Where memory gets tested
Very few tests print the words "working memory" on the question paper. It shows up in two ways: as an explicit game in a game-based assessment, where you remember dots, digits or tiles, and as a hidden load inside reasoning questions, where the difficulty comes from holding several numbers or conditions at once. Knowing which kind you are facing changes how you prepare.
The task families you will meet
Almost every memory task in hiring comes from one of four research families. Once you can name the family, an unfamiliar game stops being unfamiliar.
| Family | What you do | Research original | Our closest cousin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple span | See a sequence, reproduce it | Digit span, Corsi blocks | Digit Span |
| Complex span | Store items while doing a second task between them | Operation span, symmetry span | GridRecall, DiscoNumbers |
| Updating | Compare each new item with one a set distance back | n-back | Flashback |
| Visual memory | Study a picture, rebuild it | Visual pattern tests | Puzzle Reconstruction |
Game-based assessments
This is where memory is tested most directly. Vendors publish little about their exact mechanics, so below we separate what the vendor states from what candidates and preparation sites report.
Aon
Aon's candidate preparation page lists gridChallenge as a nine-minute task with nine tasks of varying difficulty that "measures your ability to keep something in mind while simultaneously trying to process other information". That is the textbook definition of a complex span task. Preparation sites describe the mechanics as remembering the positions of dots on a grid while answering short spatial questions (is this pattern symmetrical, is this grid a rotation of that one) between them, then recalling the positions at the end. Our GridRecall is built on the same research design: cells to remember, symmetry judgements in between.
The same page lists digitChallenge, which it describes as measuring your ability to "solve basic arithmetic functions using mental calculation". Despite the name, it is a numerical task, not a digit-memory task. Candidates regularly prepare for the wrong thing here.
Aon has also described a separate gamified working memory assessment, G.A.M.E. (Global Adaptive-Memory Evaluation), as a twelve-minute, mobile-first experience.
Capgemini
Capgemini's own recruitment pages describe the stages of its assessments without naming individual games. Indian preparation sites, drawing on candidate accounts, report a game-based aptitude round in which four games are drawn from a larger pool, with names including Grid Challenge, Digit Challenge, Motion Challenge, Switch Challenge and deductive and inductive logical games. The names match the Aon challenges above, so the gridChallenge advice applies: expect to hold grid positions through interruptions.
pymetrics (now part of Harver)
An audit of pymetrics' screening system, written by Northeastern University researchers together with pymetrics staff, describes a core set of twelve games "derived from peer-reviewed psychological studies". Preparation sites describe one of them, the Digits game, as a forward digit span: digits flash one at a time and you type them back in order, starting at four digits, with the sequence growing by one after a correct answer and shrinking by one after a wrong one, and the game ending after three wrong answers. That is almost exactly the classic clinical procedure, and our Digit Span at its opening levels is the same task.
Arctic Shores
Preparation sites describe an Arctic Shores task in which icons on a board of tiles light up in sequence and you click them back in the same order, with the sequence lengthening as you succeed and distracting icons appearing later. It is a spatial sequence span, close to the Corsi block test. Practise it with GridRecall (spatial sequence under interference) and Digit Span (ordered recall).
Publicly reported uses. Formats change, so check the latest invite you receive.
- AongridChallenge: a nine-minute task measuring the ability to keep something in mind while processing other information; digitChallenge is mental arithmetic, not memory
- CapgeminiCandidate-reported: game-based aptitude round drawing four games from a pool that includes Grid Challenge, Digit Challenge, Motion Challenge and Switch Challenge
- pymetrics (Harver)Twelve core games from psychological research; prep sites describe a Digits game that is a forward digit span starting at four
- Arctic ShoresPrep-site reports of a tile sequence game: repeat the order in which tiles light up, with sequences growing and distractors added
Campus placement papers in India
Most traditional placement papers do not contain a memory section at all. TCS describes its National Qualifier Test cognitive sections as verbal ability, reasoning ability and numerical ability, the last covering number system, arithmetic, elementary statistics and data interpretation. The memory load in papers like this is hidden inside data interpretation and multi-condition reasoning sets.
Where game-based rounds are used, such as the Capgemini round above, memory appears explicitly. If a company's round is described as game-based, assume at least one working memory task and prepare for all four families rather than guessing which one.
