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Chimp Test
Numbers (1-N) appear on the grid for 7 seconds.
When they vanish, click the cells in ascending order starting from 1.
Each success adds one number. 3 misses ends the game.
When they vanish, click the cells in ascending order starting from 1.
Each success adds one number. 3 misses ends the game.
Press Start to begin
How to Play
- Press Start and numbers (1-N) appear on a 6×6 grid for 7 seconds.
- After 7 seconds the numbers vanish. From memory, click the cells in order: 1 → 2 → 3…
- Clear a round and the next one adds one more number.
- A mistake adds a strike and retries the same count with a new layout.
- 3 strikes ends the game. Your score is the highest count cleared.
Score Guide
The chimp test measures spatial working memory and instant memory. The average score is 7-9.
SS
Phenomenal
Chimpanzee-grade instant memory.
20+
S
Excellent
Visual memory far above the average.
14-19
A
Great
Above average, with strong spatial awareness.
10-13
B
Average
Where most people land.
7-9
C
Below average
Practice will push this up.
5-6
D
Keep practicing
Focus up and try again.
1-4
Last 10 Scores
No history yet. Press Start and give it a try.
What Is the Chimp Test?
The Chimp Test is an instant-memory test based on 2007 research by Professor Tetsuro Matsuzawa and colleagues at Kyoto University\u2019s Primate Research Institute. In the experiments, the chimpanzee Ai and her son Ayumu accurately memorized the positions of briefly displayed numbers (1-9), answering faster and more accurately than human university students. Ayumu in particular kept a high success rate even when the screen was masked just 210 milliseconds (about 0.2 seconds) after the numbers appeared — far outperforming the human participants.
The results suggest chimpanzees possess something close to eidetic (photographic) memory. The "cognitive trade-off hypothesis" — that humans may have traded this ability away for language — drew worldwide attention as a landmark finding in primate cognition research.
* This browser version is simplified and differs from the original research conditions. Enjoy it as a benchmark of your memory.
Spatial Working Memory and Instant Memory
Working memory is the cognitive system that holds information briefly while processing it. In psychologist Alan Baddeley\u2019s model it comprises four subsystems: the phonological loop, the visuospatial sketchpad, the central executive, and the episodic buffer.
The chimp test chiefly exercises the visuospatial sketchpad — the function that briefly holds object positions, shapes, and motion. Where the digit span test uses the phonological loop, this test measures your ability to take a spatial "snapshot". Typical spatial span capacity is about 4-7 items, trending below digit span (6-9).
The sequence memory test (reproducing the order of lit tiles) demands spatial plus serial memory, while the chimp test specializes in simultaneous position memory. The numbers themselves define the order, so the key skill is binding each number to its location.
Age and Instant Memory
Spatial working memory capacity changes with age: it develops rapidly from early childhood through adolescence, peaks in the early 20s, then declines gradually. Research suggests regular cognitive training and physical activity slow the decline. Children, whose verbal memory strategies (like rehearsal) are still developing, sometimes excel at visual eidetic memory instead — a similarity to chimpanzee ability that researchers have noted.
How to Score Higher
- Take in the whole grid peripherally: don\u2019t chase numbers one by one — soften your gaze near the center and capture the grid as a single image.
- Chunk (group): bundle nearby numbers into groups of 2-3 — "1 and 3 top-left", "5, 6, 7 bottom-right" — to lighten the load.
- Memorize shapes: read the layout as geometric patterns — an L, a diagonal, a U. Spatial shapes stick better than isolated number-position pairs.
- Fix your scan order: sweep the grid the same way every time (top to bottom, left to right). A consistent scan pattern makes encoding more efficient.
- Prioritize the low numbers: answers go in order from 1, so locking in 1-3 lets you narrow the rest by elimination.
- Control your environment: short-term memory is fragile against interference — silence notifications and background noise, and your score benefits directly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. What is an average score?
A. Typical adults average around 7-9. Above 10 is better than average, and 14+ is exceptional. Note that this version fixes the display time at 7 seconds, so its difficulty differs from the common Chimp Test with unlimited viewing time.
A. Typical adults average around 7-9. Above 10 is better than average, and 14+ is exceptional. Note that this version fixes the display time at 7 seconds, so its difficulty differs from the common Chimp Test with unlimited viewing time.
Q. Can instant memory be trained?
A. Yes. Repeated practice improves spatial working memory. Studies report that sustained spatial training transfers to untrained spatial tasks (near transfer), while gains in general intelligence (far transfer) remain debated.
A. Yes. Repeated practice improves spatial working memory. Studies report that sustained spatial training transfers to untrained spatial tasks (near transfer), while gains in general intelligence (far transfer) remain debated.
Q. How does this differ from the sequence memory test?
A. The sequence test measures serial spatial memory — memorize the order of lit tiles and replay it (the Corsi block task). The chimp test measures simultaneous spatial snapshot memory — memorize number positions at once and click in ascending order. Different cognitive resources; trying both profiles your memory more fully.
A. The sequence test measures serial spatial memory — memorize the order of lit tiles and replay it (the Corsi block task). The chimp test measures simultaneous spatial snapshot memory — memorize number positions at once and click in ascending order. Different cognitive resources; trying both profiles your memory more fully.
Q. How does this differ from the number memory test?
A. Digit span memorizes a string of digits, using mainly the verbal phonological loop. The chimp test memorizes positions, using mainly the visuospatial sketchpad. The former tracks verbal ability, the latter spatial ability.
A. Digit span memorizes a string of digits, using mainly the verbal phonological loop. The chimp test memorizes positions, using mainly the visuospatial sketchpad. The former tracks verbal ability, the latter spatial ability.
Q. Do chimpanzees really have better memory than humans?
A. Not in every kind of memory. The research showed superiority only in instant memory of very brief (~200ms) visual stimuli. Humans hold abilities chimps lack — language, abstraction — and strengths differ by memory type.
A. Not in every kind of memory. The research showed superiority only in instant memory of very brief (~200ms) visual stimuli. Humans hold abilities chimps lack — language, abstraction — and strengths differ by memory type.