Episodic Memory
Selective Reminding Task
Also called: selective reminding test, Buschke selective reminding, verbal selective reminding, selective reminding procedure
Measure list learning: after each try only the missed words are shown again, and Buschke's scores separate storing words from retrieving them.
9-12 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
- 310
- Evidence grade
- B
- Registered clinical studies
- 183
What it measures
Measures how a word list is learned over repeated tries. After each try, only the words not recalled are shown again, and the participant types the whole list each time; a delayed recall ends the test.
Constructs
- Episodic memory
- Verbal learning
- Storage and retrieval from long-term memory
- Delayed recall
Research uses
- Verbal learning and memory research
- Aging and memory research
- Research on memory in neurological conditions such as multiple sclerosis
How the paradigm works
The Selective Reminding Task measures how a list of words is learned over repeated tries, and separates storing a word from retrieving it. Participants see a list of 12 words, one word every 2 seconds, and type all the words they remember. Before each later try, only the words not typed on the try before are shown again, and participants again type every word of the list they remember: the words just shown and the others. This is Buschke's (1973) selective reminding. The standard session has 6 tries, as in the 12-word version of the Brief Repeatable Battery; a setting allows 3 to 12. The tries stop sooner once the whole list is typed on two tries in a row, and the tries left count as the whole list recalled. After the tries, 2 minutes of true-or-false arithmetic fill a delay, and participants type the list once more with no words shown. A practice list of 4 words with two tries comes first.
More about the paradigm
The words are 12 concrete nouns written for this task in each of the eight app languages, one from each of twelve kinds of thing, and the session's language picks the list. Typed answers ignore case and accents, count plurals and other spellings of the word, and in languages written in letters accept one wrong, missing, extra or swapped letter unless the answer is another word of the language. In Japanese, the word in kanji, hiragana or katakana counts, and in Chinese, simplified or traditional characters.
The scores follow Buschke and Fuld (1974). A word recalled on two tries in a row, with no reminder in between, has entered long-term storage on the first of those tries and stays there. Recall of a word in long-term storage is long-term retrieval; other recall is short-term retrieval. Consistent long-term retrieval counts words in storage that are recalled on that try and every try after it; random long-term retrieval is long-term retrieval that is not consistent. Each score is summed over the tries. The main score is total recall, the words recalled summed over the tries; the delayed recall, the number of reminders, recall on each try and words typed from outside the list are also reported. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Total Recallcount
- List words recalled, summed over the tries; tries skipped after the whole list was recalled on two tries in a row count as the whole list.
- Higher is better
- Long-Term Storagecount
- Words in long-term storage on each try, summed over the tries. A word enters storage on the first of two tries in a row on which it is recalled.
- Higher is better
- Long-Term Retrievalcount
- Words recalled that were in long-term storage, summed over the tries.
- Higher is better
- Short-Term Retrievalcount
- Words recalled that were not yet in long-term storage, summed over the tries.
- Context for the storage scores
- Consistent Long-Term Retrievalcount
- Words in long-term storage recalled on the try and on every try after it, summed over the tries.
- Higher is better
- Random Long-Term Retrievalcount
- Long-term retrieval minus consistent long-term retrieval: words in storage recalled on a try but missed on a later one.
- Higher means less consistent retrieval of stored words
- Delayed Recallcount
- List words recalled after the arithmetic delay, with no words shown first.
- Higher is better
- Reminderscount
- Words shown again before a try, summed over the tries run.
- Lower means fewer words had to be shown again
- Recall on Try 1count
- List words recalled on try 1; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 2count
- List words recalled on try 2; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 3count
- List words recalled on try 3; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 4count
- List words recalled on try 4; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 5count
- List words recalled on try 5; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 6count
- List words recalled on try 6; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 7count
- List words recalled on try 7; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 8count
- List words recalled on try 8; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 9count
- List words recalled on try 9; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 10count
- List words recalled on try 10; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 11count
- List words recalled on try 11; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Recall on Try 12count
- List words recalled on try 12; empty when the session planned fewer tries.
- Higher is better
- Tries Plannedtrials
- Tries the session's setting planned.
- Informational
- Tries Runtrials
- Tries the participant made before the trials stopped.
- Informational
- Try Reaching the Stopping Ruletrials
- The second of two tries in a row on which the whole list was recalled; empty when it was not reached.
- Lower means the list was learned sooner
- Standard Triesflag
- 1 when the session planned the standard 6 tries, else 0. Percentiles need it.
- Informational
- Intrusionscount
- Words typed during the tries that were not list words.
- Lower is better
- Repeatscount
- List words typed again within the same try.
- Context for the recall scores
- Delayed Intrusionscount
- Words typed in the delayed recall that were not list words.
- Lower is better
- Median Time to First Wordms
- Median time from the start of a try to the first word entered.
- Context for the recall scores
- Delay Arithmetic Accuracy%
- Share of the true-or-false arithmetic answered correctly in the delay.
