Grid Recall

Grid Recall is based on the Visual Patterns Test (Della Sala and colleagues, 1997), a measure of visual short-term memory. A set of cells lights up across a grid all at once; you then reproduce the pattern by tapping those cells. Unlike a sequence task, order does not matter — it is the spatial configuration you must hold.

Cognitive domain: Spatial Memory

A pattern of lit cells appears briefly in a 5×5 grid — memorize which cells were on. The grid clears; tap the cells you saw, in any order. Reproduce it correctly and the next pattern adds another cell. One wrong cell ends the round.

Your score is the largest pattern you reproduce correctly — your visual span in cells. On the MindSprint scale, around 12 cells is top-tier. Each level adds a cell, so your score is how much visual detail you can hold at one glance.

• See the pattern as a shape, not a list of separate cells.
• Break it into clusters or lines and remember those.
• Tap confidently — hesitation does not add accuracy here.
• Use the grid edges and corners as anchors for positions.

What is the Visual Patterns Test?

A visual short-term memory test where you recall which cells in a grid were filled — order-independent.

How is it different from a sequence?

Here the whole pattern is shown at once and order does not matter; sequence tasks test order.

What is a typical span?

Visual spans vary, but holding a dozen cells is strong performance.