Spatial Position Memory Game
The dot vanishes. Tap the place where it was.
About Position Flash
Position Flash shows a dot in an empty box for a second or two. When it disappears, you tap the place where you think it was and press Lock in. A green dot then shows the true position, so you can see how far off you were and in which direction.
On the first levels there is a single dot. From level 4 two numbered dots flash up and you are asked about one of them, and from level 7 there are three. The flash time falls from 2.6 seconds to 1.4, and the allowed error gets smaller on the higher levels.
How to play
- Look at the dots while they show. If there are several, remember which number sits where.
- When the box is empty, tap the place where you think the asked dot was. You can tap again to move your mark.
- Press Lock in or the Enter key.
- The green dot shows the true position, and the note gives your error as a percentage of the width of the box.
One or more dots flash in a box. When they disappear, tap the spot where the one you are asked about was and lock in. Closer is better.
How scoring works
The score depends on the distance between your mark and the true position, measured as a fraction of the width of the box. A perfect placement scores 100, and the score falls in a straight line to 0 at 34 percent of the width on level 1 and 18 percent on level 10. In a box of 300 pixels on level 10, a miss of 27 pixels earns about 50 points.
There are 1 dot on levels 1 to 3, 2 on levels 4 to 6 and 3 from level 7. The dots keep a minimum distance from each other, so they are never on top of one another. You have 10 seconds after the flash.
What it trains
The game trains spatial working memory: remembering where something is. You use it to find your keys in a room, to recall where you saw an item in a shop or where you parked your car.
With several dots, it also trains the binding of an identity (the number) to a location, a part of working memory that has been studied as one of the weak points as we age.
Tips for a higher score
- Relate the dot to a landmark: the edge of the box, its middle, or a corner. 'A third of the way down from the top' is a good memory.
- Think in coordinates: how far right, how far down. Say them silently as two fractions.
- For several dots, link the number with a place in a story: '1 is top right, 2 is far left'.
- Be careful with the centre. People tend to place their answers a little closer to the middle than the truth, so push a mark slightly outward when in doubt.
- Use the flash time well. Look at each dot once and then repeat its place in your head.
The idea behind it
Research on spatial memory has found that people's location estimates are biased toward the centre of the region they are asked about, an effect described in the category adjustment model of Janellen Huttenlocher and colleagues in 1991. The model proposes that we combine a fine-grained memory of the exact location with a coarser memory of the region, and that the second part pulls estimates toward the middle.
Spatial working memory is classically tested with the Corsi block task, introduced by Philip Corsi in 1972. Brain imaging shows that holding locations in mind activates the parietal and frontal parts of the cortex, which are separate from the regions that hold the identity of objects.
Frequently asked questions
Why are the dots numbered?
The numbers let the game ask about one specific dot, and they do not depend on colour, so the game works for people with colour blindness.
Is the error measured in pixels?
The error is measured as a fraction of the width of the box, so it is the same on every screen size.
What game is similar?
Color Memory asks for lit circles in a grid, and Change Spot asks you to find what changed.
Related games
Free, no account. Your best scores are saved on your device.