Cognitive tasks
Free cognitive tests online: memory, attention, speed and reasoning
Free online cognitive tests for adults: memory, attention, speed, reasoning and vocabulary, with results on the page. Not a dementia or medical test.
In short
Try free online cognitive tasks for adults in five areas: memory, attention and self-control, processing speed, reasoning and language. Each runs in your browser in one to twelve minutes, shows its result on the page with no sign-up, and explains what it measured. There is no overall cognitive score, because adding different tasks together would produce a number nobody has a reference for.
Five areas, one task or more in each
| Task | Area | Minutes | What it reports | A published figure for context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Digit Span Test | Memory | 2 | The longest list of digits you repeated in order | Adults aged 18 to 65 averaged 6.35 digits forward (Woods and colleagues, 2011) |
| Working Memory Test | Memory | 2 | Letters held in order while you judge short sums | Working memory holds about 3 to 5 meaningful items at once (Cowan, 2010) |
| Short-Term Memory Test | Memory | 2 | Words recalled after a 30-second gap | — |
| Visual Memory Test | Memory | 1 | The largest pattern of cells you repeated | — |
| Sequence Memory Test | Memory | 1 | The longest sequence of tiles you repeated | — |
| Verbal Memory Test | Memory | 2 | Words correctly judged new or seen before | — |
| Stroop Test | Attention and self-control | 1 | The slowing when a colour word clashes with its ink | An online study found a gap of 293 ms (Crump and colleagues, 2013) |
| Selective Attention Test | Attention and self-control | 1 | The slowing when neighbouring arrows point the other way | An online letter version found a gap of 70 ms (Crump and colleagues, 2013) |
| Go/No-Go Test | Attention and self-control | 1 | Presses you held back, missed signals and response time | No published figure fits this format |
| Attention Span Test | Attention and self-control | 2 | How your catch rate changed from the first third of the run to the last | — |
| Reaction Time Test | Processing speed | 1 | Your median and fastest response across five trials | A calibrated study of 1,469 adults found a mean of 231 ms (Woods and colleagues, 2015) |
| Visual Search Test | Processing speed | 9 | Accuracy as the search arrays get more crowded | — |
| Matrix Reasoning Test | Reasoning | 10 | 20 figure grids, with the rule behind each named | — |
| Number Sequence Test | Reasoning | 8 | 20 sequences across five kinds of rule | — |
| Logical reasoning questions with answers | Reasoning | 12 | 20 arguments: syllogisms, if-then statements and ordering | — |
| Spatial Rotation Test | Reasoning | 10 | 20 figures to turn and reflect | — |
| English Vocabulary Test | Language | 8 | 20 questions on definitions, sentence completion and similar words | — |
A 15-minute set
If you want one sitting across the areas, take these in this order, on the same device you will use next time:
- Reaction Time Test, 1 minute.
- Stroop Test, 1 minute.
- Go/No-Go Test, 1 minute.
- Digit Span Test, 2 minutes.
- Working Memory Test, 2 minutes.
- Number Sequence Test, 8 minutes.
Keep the same order each time, so that one sitting can be compared with the next.
What these tasks can tell you, and what they cannot
Each task measures one thing, under the conditions of this sitting, on this device. That makes it useful for seeing how you do on a kind of task and for comparing a run with your own earlier runs on the same device. Screens, keyboards and connections add their own delays to timed tasks, and the published studies used their own equipment, so a gap between your figure and a published one is mostly about method, not about you.
What a task cannot do is diagnose anything, rank you against other people or add up into a single figure. Different tasks are scored on different scales, so a combined number would have no reference group behind it. That is why this page never prints one.
Sent a cognitive test by an employer?
The cognitive ability tests employers use are aptitude tests, usually short and timed, and they ask for different preparation from the tasks on this page. Practise those formats on our aptitude test practice page.
Want one longer reasoning test instead? Free IQ test, 36 questions.
Questions people ask
Is this a test for dementia or memory loss?
No. These are everyday tasks of memory, attention and reasoning, not a medical test, and a result cannot show whether a change in memory is a health problem. If you have noticed changes in memory, talk with a doctor, who can carry out the assessments that can.
Is there an overall cognitive score?
No. Each task reports its own result on its own scale. Adding them together would produce a number with no reference group behind it, so we do not print one.
Can I compare my results with other people's?
Only loosely. Some task pages give a figure from a published study for context, but that study used its own equipment and method. The fairest comparison is with your own earlier runs on the same device.
Sources
- The National Institute on Aging advises talking with a doctor about noticeable changes in memory, and says a doctor can perform tests and assessments to help find the source of memory problems. Checked
- The National Institute on Aging's page for health professionals says the results of brief cognitive assessment tools alone are insufficient to diagnose dementia. Checked
- Woods and colleagues (2011) found that adults aged 18 to 65 averaged 6.35 digits forward on a computerised digit span. Checked
- Cowan (2010) puts the central capacity of working memory in young adults at about 3 to 5 meaningful items at once. Checked
- Crump, McDonnell and Gureckis (2013) found a Stroop effect of 293 ms and a letter flanker effect of 70 ms in online studies. Checked
- Woods and colleagues (2015) found a mean simple reaction time of 231 ms in a calibrated study of 1,469 adults. Checked