Speed
Reaction Time Test
Click the moment the screen turns green. Five attempts, and your score is the median.
Take the test →about 40 seconds · no sign-upDigit Span Test
Short answer
Most adults hold six or seven digits, and anything from five to eight is ordinary. Your score is the longest list you repeated correctly before missing the same length twice.
These tests are for curiosity and self-comparison. They are not medical instruments, they do not screen for or diagnose any condition, and no result here says anything about your health. If something about your memory or concentration worries you, talk to a doctor rather than to a website.
What this test measures
How much you can hold in mind for a few seconds while it is still fresh. Digits appear one at a time, one per second, and when they stop you type them back in the same order.
The list starts at three digits and grows by one every time you get it right. Miss the same length twice and the run ends — your score is the longest list you repeated correctly.
How to take it
Watch the digits without writing anything down. When the input appears, type what you saw in order, then press Enter or Submit. On a phone the on-screen keypad is there so the page never fights with your own keyboard.
- Repeating the digits under your breath as they appear is normal and is how most people do it.
- Grouping them — "four-seven, then nine-two" — usually helps, and it is a real technique rather than cheating.
- A full run takes two or three minutes.
How to read your result
The score is a number of digits, so higher is better. It moves in whole steps, which means one lucky or unlucky list can shift it by a full point — do a second run before you believe a surprising number.
The percentile compares you with a published sample of adults on the same task with the same stop rule. It is a comparison, not a grade.
What the percentiles mean
The comparison comes from a study of 763 adults aged 18 to 65, where the typical score was between six and seven digits. It published an average and a spread rather than a full table, so the shares below are fitted to those two numbers.
Two differences are worth knowing about. In the study the digits were spoken through headphones and an examiner wrote down what people said; here they are shown on screen and you type them. Seeing digits rather than hearing them can shift a score slightly in either direction, so treat the percentile as a good indication rather than a measurement.
| Result | Percentile | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 1st | 1% of the sample scored lower |
| 4 | 2nd | 2% of the sample scored lower |
| 5 | 13th | 13% of the sample scored lower |
| 6 | 39th | 39% of the sample scored lower |
| 7 | 70th | 70% of the sample scored lower |
| 8 | 91st | 91% of the sample scored lower |
| 9 | 98th | 98% of the sample scored lower |
| 10 | 99th | 99% of the sample scored lower |
What the number cannot tell you
Span is sensitive to circumstances: tiredness, background noise, a phone buzzing, or simply doing the test twice in a row. It also varies with education and with how much you use numbers day to day.
A low score is not a finding about you. This test cannot detect, screen for or rule out any condition, and a run here is not a memory assessment.
Questions
What is an average digit span?
In the sample used here, adults aged 18 to 65 averaged a little over six digits, and most people landed between five and eight. The old rule of thumb of "seven plus or minus two" is in the same territory.
Why did the test stop when it did?
Because you missed the same length twice. That is the stop rule of the study we compare against, and keeping it identical is what makes the comparison meaningful.
Can I write the digits down?
You can, but then the test measures your handwriting speed rather than your memory, and the percentile stops meaning anything.
Is it cheating to group the digits?
No. Grouping is how people normally hold longer lists, and the reference sample did the same thing.
Do you store my results?
Your attempts stay in your own browser and never leave your device. There is no account to create.
Further reading
Where this comes from
- Woods et al., Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 2011 — average forward span of 6.35 digits and its spread, from 763 adults aged 18 to 65, using the same two-miss stop rule; the percentile rows on this page are fitted to those figures, and the study presented digits by ear rather than on screen. Checked 4 August 2026.