of a round never shows a picture right before the one that followed it in the series.
In the source task a recorded voice describes each picture as it appears, and each picture then moves to its own place in a row. Here nothing is spoken and every picture appears at the center, so scores are not comparable with theirs.
The main score is the adjacent pairs summed over the rounds: two pictures placed next to each other in the order they were shown make one pair, wherever they sit in the row. A series of 15 gives 0 to 14 pairs a round, and 0 to 42 over the standard 3 rounds. The pairs of the first and last rounds, the gain between them, the pictures at their own position and the time per round are also reported. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Adjacent Pairscount
- Pairs of pictures placed next to each other in the order shown, wherever they sit in the row, summed over the rounds (0 to 42 at the standard settings).
- Higher is better
- Adjacent Pairs, First Roundcount
- Adjacent pairs in the first round, after one showing of the series (0 to 14 at the standard settings).
- Higher is better
- Adjacent Pairs, Last Roundcount
- Adjacent pairs in the last round given (0 to 14 at the standard settings).
- Higher is better
- Learning Gaincount
- Adjacent pairs in the last round minus those in the first. Null with fewer than two rounds.
- Informational
- Best Roundcount
- The most adjacent pairs in one round. Feeds the quality rule.
- Higher is better
- Pictures in Placecount
- Pictures put back at their own position, summed over the rounds (0 to 45 at the standard settings).
- Higher is better
- Perfect Roundscount
- Rounds with every picture at its own position.
- Higher is better
- Median Time per Roundms
- Median time on the answer screen per round, leaving out times under 100 ms.
- Informational
- Anticipationscount
- Rounds answered in under 100 ms.
- Lower is better
- Rounds Givencount
- Test rounds given before the task ended (3 at the standard settings).
- Informational
- Rounds Plannedcount
- Rounds in the session's settings: 3 at the standard settings. Feeds the quality rule.
- Informational
- Series Lengthcount
- Pictures in the series: 15 at the standard settings.
- Informational
- Practice Finishedcount
- 1 when the practice series was put back, otherwise 0. Feeds the quality rule.
- Informational
Use and evidence
79 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 155% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 207 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 19 |
| 2024 | 16 |
| 2023 | 20 |
| 2022 | 15 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2020 | 10 |
| 2019 | 9 |
| 2018 | 5 |
| 2017 | 5 |
| 2016 | 2 |
| 2015 | 0 |
| 2014 | 1 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2011 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade B
At least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 9
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 34
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 143
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 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Pictures
- 30 Noto Emoji pictures of animals, objects and foods. Each session's series is drawn from them, in an order with no theme.
- Series
- 15 pictures (standard; 9 to 18), the same series in the same order in every round.
- Display
- One picture at a time at the center of the screen for 3 seconds (standard; 2 to 4), with no gap. A fixation cross shows for 1,000 ms before each showing.
- Answer
- The series comes back in a scrambled grid. Each picture tapped goes into the first empty numbered place, and tapping a placed picture sends it back. Untimed.
- Rounds
- 3 rounds (standard; 2 to 4), each showing the series and asking for it again, without feedback.
- Score
- Adjacent pairs: two pictures placed next to each other in the order shown, wherever they sit in the row, summed over the rounds.
- Practice
- A series of 4 pictures, shown once and put back, followed by the right order.
In the source task a recorded voice describes each picture and the pictures move into a row as they appear. Here nothing is spoken and every picture appears at the center, so scores are not comparable with theirs. No published norms are applied.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: test rounds of the scored run, one per round. The practice must be finished and every planned round given, or the session is invalid. No round with more than 2 adjacent pairs flags the session and withholds its percentile. A hidden tab withholds the percentile.
Why these rules
A session without the practice did not show that the answer screen was understood, and a session with rounds missing has a total that cannot be compared with complete ones. A random order gives about one adjacent pair whatever the series' length (on average (n - 1)/n for n pictures), and more than 2 in about 7 rounds in 100, so a session that never does better may not have been attempted. A low score can still be a real result, so it is only flagged. Each round has one right order among many, so accuracy is not judged against chance. A hidden tab lets the study, delay or response timers run without the participant, so a percentile is withheld after one.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Pictures in the series | 15 | 9 to 18 |
| Rounds | 3 | 2 to 4 |
| Time per picture (seconds) | 3 | 2 to 4 |
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.
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Picture Order Memory Test in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Bauer et al., 2013; Dikmen et al., 2014), with the standard settings (pictures in the series: 15; rounds: 3; time per picture (seconds): 3). The main score was adjacent pairs (pairs of pictures placed next to each other in the order shown, wherever they sit in the row, summed over the rounds (0 to 42 at the standard settings)).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Dikmen, S. S., Bauer, P. J., Weintraub, S., Mungas, D., Slotkin, J., Beaumont, J. L., Gershon, R., Temkin, N. R., & Heaton, R. K. (2014). Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 20(6), 611-619. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1355617714000460The adult method: 15 pictures, three rounds and the adjacent pair score.
- Bauer, P. J., Dikmen, S. S., Heaton, R. K., Mungas, D., Slotkin, J., & Beaumont, J. L. (2013). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 78(4), 34-48. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12033Pictures in an arbitrary order, learned over repeated rounds.
- Hurlstone, M. J., Hitch, G. J., & Baddeley, A. D. (2014). Memory for serial order across domains: An overview of the literature and directions for future research. Psychological Bulletin, 140(2), 339-373. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0034221How people remember the order of verbal, visual and spatial items.
Source papers
- Dikmen SS, Bauer PJ, Weintraub S, Mungas D, Slotkin J, Beaumont JL, Gershon R, Temkin NR, Heaton RK (2014). Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society, 20(6):611-619. doi:10.1017/S1355617714000460Paradigm source, Adults
- Bauer PJ, Dikmen SS, Heaton RK, Mungas D, Slotkin J, Beaumont JL (2013). Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 78(4):34-48. doi:10.1111/mono.12033Paradigm source, Children and adults
- Hurlstone MJ, Hitch GJ, Baddeley AD (2014). Memory for serial order across domains: an overview of the literature and directions for future research. Psychological Bulletin, 140(2):339-373. doi:10.1037/a0034221Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Picture Order Memory Test take?
About 6 to 10 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?
Adjacent Pairs, Adjacent Pairs, First Round, Adjacent Pairs, Last Round, Learning Gain, Best Round, Pictures in Place, Perfect Rounds, Median Time per Round, Anticipations, Rounds Given, Rounds Planned, Series Length and Practice Finished. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Picture Order Memory Test used in research?
79 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 155% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 207 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Picture Order Memory Test have?
In the published research, 9 papers report its test-retest reliability and 143 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade B in the ConductCognition test census).
Which settings can a researcher change?
Pictures in the series (9 to 18), rounds (2 to 4) and time per picture (seconds) (2 to 4). 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. 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.
Run this test in your next study
Start free with 10 free participants on any test, then use participant credits or a yearly plan.