- Shows the delay task was done
Use and evidence
310 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 2% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 80 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 66 |
| 2024 | 58 |
| 2023 | 66 |
| 2022 | 59 |
| 2021 | 61 |
| 2020 | 63 |
| 2019 | 53 |
| 2018 | 63 |
| 2017 | 76 |
| 2016 | 60 |
| 2015 | 52 |
| 2014 | 59 |
| 2013 | 55 |
| 2012 | 39 |
| 2011 | 42 |
| 2010 | 27 |
| 2009 | 44 |
| 2008 | 44 |
| 2007 | 18 |
| 2006 | 24 |
| 2005 | 19 |
| 2004 | 10 |
| 2003 | 12 |
| 2002 | 11 |
| 2001 | 12 |
| 2000 | 12 |
Use grade B
300 to 999 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
- 21
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 215
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 183
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 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- List
- 12 concrete nouns, one word every 2 seconds: each for 1,750 ms and then a 250 ms blank, switched on animation frames. The same twelve things are written in each of the eight languages, and the session's language picks the list.
- Tries
- 6 tries (standard; 3 to 12). Before each try after the first, only the words not typed on the try before are shown again, and each try asks for the whole list. The tries stop once the whole list is typed on 2 tries in a row.
- Recall
- Typed one word at a time, for up to 60 seconds a try (standard; 30 to 120) on a visible timer, with a Done button to end a try sooner. Pasting is blocked.
- Delay
- 120 seconds (standard; 60 to 600) of true-or-false arithmetic, then the whole list typed once more with no words shown.
- 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
- Total recall, long-term storage, long-term retrieval, short-term retrieval and consistent long-term retrieval, each summed over the tries (Buschke and Fuld 1974), and the delayed recall.
- Practice
- A list of 4 words with two tries and the reminder between them, then the number of words typed.
The words were written for this task in eight languages; no published selective reminding list is used.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: selective_reminding_recall typed recall of each trial from the scored run (practice excluded), with the delayed recall and the delay arithmetic of the same run. Typed recall has no chance level and no response is required, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Fewer trials than planned, when the whole list was not recalled on two trials in a row, invalidates. Recalling no list word on any trial is flagged. Typing more words from outside the list than list words, with at least 6 of them, is flagged. Blocked paste attempts are flagged. A missing delayed recall is 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. A run that stopped before its planned trials, without reaching the stopping rule, leaves the summed scores short, so it is invalid. 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 words are not rehearsed before the delayed recall. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Recall trials | 6 | 3 to 12 |
| Recall time (seconds) | 60 | 30 to 120 |
| Delay before the last recall (seconds) | 120 | 60 to 600 |
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 Selective Reminding Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Buschke, 1973; Buschke & Fuld, 1974), with the standard settings (recall trials: 6; recall time (seconds): 60; delay before the last recall (seconds): 120). The main score was total recall (list words recalled, summed over the tries; tries skipped after the whole list was recalled on two tries in a row count as the whole list).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Buschke, H. (1973). Selective reminding for analysis of memory and learning. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12(5), 543-550. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(73)80034-9
- Buschke, H., & Fuld, P. A. (1974). Evaluating storage, retention, and retrieval in disordered memory and learning. Neurology, 24(11), 1019-1025. https://doi.org/10.1212/WNL.24.11.1019The storage and retrieval scores.
- MacLeod, C. M. (1985). Learning a list for free recall: Selective reminding versus the standard procedure. Memory & Cognition, 13(3), 233-240. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197686
Source papers
- Buschke H (1973). Selective reminding for analysis of memory and learning. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 12(5):543-550.Paradigm source
- Buschke H, Fuld PA (1974). Evaluating storage, retention, and retrieval in disordered memory and learning. Neurology, 24(11):1019-1025.Paradigm source
Questions
How long does the Selective Reminding Task take?
About 9 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?
Total Recall, Long-Term Storage, Long-Term Retrieval, Short-Term Retrieval, Consistent Long-Term Retrieval, Random Long-Term Retrieval, Delayed Recall, Reminders, Recall on Try 1, Recall on Try 2, Recall on Try 3, Recall on Try 4, Recall on Try 5, Recall on Try 6, Recall on Try 7, Recall on Try 8, Recall on Try 9, Recall on Try 10, Recall on Try 11, Recall on Try 12, Tries Planned, Tries Run, Try Reaching the Stopping Rule, Standard Tries, Intrusions, Repeats, Delayed Intrusions, Median Time to First Word and Delay Arithmetic Accuracy. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Selective Reminding Task used in research?
310 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 2% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 80 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade B). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Selective Reminding Task have?
In the published research, 21 papers report its test-retest reliability and 183 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade B in the ConductCognition test census).
Which settings can a researcher change?
Recall trials (3 to 12), recall time (seconds) (30 to 120) and delay before the last recall (seconds) (60 to 600). 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.
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