Chimp Test
This test measures your working memory. Numbers appear on the screen (1, 2, 3, 4, and so on). The moment you tap the first one, the rest are hidden, and you have to recall their order from memory and click them in sequence.
Each cleared round adds one more number. After three mistakes the test ends. Your score is the highest level you complete.
Chimpanzees are known to beat humans at this kind of task. Let's see where you stand.
Get ready...
Your past attempts
What this test measures
The chimp test measures short-term visuospatial memory: the ability to hold what you just saw for a few seconds and recall where it was.
A striking finding: in Inoue and Matsuzawa's 2007 study, trained chimpanzees were faster and more accurate than university students on a similar task. The result supports the "cognitive trade-off" hypothesis, the idea that humans may have given up some of this rapid visual memory in exchange for language.
Your percentile is derived from the broad user data of this web-based test.
Questions
What does the score mean?
The score is the highest level you completed successfully. Level 6 is the median, which most people reach.
Does practice help?
Partly. With repeated attempts you can climb a couple of levels, but your underlying memory span is largely fixed.
Can I beat a chimpanzee?
Very unlikely. Trained chimpanzees genuinely outperform humans on this task.