Entrance exams and higher study
No major admissions test has a memory section. They load working memory heavily all the same.
- CAT. The Data Interpretation and Logical Reasoning section is built from sets where you must keep several conditions in mind while testing arrangements. Candidates who lose a condition halfway through a set usually have to restart it.
- GMAT. The Focus edition has Quantitative Reasoning, Verbal Reasoning and Data Insights sections, and calculators are not allowed on the quantitative section, so every intermediate result lives in your head or on the noteboard.
- GRE. ETS provides a basic on-screen calculator for Quantitative Reasoning and advises using it for tedious calculations rather than simple mental maths. It removes some arithmetic load, not the load of holding the problem.
- Bank and government exams. Data interpretation and puzzle sets are standard, and they test the same skill: holding several numbers and constraints accurately under time pressure.
Psychometric and clinical tests
Many hiring tasks are adapted from clinical batteries, which is why they feel similar. The Wechsler adult intelligence scales have included digit span since their first version; the fourth edition added a sequencing condition in which digits are recalled in ascending order, alongside forward and backward recall. Our Digit Span uses all three orders. The Corsi block-tapping task, in which the examiner taps a sequence of blocks and you repeat it, has been described as arguably the single most important non-verbal task in neuropsychological research; it is the ancestor of every "tiles light up in sequence" game.
Interviews
Interviews test working memory without meaning to, and you can reduce the load deliberately.
- Multi-part questions. "Tell me about a project, what went wrong, and what you would change." Repeat the three parts back before you answer; it anchors them and shows structure.
- Case and guesstimate interviews. You carry several numbers through a chain of calculations. Say each intermediate result aloud and write it down.
- Coding interviews. Tracing state through loops and recursion is working memory under load. Use the whiteboard or editor to record variable values instead of holding them.
Key points
- Explicit memory tasks come from four families: simple span, complex span, updating (n-back) and visual memory.
- Aon describes gridChallenge as keeping something in mind while processing other information; digitChallenge is arithmetic, not memory.
- Capgemini's game-based aptitude round (candidate-reported) includes a Grid Challenge; pymetrics' Digits game is reported to be a forward digit span.
- Traditional placement papers such as TCS NQT have no memory section, but data interpretation and puzzle sets carry a heavy hidden load.
- In exams and interviews, offload to paper whenever allowed; in games, arrive with a fixed method for each family.
Sources
- Aon. Prepare for your online assessment (gridChallenge, digitChallenge descriptions). aon.com
- Martin, N., and LaPort, K. (2017). Traditional cognitive testing got you down? Get your G.A.M.E. on with Aon. aon.com
- Capgemini India. Recruitment process. capgemini.com
- PrepInsta. Capgemini Exceller game-based aptitude test questions (candidate-reported). prepinsta.com
- JobTestPrep. Grid Challenge practice guide (candidate-reported mechanics). jobtestprep.com
- Wilson, C., Ghosh, A., Jiang, S., Mislove, A., Baker, L., Szary, J., Trindel, K., and Polli, F. (2021). Building and auditing fair algorithms: a case study in candidate screening. Proceedings of FAccT 2021. doi:10.1145/3442188.3445928
- JobTestPrep. The pymetrics Digits game (candidate-reported mechanics). jobtestprep.com
- JobTestPrep. Arctic Shores assessment guide (candidate-reported mechanics). jobtestprep.co.uk
- TCS iON. National Qualifier Test: cognitive sections. tcsion.com
- ETS. GRE General Test: Quantitative Reasoning (on-screen calculator). ets.org
- Graduate Management Admission Test (section structure and calculator rules). Wikipedia. wikipedia.org
- Egeland, J., Lund, O., and Raudeberg, R. (2025). Measuring working memory span with WAIS-IV: digit sequence is the superior span test. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 33(1), 65–72. doi:10.1080/23279095.2024.2330998
- Pacho-Hernández, J. C., et al. (2025). Neurocognitive performance and executive functions do not influence conditioned pain modulation in women with migraine. Life, 16, 27 (describes the three WAIS-IV digit span conditions). doi:10.3390/life16010027
- Berch, D. B., Krikorian, R., and Huha, E. M. (1998). The Corsi block-tapping task: methodological and theoretical considerations. Brain and Cognition, 38(3), 317–338. doi:10.1006/brcg.1998.1039