Memory testing involves assessing an individual’s recollection of academic, work, and home tasks. We provide assessments designed to help you understand your strengths, challenges, and opportunities for growth. Often, this assessment is part of a larger psychological battery designed to assess cognitive functioning, but it can also be done as a stand-alone, such as when a person wants a specific short-term memory test or working memory test. Many of these evaluations we give can be given virtually. You need to have a comfortable and quiet place to work and the ability to use basic technology (or someone available to help).
You are welcome to contact us if you want to learn more about our memory testing services, but first, here is an overview:
Types of Memory Testing
Here are some common types of assessments that we give : 
- Episodic: This type measures the ability to recall specific events or experiences. Examples include recalling details of a past event or from a story you’ve read.
- Semantic: This approach evaluates your fund of general knowledge and factual information. Examples include questions about historical events, general facts, or concepts.
- Spatial: These assess the ability to remember and navigate spatial information. This may involve recalling the layout of a room or reproducing a spatial pattern.
- Verbal: This specific type of assessment focuses on remembering and recalling verbal information, such as lists of words or passages of text.
- Visual: Like verbal, visual assesses remembering and recognizing visual information, such as images or patterns.
We often assess for more than one type, starting with a comprehensive assessment before narrowing things down to more specific measures. Even if you suspect a deficit in one area or another, memory testing is designed to detect more subtle differences and strengths that may be as helpful as knowing your challenges.
Short-Term Memory Test Examples
A short-term memory test evaluates your ability to temporarily store and recall information over a short period, typically ranging from a few seconds to a few minutes. Here are a few examples of short-term measures we use:
Digit Span Short-term Memory Test
In this assessment, you are presented with a sequence of digits orally or visually and are asked to recall them immediately after the presentation. It typically consists of a forward digit span (recalling digits in the same order) and a backward digit span (recalling digits in reverse order). The latter two short-term memory test examples evaluate your ability to manipulate the information in your mind instead of just holding it there.
Letter-Number Sequencing
This short-term memory test assesses your ability to manipulate and temporarily store information. You are presented with a series of letters and numbers and are required to recall and reorder them according to specific instructions, such as sorting letters alphabetically and numbers numerically.
Spatial Span Short-term Memory Test
This measure evaluates visuospatial short-term recollection. You are asked to reproduce a sequence of spatial locations presented visually (e.g., tapping a sequence of squares in the same order).
Word and Picture Recall
You are presented with a list of words or pictures and asked to recall as many as possible immediately after the presentation. These short-term memory tests assess verbal and visual short-term recollection.
Each short-term memory test can provide valuable insights into your cognitive abilities.
Working Memory Test Examples
A working memory test measures your capacity to hold and manipulate information in the short term. This can involve tasks like remembering and rearranging sequences of numbers or letters. Working memory is crucial for various cognitive processes, including problem-solving, reasoning, comprehension, and learning. Here are several common measures:
Reading Span Working Memory Test
In this working memory test, you read a series of sentences and are asked to remember the final word of each sentence while also performing a distractor task, such as solving math problems or identifying whether a sentence is true or false. After a set of sentences, you recall the final words in the correct order.
Operation Span Working Memory Test
This working memory test involves presenting you with a series of mathematical operations (e.g., 3 + 2 = 5) intermixed with unrelated words. You must solve each mathematical operation while remembering the words. After a set of operations, participants recall the words they encountered in the correct order.
Delayed Response Task
In this working memory test you are presented with a stimulus (e.g., a visual cue or a location) and must maintain that information during a delay period before responding. This task assesses the ability to hold information in mind actively over a short delay.
Tower of London
This working memory test requires participants to mentally manipulate colored balls on pegs to match a target arrangement while adhering to specific movement rules. It assesses planning ability, which relies on working processes.
Each working memory test provides valuable information for understanding your cognitive abilities and designing interventions to improve function.
