Pattern, hold the picture

What it asks of you

Pattern asks for visual memory for a still picture, which squares were lit, not in what order. It is the memory you use to recall where things sit on a page or a shelf.

Della Sala and colleagues showed that this memory for patterns is distinct from memory for sequences, the one Sequence and the Corsi task use (Della Sala et al., 1999). Pattern gives it a game of its own.

How to play

1. Some squares of the grid light up together, for about a second, a little longer as the pattern grows.
2. They go dark, tap the same squares in any order.
3. All right, and the next pattern has one more square. The grid grows from 3 by 3 to 4 by 4, then 5 by 5.
4. A wrong square costs a life and brings a new pattern of the same size.
5. You have three lives, and your score is your largest pattern done.

The research behind it

The pattern grows one square at a time, so each game finds your limit and keeps you right there. Practice on a task makes you better at that task (Simons et al., 2016), and Pattern gives you that practice on a single, precise skill.

Because pattern memory is distinct from sequence memory (Della Sala et al., 1999), Pattern works a side of memory that the daily games leave alone.

On your weekly card

Pattern is a lab game, in free play in the game room of the app.

It is never graded, so your own largest pattern is the reference.

Questions

Does the order matter?

No, only which squares were lit counts, and that is the difference with Sequence, where order is everything.

How big can the pattern get?

Up to 20 squares, on a 5 by 5 grid.

What happens when I miss?

The wrong square turns red, you lose a life, and a new pattern of the same size appears.

Sources

1. Della Sala S., Gray C., Baddeley A., Allamano N., Wilson L. (1999). Pattern span, a tool for unwelding visuo spatial memory. Neuropsychologia 37(10), 1189 to 1199. doi.org/10.1016/S0028-3932(98)00159-6
2. Simons D.J., Boot W.R., Charness N. et al. (2016). Do brain training programs work? Psychological Science in the Public Interest 17(3), 103 to 186. doi.org/10.1177/1529100616661983