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Running Head: DIGIT SPAN TEST
Immediate Memory Digit Span Test
Ipsa Khurana
21213444
1BPSYH
CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Delhi NCR
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DIGIT SPAN TEST
Introduction
The digit span test is a popular working memory test that is used in many cognitive and
neuroscience research labs.
Digit Span has been used as a psychological trait since the early 1600s. As stated by Gottfried
Leibniz (1646-1716), individuals have a finite capacity to comprehend or remember
information from the environment. He called this ability the "span of apperception".
This exam was included in the IQ scale of other psychologists, such as David Wechsler.
Chandra Mohan Bhatia devised the Bhatia Battery, which includes this memory test as a sub-
test. C. M. Bhatia designed and built the Bhatia battery in 1955.
This test has two parts: digits span forward and digits span backward. The test taker is
required to repeat the numbers the examiner says. The number of digits is increased with
every trial. The test is continued till the subject repeats it successfully in the same order. This
is a digit span forward. In the backward recall, the numbers have to repeated in the reverse
order, last to first. This recall is also continued till the subject successfully repeats the
sequence.
Immediate memory has a close relation with mental development or general intelligence.
Hindi consonants have been taken as the units of sounds because they put the literate & the
ill-literate at par.
Client Profile
Name – U.A.
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DIGIT SPAN TEST
Age – 18
Gender – Male
Address – Delhi NCR
Education – High School Graduate
Date of Conduction – 30th November 2021
Primary Informant – Self
Aim – to measure the immediate memory span of people in the selected age group using
Immediate Memory Digit Span test.
Method
Procedure and Assessment
After developing rapport, we ask the participant to pay close attention and explain that they
will be asked to repeat a series of digits in the same order as the experimenter says them.
Three numerals are used in the first series, such as "3, 6, 8." Each number is repeated one
second apart in a monotonous voice. The participant repeats the numbers as said.
We the move on to the next stage, which is to say a four-number sequence, such as "7, 8, 4,
2." The participant repeats these numbers. We continue in the same manner, increasing the
number sequence to nine and asking the person to repeat the numbers. Some test versions
terminate after a sequence of five numbers, while others keep increasing the sequence of
numbers by one until the answers are incorrect.
After, we move on to the reverse digit step. Here, the participant has to repeat the sequence of
digits said by the experimenter in reverse order. For example, if the numerals are “4, 7, 9.”,
the participant repeats “9, 7, 4.” We continue in the same manner until failure in trials.
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DIGIT SPAN TEST
Scoring
Direct - One mark each for the number of digits or sounds in the maximum correct
replication. The maximum possible score is 9.
Reverse - One mark each for the number of digits or sounds in maximum correct reverse
replication. The maximum possible score is 6.
Results
Direct order score – 5
Reverse order score – 2
References
How Does the Digit Span Test Screen for Delirium and Dementia? (2019, November 26).
Verywell Health. https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-the-digit-span-test-98627
MemoryHealthCheck. (2021, February 13). Digit Span Memory Test.
https://www.memorylosstest.com/digit-span/
What is the Digit Span test? (2021). Cambridge Brain Sciences Resource Center.
http://help.cambridgebrainsciences.com/en/articles/624895-what-is-the-digit-span-test
Bhatia, C. M. (1955). Performance tests of intelligence under Indian conditions. Oxford
University Press.
