Card Memory Test
Study a row of playing cards, then tap them back in the same order. It starts with two cards; each level you pass has a longer row. About four minutes.
Card memory test
A row of playing cards appears; level 1 is 2 cards. Study the order, then tap the same cards back in that order; 3 cards you didn't see are mixed in. Each level you pass has a longer row. A miss gets another try with new cards, and two in a row end the test. You have 3 seconds a card to study, and can start recall sooner.
What this test measures
This is a card span test: the same idea as a digit span, with playing cards, level by level. Level 1 is 2 cards, shown together for 3 seconds per card. You then pick them back in order from a set that also holds 3 cards you did not see, so both the cards and their order count. Each level you pass has a longer row: a card at a time through the range where an untrained memory runs out, then two at a time, with one card allowed out of place. A miss gets a second try with new cards, and two misses in a row end the test. Your score is the highest level you pass.
How to read your score
| Highest level passed | What it suggests |
|---|---|
| Up to level 2 | Warming up. Say each card to yourself as it comes, then run through the row once before recall. |
| Level 3 to 5 | Typical with no technique. Four to six cards in order: about what an untrained memory holds of a row of cards. |
| Level 6 to 8 | Past the untrained limit. Seven to ten cards in order: you are probably linking the cards into a story already. |
| Level 9 and up | Excellent. A dozen cards or more in order: a card system at work, the method memory athletes use for a whole deck. |
These bands describe this test's own scale, not a population norm. Take it again on another day and compare with your own best; the test remembers it on this device.
How to remember more cards
Link them into a story. The king of hearts hands the three of clubs to the ace of spades: a short scene holds a short row in order. The linking method shows how to make the links stick.
Give every card an image. A fixed picture for each of the 52 cards turns a row of cards into a row of things you can see. See how to memorize a deck of cards, or build a PAO system with the PAO builder.
Give every image a place. A memory palace keeps long rows in order. When a row of ten feels easy, try a full deck in Speed Cards.
Frequently asked questions
What does a card memory test measure?
It measures short-term memory for a sequence: which cards you saw and the order they came in. Cards are a good material for it because every card is easy to recognise but the order of a shuffled row means nothing, so it has to be remembered rather than worked out.
What is a good score?
Without a technique, most people hold four to six cards in order from one look, and pass levels three to five. A card is two things at once, a rank and a suit, and the order has to be right too, so it is harder than words. Seven cards or more in order is usually a story at work, and a dozen or more a card system. The bands are this test's own scale rather than a published norm, so the most useful comparison is with your own earlier scores.
Why does it start with so few cards?
So that everyone gets off the ground and finds their limit step by step. The first levels are a warm-up; then each level adds a single card through five to seven, where an untrained memory runs out, so every card counts. Past that, rows grow two cards at a time, the way card systems hold them, and one card may be out of place.
Why are there cards I didn't see?
So that recall checks which cards were shown as well as their order. Without them, the last card would always be the one left over. Three extra cards are mixed in every round.
How do memory athletes remember a whole deck?
They give every card a fixed image in advance, often a person or an object, and place the images one after another along a memory palace route. Recalling the deck is then a walk along the route. Speed Cards, the championship event, is a full shuffled deck against the clock.
Is this a medical test?
No. It is for practice and fun, not a clinical tool, and it cannot diagnose anything. If you are worried about your memory, talk to a doctor.