Benchmark your spatial short-term working memory capacity. Memorize and repeat an expanding pattern of grid flashes on the 3x3 tile grid. How many levels can your brain hold?
The Sequence Memory test (often referred to as a Simon task or spatial span test) evaluates your visuospatial working memory. Working memory is the cognitive system responsible for temporarily holding and manipulating information in active focus.
As the pattern expands, your brain must encode each coordinates flash, retain the sequential relationships, and retrieve them in chronological order while suppressing distracting impulses.
In 1956, cognitive psychologist George Miller published one of the most highly cited papers in psychology: *"The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for Processing Information."*
Miller discovered that the average human short-term memory capacity has a fixed limit of **7 items or "chunks"** of information. This is why phone numbers are typically 7 digits long.
In spatial sequence memory tasks, reaching **Level 7** marks the transition where raw memory slots become full, forcing your brain to engage advanced encoding systems like *chunking* (grouping individual grid coordinate flashes into visual shapes, lines, or paths) to reach higher levels.
According to Baddeley's model of working memory, spatial sequence information is handled by the **visuospatial sketchpad**, a specialized subsystem in the parietal lobe and prefrontal cortex.
This system behaves like a mental whiteboard. In this test, your sketchpad draws vectors connecting the flashing blocks. As long as you can visualize the "flow path" of the line, you can recall sequences of 10 or 15 elements, far surpassing the standard 7-digit Miller limit.
The average score is Level 7. Scoring Level 8 to 11 is above average, and anything level 14 or above indicates exceptional spatial memory and trained visual chunking capability.
Do not try to remember individual grid numbers. Instead, visualize the sequence as a single drawing path (e.g. *"an L-shape followed by a triangle"*). This technique encodes multiple coordinates as a single cognitive chunk, dramatically extending your memory buffer.