The Corsi block-tapping task and the spatial span task refer to the same visuospatial working memory exercise: watch a sequence of locations light up on a board, then reproduce the route in order, with span defined as the longest sequence a person can repeat correctly. Both names trace back to the same laboratory procedure originally described by Philip Corsi, in which an examiner taps a series of blocks on a wooden board and the participant tries to copy the route. In academic and clinical writing you will see the two terms used interchangeably, and a Corsi test score is typically reported as a spatial span value. That shared vocabulary is why a search for "corsi test vs spatial span" tends to surface the same activity under two labels rather than two competing tools. The browser experience at Corsi Block Tapping Game treats the activity as a private game rather than a measurement. It uses fixed, product-authored routes so the rule is transparent, the scoring stays in your browser, and no claim about your ability is attached to the final number.
Where the Two Labels Come From
The original Corsi block-tapping task uses nine wooden cubes mounted on a board. An examiner stands behind the participant and taps a sequence of cubes at roughly one per second. The participant then taps the same cubes in the same order. The researcher increases the sequence length until the participant makes an error, and the longest correct sequence becomes the span. When this procedure is described inside working memory literature, it is often called the spatial span subtest because the to-be-remembered material is spatial locations rather than spoken digits or written words.
So a Corsi test names the specific tapping procedure, and a spatial span names the value the procedure produces. They are not two competing activities. They are one task and one outcome measured in two ways, which is why most comparison pieces about the two names end with the same conclusion. A backward spatial span version simply asks the participant to reproduce the route in reverse order, which adds a manipulation step and usually shortens the span compared with the forward version. Both the forward and backward forms can be practised in the same browser game because the order is a player choice.
How the Browser Route Embodies the Spatial Span Idea
This browser version keeps the visual structure that gives the Corsi task its identity. The board has nine labelled locations arranged in three rows, each one numbered so a click and a key press land on the same square. A fixed route highlights one location at a time, and you then repeat those locations in the chosen order. The first route contains three steps; later routes extend to four, five, six, and seven steps, mirroring the way a researcher would climb through spans in the original task. Because the routes are product-authored and disclosed through play, you always know the rule you are testing yourself against. There is no hidden randomisation and no borrowed clinical score.
The board, the sequence, the order choice, and the scoring rule are all visible on the page before the run begins. That transparency is what turns a research instrument into a replayable game. A second run on the same route feels familiar rather than mysterious, because the highlighted steps are the same product-authored locations every time. Familiarity does not turn the run into a measurement, and the page makes that distinction clear: it remains an entertainment activity with a private score, not an assessment.
Forward vs Reverse Recall in This Game
Before a run starts, you choose either Forward order or Reverse order. That single choice stays fixed for the entire local playthrough, because each round of a run must be answered in the same direction. Forward order reproduces the route exactly as you saw it, beginning with the first highlighted location and ending with the last. Reverse order asks you to walk the route backwards, beginning with the last highlighted location and ending with the first. The reverse mode is the closer analogue of a backward spatial span subtest, and it tends to feel harder because every step requires a mental reordering rather than a simple echo of what was just shown.
Switching mid-run is not supported, and the page does not mix directions within one playthrough. The reason is purely about keeping the score legible. A single direction per run gives you one clear game rule, so the final number describes one well-defined attempt rather than a blend of strategies. Restart creates a fresh local playthrough with the same transparent route, so you can take another pass under the same conditions and compare your own attempts without any external benchmark.
Reading the Score as a Game Result
Each correct full route adds points based on its span and unlocks the next fixed span. An incorrect full answer returns you to the same span so you can see exactly which step broke the chain. Two incorrect full answers end that local run, and the board stays frozen until Restart. The shared game shell can show a best score saved in this browser, but it is not an online leaderboard and nothing is sent to the publisher. The page does not request an account, name, camera, microphone, uploaded file, or profile.
The completion rule is deliberately game-like. It is not a threshold, a cutoff, a grade, a screening result, or a normative value. There is no population norm, no clinical cutoff, and no comparison group behind the number, and the product is explicit that the route has no population norm, health interpretation, educational score, or professional meaning. Reading the score as a record of this local game session, rather than as a statement about your brain, is the only interpretation the product supports.
| Browser Route Element | How It Maps to the Spatial Span Idea |
|---|---|
| 3×3 board with nine labelled locations | Mirrors the nine-block Corsi apparatus |
| Fixed routes of 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 steps | Climbs the span ladder used in the original task |
| Forward or Reverse choice per run | Matches forward and backward spatial span conditions |
| Local best score stored in browser | Personal record, not a published benchmark |
| No account, upload, or external benchmark | Keeps the activity entirely on device |
| Two incorrect full answers end the run | Game completion rule, not a clinical threshold |
What This Route Does Not Claim
The page does not diagnose attention, measure intelligence, or suggest that your memory has improved after a successful run. Familiarity with the route, distractions in the room, the input device you choose, and the screen size can all change how the attempt feels, which is why a private round should remain a private round. If you need an evaluation for school, work, health, or accessibility, this game cannot provide one, and the product contract is explicit on that limit. Related site games use different fixed rules, and their scores should not be added together or treated as a combined profile.
That limitation is the core of the comparison. A Corsi test and a spatial span task are the same procedure, but a clinical interpretation requires a clinician, a norm group, and a controlled setting. This browser route has none of those ingredients, so it stays a game. Treating the route as entertainment is what makes the comparison legible: it shares the structure of the spatial span task without inheriting any of its assessment baggage.
How to Play the Spatial Span Route
- Open the Corsi Block Tapping Game page and pick either Forward order or Reverse order before the run begins.
- Select Show round to reveal the first fixed sequence. The first highlighted block stays on screen until you choose Show next block, so nothing flashes past while you look away.
- Choose Show next block to advance through the sequence one labelled location at a time until the board becomes active and hides the route.
- Repeat every location in the chosen order. Tap or click the squares, or press keys 1 through 9 to select the matching board location. A square you have already chosen is disabled for that answer, so an accidental second press cannot silently become another step.
- Read the result as a private game route rather than an assessment. Restart begins the same fixed game route again whenever you want a fresh local playthrough under the same rules.