How good is my spatial memory?
If you are like most young adults, your spatial memory holds a route of about six steps. In the tablet version of the Corsi block test published by Brunetti and colleagues in 2014, 73 adults aged around 22 averaged a span of 6.1 steps, and most of their 107 adults stopped between 5 and 7. Spans shrink gently with age: their group aged around 58 averaged 4.8.
This spatial memory test is the Corsi block-tapping task, in use since 1972, run the standard way set out by Kessels and colleagues in 2000. Nine lily pads sit in the classic irregular Corsi layout. A frog hops a route across them, one pad a second, and you tap the same pads in the same order. Routes start at 2 steps and grow by one up to 9, with two fixed sequences for each length. One right answer moves you up; a miss gets the other route of that length; two misses at the same length end the run. Your span is the longest route you tapped back exactly. That number comes out the same as under eCorsi’s rule of always giving both routes, so it is ranked against eCorsi’s 73 young adults, who did the same layout, sequences and timing on a tablet.
It is not an IQ test and not a check for memory problems. A span is one measure of short-term spatial memory, and a few minutes can’t say anything about a medical condition. One run is also noisy: the ranking rests on a group of 73, fitted from its published average and spread, so a few percentile points either way mean little. A phone screen is smaller than the wooden board, and because the sequences are fixed, a second run gets some practice.
What the test measures
One thing: how long a route through space you can hold in mind and tap back in order.
The task
- The Corsi block-tapping task (Corsi, 1972): nine pads in the positions Kessels et al. (2000) give for the standard wooden board
- A frog hops the route one pad a second, each pad lit for half a second — the timing used in eCorsi (Brunetti et al., 2014)
- Eight levels, routes of 2 to 9 steps, two fixed sequences per length
- One right moves you up; a miss gets one more route of the same length; two misses at that length end the run
Your result
- Your span: the longest route you tapped back exactly, from 2 to 9 steps
- Where you stand among 73 adults aged around 22 from Brunetti et al. (2014), with a second line for their 34 adults aged around 58
- Reference points on the wooden board from Kessels et al. (2008), 246 adults aged 50–92: about 5.3 steps in their 50s, 4.8 over 80
- The details: the step where each route slipped, whether a slip was a pad on the route tapped out of turn or a pad off the route, and how fast you tapped back
- Your span in everyday terms: a phone unlock pattern of that many dots, and a dance step you could follow after seeing it once
- A shareable card and a link that challenges a friend to hold a longer route; ties go to fewer misses
Before you start
- About two minutes
- Works on a phone or a computer; the pond needs a browser with 3D (WebGL) switched on
- Sound is optional: every hop is shown on the pads
- Free, no sign-up; a challenge link carries your span in the part of the address after the #
Spatial memory and Corsi test FAQ
Is this test free? Do I need to sign up to see my result?
Yes, it’s free, and there’s nothing to sign up for: no account, no email, no payment. Your result appears on this page the moment you finish, and you can share it or play again straight away.
What is a good score on the Corsi block test?
A span of 6 is typical for young adults. In Brunetti et al.’s 2014 tablet study, 73 adults aged around 22 averaged 6.1 steps on the Corsi block test, and most of the 107 adults in the study stopped between 5 and 7. A span of 8 or 9 puts you near the top of that young-adult group.
How does this spatial memory test work out my percentile?
The percentile compares your span with the 73 young adults in the eCorsi study by Brunetti, Del Gatto and Delogu (2014), who did the same layout, sequences and timing. The study published a mean and standard deviation rather than counts, so the comparison uses a normal curve fitted to those two numbers, with ties counted half. The site does not publish its own players’ data.
Does spatial memory get worse with age?
Gently, yes. In the eCorsi study, adults aged around 58 averaged a Corsi span of 4.8 steps, against 6.1 for adults around 22. On the wooden board, Kessels et al. (2008) tested 246 healthy adults aged 50 to 92: people in their 50s held about 5.3 steps and people over 80 about 4.8.
Is the Corsi block test an IQ test?
No. The Corsi block test measures one thing, short-term memory for a sequence of places, and a span says nothing about general intelligence. It is also not a check for memory problems or any medical condition; a few minutes on a phone can’t tell you that.
How is the Corsi test different from a digit span test?
A digit span test asks you to repeat a growing list of numbers; the Corsi block test asks you to repeat a growing route across a board of nine blocks. Both lengthen the list one item at a time and stop when you miss twice at the same length, but the Corsi test keeps words and numbers out of it, so it leans on memory for places.
Why did I get a different span the second time?
A single run of the Corsi test is short, so one slip can move your span by a step. The sequences are fixed, so a second run gets some practice, and a phone screen, a mistap or a distraction can also shift the number. A few runs somewhere quiet tell you more than one.
Where the numbers come from
Your percentile compares your span with the 73 adults aged around 22 in Brunetti et al. (2014), who did the same nine positions, sequences and timing on a tablet; the spread is fitted from the published mean and standard deviation. The wooden-board figures for ages 50–92 are from Kessels et al. (2008). The site does not publish its own players’ data.
- Brunetti, Del Gatto & Delogu (2014), Frontiers in Psychology — eCorsi: implementation and testing of the Corsi block-tapping task for digital tablets
- Kessels, van Zandvoort, Postma, Kappelle & de Haan (2000), Applied Neuropsychology — The Corsi Block-Tapping Task: standardization and normative data
- Kessels, van den Berg, Ruis & Brands (2008), Assessment — The backward span of the Corsi Block-Tapping Task and its association with the WAIS-III Digit Span
How the score works
Span
The longest route length you reproduced exactly, from 2 to 9. A length counts as passed when at least one of its two routes is right.
Stop rule
Two misses at the same length end the run, which is eCorsi’s stop rule. Skipping the second route after a first-try right saves time without changing which lengths you pass.
Percentile
Spans are whole numbers, so the 73 young adults are modelled as a normal curve with mean 6.11 and standard deviation 0.80, rounded to whole steps, with ties counted half. Only the mean and SD were published, so the spread on the result sheet is labelled as fitted.
No total score
Kessels’ total score (span × routes right) needs both routes at every length, so it is not given here.