Working Memory
Star Places Game
Also called: spatial memory game for children, block-tapping game for children, preschool spatial span game, location memory game
Measure visuospatial working memory in children aged 3 to 6. Stars show on a board, the screen goes blank, and children tap the places where the stars were.
4-8 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
- 514
- Evidence grade
- B
- Registered clinical studies
- 181
Figures for the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, the published test this game is compared with.
How these are countedWhat it measures
Measures visuospatial working memory in children aged 3 to 6, with an adult reading the screens aloud. Stars show on a board for 5 seconds, the screen is blank for 4 seconds, and the child taps the places where the stars were. The number of stars grows by one while the child gets at least 3 of 5 trials right. The main score is the levels passed, with a fifth of a point for each trial right in the first level not passed.
Constructs
- Visuospatial working memory
- Spatial memory span
- Memory for places
- Early executive function
Research uses
- Research on visuospatial working memory in early childhood
- Developmental research on memory for places in children aged 3 to 6
- Preschool and kindergarten education research
How the paradigm works
The Star Places Game measures visuospatial working memory in children aged 3 to 6. It is a game in the family of the Corsi block-tapping test, in which a person sees some places marked and taps them after a delay. Nine places lie on a board as blue discs. Stars take the place of some of the discs for 5 seconds, the screen is then blank for 4 seconds, and the board comes back with all nine places as discs. The child taps the places where the stars were, in any order. Unlike the Corsi test, which asks for the blocks in the order they were shown, the game shows the places together and asks for the set.
More about the paradigm
An adult reads each screen aloud. A demonstration and two practice trials of one star come first, and practice shows the right places again with a tick or a cross. In the scored part, level 1 shows 1 star, level 2 shows 2 stars, and so on up to level 7. Each level has 5 trials with different sets of places, shown with no feedback and no time limit. The next level opens when 3 or more of the 5 trials are right, and the game stops after the first level that falls short.
The main score is the points: 1 for each level passed in a row, plus a fifth of a point for each trial right in the first level not passed, from 0 to 7. It takes the form of the point score in Howard and Melhuish (2017), with this game's own counts of 5 trials a level and 3 right to pass. The game also reports the highest level passed and the trials right. The game look adds a small face on each disc and star and a soft background. The plain look draws the same board on a white screen. Both looks keep the same colors, shapes, sizes and places, and the researcher chooses the look for a study.
This game is a new measure in the family of the Corsi Block-Tapping Test. The paper counts and grades on this page are those of the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, the published test the game is compared with, not the game's own. The game's own reliability and norms come from use, so a retest 7 to 28 days later is recommended. Scores are research measures, and a child's result is not ranked against other children.
Scores
- Pointspoints
- 1 point for each level passed in a row, plus a fifth of a point for each trial right in the first level not passed, from 0 to 7.
- Higher is better
- Highest Level Passedcount
- The highest level passed in a row from level 1, where a level is passed with 3 or more of its 5 trials right. 0 when level 1 was not passed.
- Higher is better
- Trials Rightcount
- Trials in which the child tapped exactly the places where the stars were, over all the levels played.
- Higher is better
Use and evidence
514 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 46% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 52 of 582 test families in our census. These counts belong to the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, the published test this game is compared with. This game is a new measure, so its own reliability and norms come from use. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 122 |
| 2024 | 105 |
| 2023 | 116 |
| 2022 | 91 |
| 2021 | 80 |
| 2020 | 91 |
| 2019 | 69 |
| 2018 | 74 |
| 2017 | 57 |
| 2016 | 61 |
| 2015 | 46 |
| 2014 | 56 |
| 2013 | 31 |
| 2012 | 35 |
| 2011 | 23 |
| 2010 | 24 |
| 2009 | 22 |
| 2008 | 21 |
| 2007 | 19 |
| 2006 | 16 |
| 2005 | 16 |
| 2004 | 11 |
| 2003 | 10 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2001 | 15 |
| 2000 | 7 |
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
- 20
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 95
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 181
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.
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 the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, the published test this game is compared with, not the game's own.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Board
- 9 places on a board, drawn as blue discs. A star is an orange five-pointed star that takes the place of a disc. The orange and the blue come from a palette for color-blind readers, and the star and the disc also differ in outline. The child taps the places themselves and never drags.