Uses for Memory Testing
There are many reasons why people come in for these assessments, but here are some common uses:
Memory Testing as Part of Clinical Assessments
These assessments determine a person’s cognitive strengths and weaknesses, showing patterns related to potential diagnoses such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder specifically. This type of psychological assessment battery can be repeated to track changes in cognitive function over time, aiding in assessing intervention strategies. These clinical assessments may be part of a larger goal of assessing a person’s overall functioning.
Educational Assessments
These assessments are employed in educational settings to assess students’ ability to retain and recall information, skills that can influence academic performance. They are also used to identify learning disabilities related to recollection. Memory testing often suggests accommodations and interventions that help the person learn or work to their potential despite challenges.
Occupational and Vocational Memory Testing
Certain professions may require good recollection skills. Memory tests can be used as part of pre-employment assessments or to evaluate an employee’s fitness for a specific role. We often use them in our vocational assessments to help people understand what jobs and careers might suit them best. In both cases, we are looking not just for weaknesses but also for opportunities for the person to use their strengths to achieve at their fullest.
Sports and Performance Psychology
Memory tests may be used in sports psychology to assess and enhance athletes’ performance and skill retention. This is a common part of the routine of advanced athletes who want to achieve at the highest level, but it can be helpful for any athlete. Certain sports and training routines are particularly amenable to memory testing.
Memory Testing for Personal Development
Some people pursue memory tests as part of cognitive training programs to enhance memory skills and cognitive abilities. Others may just want to better understand their strengths and weaknesses to enhance what they’re naturally good at and work on challenges.
Memory Tests
There are various types of memory tests, and our choice of instrument depends on the specific aspects are being assessed. Some common instruments we use include:
- Wechsler Memory Scale (WMS): The WMS is a widely used tool that assesses different aspects, including verbal, visual, and working memory. We often start memory testing with the WMS, which paints an overall picture.
- California Verbal Learning (CVLT): This test focuses on verbal learning and recollection. It involves presenting a list of words to the individual and assessing their ability to recall and recognize them.
- Rey-Osterrieth Complex Figure (ROCFT): This measure evaluates visuospatial recollection. After a delay, participants are asked to copy a complex geometric figure and then reproduce it.
- Digit Span: A component of the Wechsler Intelligence Scales, Digit Span assesses short-term recollection by requiring individuals to repeat a sequence of digits in the same or reverse order.
- Trail Making: While not exclusively a memory test, Trail Making assesses cognitive flexibility, visual attention, and task-switching, which are related to recollection functions.
- Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE): This brief screening tool is often used to assess cognitive impairment and includes questions related to orientation, recollection, and attention.
Our selection of instruments depends on the specific goals of the assessment and the person being assessed.
Memory Test Interpretation
When we interpret memory testing, we consider various factors, including:
- Diagnostic factors: Some diagnoses, such as ADHD and anxiety, show specific patterns of results, so we look for that when a person is referred for diagnostic assessment.
- Aging: Some decline in recollection is a normal part of the aging process, but in some cases, this happens more quickly than expected. Memory testing can determine whether concern is warranted.
- Psychological Factors: Stress, anxiety, and depression can affect performance. These assessments can be helpful, particularly when it is initially done during a period of calm since that assessment can be used as a baseline to measure changes.
- Medications: Some medications may have side effects that impact recollection; we sometimes do assessments that evaluate that. This may include evaluating people when they have and haven’t taken the medication. This is always done under the guidance of the person’s prescriber.
Memory testing is often just one component of a comprehensive cognitive assessment. Memory is complex, and our interpretation of results always considers an individual’s overall health and cognitive functioning.
Summary and Our Services
Memory testing is versatile and can be adapted for various purposes depending on the specific needs of the assessment. It plays a crucial role in understanding cognitive abilities, diagnosing disorders, and improving performance in different domains. We provide this service for a wide variety of purposes, both as stand-alone assessments and as part of larger batteries designed to measure cognitive skills.
We welcome you to schedule a consultation if you have questions about how memory testing could benefit you, or feel free to contact us if you have specific questions.
