Symbols, decode as fast as you can

What it asks of you

Symbols asks for processing speed, how quickly you take in a sign, link it to its meaning and answer. The key stays on screen, so nothing has to be memorised, but the faster you learn it, the less you need to look.

That shift, from checking the key to knowing it, happens within a single round. It is learning you can watch.

How to play

1. The key shows nine symbols, each above its digit.
2. A symbol appears in the middle.
3. Tap the digit it goes with on the keypad, or type it.
4. Right or wrong, the next symbol comes at once.
5. You have thirty seconds, and your score is right answers minus mistakes.

The research behind it

The symbol digit modalities test is a standard measure of processing speed in neuropsychology. In 2020 van Oirschot and colleagues checked a smartphone version against the classic test and found it valid (van Oirschot et al., 2020).

Each new key is a small learning task, and practice on a task makes you quicker at it (Simons et al., 2016). Symbols turns that into a bright 30 second challenge.

On your weekly card

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

It is never graded and has no verified norm for this format, so your own best is the reference.

Questions

Is it a medical test?

No. The symbol digit task is used in clinical research, but this game diagnoses nothing. It is practice, and your score only shows how this round went.

Does the key change?

Yes, every game draws a new key, so you never just learn one by heart.

Can I use my keyboard?

Yes, the number keys 1 to 9 work.

Sources

1. van Oirschot P., Heerings M., Wendrich K., den Teuling B., Martens M.B., Jongen P.J. (2020). Symbol Digit Modalities Test variant in a smartphone app for persons with multiple sclerosis, validation study. JMIR mHealth and uHealth 8(10), e18160. doi.org/10.2196/18160
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