- Levels
- Level 1 shows 1 star, level 2 shows 2 stars, and so on up to level 7 with 7 stars. Each level has 5 trials, each with a different set of places.
- Timing
- The stars show for 5 seconds and the screen is then blank for 4 seconds. The board then comes back and the child taps the places where the stars were, in any order. There is no time limit for answers, and a tap sooner than 200 ms after the board comes back is not taken as an answer. The child's speed is not scored.
- Next level
- The next level opens when 3 or more of the 5 trials are right. The game stops after the first level that falls short, or after level 7.
- Practice
- A demonstration and 2 practice trials of one star come first. Practice shows the right places again, with a tick or a cross and a line of text; scored trials show nothing.
- Looks
- The game look adds a small face on each disc and star and a soft background, and the plain look draws the same board on white. Colors, shapes, sizes and places are the same in both. The researcher chooses the look for a study; the default is the game look.
- Score
- The main score is the points: 1 for each level passed in a row, plus a fifth of a point for each trial right in the first level not passed, from 0 to 7. It takes the form of the point score in Howard and Melhuish (2017), with this game's own counts of 5 trials a level and 3 right to pass. The game also reports the highest level passed and the trials right. No percentile is computed.
A new game in the family of the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, not a version of it: the Corsi test asks for the blocks in the order they were shown, and this game shows the places together and asks for them in any order. The game's own reliability and norms come from use, and a retest 7 to 28 days later is recommended.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: star_places_game test trials from the scored run, graded from the places shown and tapped. Practice, the demonstration, trials with a hidden tab and trials in which the window changed size (a tablet turned) are left out. A set of places recalled has no meaningful chance level, so accuracy is not judged against chance; answers have no time limit, so nothing can be missed. A session with no trial right is flagged. A hidden tab withholds the percentile.
Why these rules
A random set of places matches the shown set with a probability of 1 in 9 at level 1 and 1 in 36 or less at every later level, so chance is not a useful bar, and a floor score can be a real result for a young child. A hidden tab lets the study, delay or response timers run without the participant, so a percentile is withheld after one. A session with no trial right is flagged for review because the child may not have understood the game; that is a ConductScience choice, not a published limit. No check for one answer repeated is made: that check needs 12 answers, a level has only 5 trials, and the sets of different levels differ in size, so it could never apply.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Game | Game, Plain |
Every plan can change the look, which never changes how a result is scored.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops and tablets. 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 Star Places Game in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Howard & Melhuish, 2017; Kessels et al., 2000), with the standard settings (look: Game). The main score was points (1 point for each level passed in a row, plus a fifth of a point for each trial right in the first level not passed, from 0 to 7).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Howard, S. J., & Melhuish, E. (2017). An Early Years Toolbox for assessing early executive function, language, self-regulation, and social development: Validity, reliability, and preliminary norms. Journal of Psychoeducational Assessment, 35(3), 255-275. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734282916633009A tablet sticker-memory task for children aged 2.5 to 5: stickers shown for 5 seconds, a blank of 4 seconds, then the child taps where they were. Also its point score, and how it relates to the NIH Toolbox List Sorting task.
- Kessels, R. P. C., van Zandvoort, M. J. E., Postma, A., Kappelle, L. J., & de Haan, E. H. F. (2000). The Corsi Block-Tapping Task: Standardization and normative data. Applied Neuropsychology, 7(4), 252-258. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15324826AN0704_8The standard block-tapping test of visuospatial span for adults, and its standardized administration.
Source papers
Questions
How long does the Star Places Game take?
About 4 to 8 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops and tablets. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Points, Highest Level Passed and Trials Right. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Corsi Block-Tapping Test used in research?
These counts belong to the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, the published test this game is compared with. This game is a new measure, so its own reliability and norms come from use. 514 papers from 2021 to 2025 name the task in their title or abstract, up 46% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 52 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade B). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Corsi Block-Tapping Test have?
These counts belong to the Corsi Block-Tapping Test, the published test this game is compared with. This game is a new measure, so its own reliability and norms come from use. In the published research, 20 papers report the task's test-retest reliability and 181 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade B in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Look (Game, Plain). Every plan can change the look, which never changes how a result is scored.
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.
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