Working Memory Benchmark
Chimp Test
The chimp test is a working-memory challenge based on Dr. Tetsuro Matsuzawa's 2007 research at Kyoto University's Primate Research Institute. Young chimpanzees memorized the positions of numerals flashed for as little as 210 milliseconds and touched them in order -- outperforming human adults at a task most people fail past five or six numbers. This online chimp test recreates the paradigm: numbers appear on a grid, and once you click 1 the rest are hidden, so you must recall their positions from memory. The average human reaches about level 7; a chimpanzee named Ayumu regularly cleared nine.
The Matsuzawa experiment behind the chimp test
The chimp test comes from a study by Sana Inoue and Tetsuro Matsuzawa, published in Current Biology in December 2007 under the title "Working memory of numerals in chimpanzees." The researchers had taught chimpanzees at the Primate Research Institute to recognise Arabic numerals 1 through 9 and to touch them in ascending order. In the key experiment, the numerals appeared on a touchscreen and then, the instant the chimp touched the first one, the rest were masked by white squares. To succeed, the animal had to hold the entire spatial layout in memory.
Ayumu, the chimp who beat the students
The standout performer was a young male chimpanzee named Ayumu, then about five years old. When the numerals were shown for only 210 milliseconds -- less than the time it takes a human to make a single eye movement -- Ayumu still touched them in the correct order roughly 80% of the time. University students given the identical task scored far lower at the same exposure, often below 40%. In direct comparisons, the young chimpanzees were both faster and more accurate than the human adults. The finding upended a comfortable assumption that humans sit at the top of every cognitive ladder.
Why a chimpanzee can win at this test
The leading explanation is a trade-off in how brains specialise. Young chimpanzees appear to use a form of very fast, almost photographic spatial capture -- sometimes compared to eidetic memory, the "photographic" recall that is more common in human children than adults. Matsuzawa proposed a "cognitive trade-off hypothesis": as the human lineage evolved language and symbolic thought, it may have given up some of this rapid visuospatial snapshotting. Humans tend to encode the numbers verbally ("one is top-left, two is..."), which is slower and collapses when the display vanishes in a fraction of a second. Chimpanzees, without that verbal detour, grab the whole pattern at once.
What the chimp test actually measures in you
For a human taking this test, the score is a snapshot of visuospatial working memory -- how many item-location pairs you can hold and manipulate at once. That capacity is closely related to the classic "magical number seven" limit George Miller described in 1956, which is why most people plateau somewhere between level 6 and level 9. Reaching level 10 or beyond usually means you have stopped trying to name the numbers and started treating the grid as a picture. The test is not a measure of intelligence on its own, but working-memory capacity does correlate modestly with fluid reasoning and academic performance, which is part of why cognitive scientists keep studying it.
How to get a good chimp test score
Most people improve several levels in their first few runs simply by changing strategy. The tile positions are random each round, so you cannot memorise a fixed pattern -- you have to encode fast. These three tactics help most.
See the shape, don't say the numbers
The instinct to sub-vocalise ("1 is here, 2 is there") is exactly what slows humans down. Instead, glance at the whole grid and try to capture it as a picture or a connect-the-dots shape between the numbers. This is the single change that separates a level-7 run from a level-11 run.
Chunk the numbers in pairs
Group the layout into small clusters -- remember where 1-2 sit, then 3-4, then 5-6. Working memory holds a handful of chunks far better than a handful of separate items, so three pairs are easier to keep than six singletons.
Take your time before you click 1
The clock only matters to a chimp. In this test the numbers stay visible until you commit to the first tile, so use those seconds. Lock in the positions, breathe, then start -- rushing the first click is the most common way good players end a run early.
Chimp test scores -- how you compare
Your score is the highest level you complete, which equals the number of tiles in that round. The band below reflects the rough distribution of human results on this style of test. Higher is better.
| Level reached | How you compare |
|---|---|
| Level 4-5 | Below average -- usually a first attempt or a verbal strategy |
| Level 6-7 | Average -- most adults land here |
| Level 8-9 | Good -- matching Ayumu's chimpanzee range |
| Level 10-12 | Excellent -- you're treating the grid as an image |
| Level 13+ | Exceptional -- top-tier visuospatial working memory |
Try the rest of the suite
The chimp test is one measure of memory. Benchmark the others -- all free, all in your browser.
Number Memory
How many digits can you hold in mind? Measure your digit span against Miller's "magical seven."
Take the test →Sequence Memory
Reproduce a growing pattern of flashes -- the classic Corsi block-tapping task.
Take the test →Visual Memory
Memorise a grid pattern, then recall it. Three lives, rising difficulty.
Take the test →Reaction Time
Click when the panel turns green. Measure your reflexes in milliseconds.
Take the test →Aim Test
Click targets as fast as you can. A moving-target benchmark for gamers.
Take the test →FPS Test
Our dedicated first-person-shooter aim benchmark, on its own site.
Open FPS Test →Frequently asked questions
The chimp test is a working-memory game based on a 2007 Kyoto University study of chimpanzees. Numbers appear on a grid; you click 1, the rest turn blank, and you tap them in order from memory. Each round adds a number. Score equals the highest level completed, reflecting how many item-position pairs your memory holds.
Young chimpanzees genuinely outperform most human adults at this task. In Matsuzawa's study, a chimp named Ayumu recalled nine flashed numbers more accurately than university students. Humans narrow the gap by treating the grid as a picture; some trained people reach level 12, but matching a chimp's speed at short exposures stays rare.
The average adult reaches about level 7. Level 8 to 9 is good and puts you in the chimpanzee range; level 10 to 12 is excellent, and level 13 or higher is exceptional. First attempts are usually lower than your true ceiling, so run the test a few times before judging your score.
The leading theory is a cognitive trade-off: as humans evolved language, we may have traded rapid visuospatial "snapshot" memory for symbolic thought. Humans encode numbers verbally, which is slower and fails once the display vanishes in milliseconds. Chimpanzees seem to capture the whole layout at once, a near-photographic recall more common in children than adults.
Working memory holds and manipulates information for a few seconds. Hiding the numbers after your first click forces you to store what each tile is and where it sits, then act on that map. Your highest level reads out how many item-location pairs you juggle at once, which is why scores plateau near seven items.
Sources
- Inoue, S., & Matsuzawa, T. (2007). Working memory of numerals in chimpanzees. Current Biology, 17(23), R1004–R1005. doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2007.10.027