Working Memory1–3 minBurden: MediumEMA: Medium

Sequence Tapping / Spatial Span

A visuospatial working-memory task where participants reproduce a sequence of highlighted locations.

Visuospatial working memory
Category
Working Memory
Typical duration
1–3 min
Participant burden
Medium
EMA suitability
Medium

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Task parameters

1–3 minBurden: MediumEMA: Medium

This is a researcher preview. No participant data is recorded.

Simulated participant view

9:41

Sequence Tapping / Spatial Span

A visuospatial working-memory task where participants reproduce a sequence of highlighted locations.

No data is recorded

Participant experience on smartphone

Several targets appear on-screen, light up in sequence, and are reproduced by tapping.

When to use

Useful when a study needs direct visuospatial span rather than stream-based updating.

When not to use

Less suitable for very high-frequency sampling if animated onboarding is too time-consuming.

How to use in a study

Start with short sequences and offer clear practice with animation.

Researcher-configurable parameters

  • Starting span length
  • Maximum span length
  • Forward versus backward recall
  • Number of target locations

Outputs collected

  • Longest correct span
  • Total correct
  • Order errors
  • Latency

Interpretation notes

A good complement to 1-back because it taps ordered spatial storage rather than continuous updating.

Scientific evidence

  • Smartphone-based sequence tasks can provide useful working-memory data when onboarding is clear.

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