Pattern Recall

About the Pattern Recall exercise

Remembering where things are is part of most days: which shelf the tea went back on, which drawer holds the bills, the layout of a new pharmacy, where the light switch is in an unfamiliar room. After a stroke, a brain injury, or with memory changes, holding a visual layout in mind for even a few seconds can take real effort.

Pattern Recall is a free online visuospatial memory exercise. A grid appears with some cells lit, the pattern hides itself after a set number of seconds, and the person taps the lit cells back from memory. A round is one pattern, or, in adaptive span mode, a climb through patterns that gain one cell at a time.

What Pattern Recall practices

Visuospatial memory

Holding the positions of the lit cells in mind after the grid goes blank, then placing them again on the same grid. This is the core of every round.

Sequential memory

In one-by-one presentation the cells light up in order, one per second, and have to be tapped back in that same order, so the sequence matters as much as the places.

Holding on through a delay

The delay dial adds a silent gap of up to 30 seconds between watching and recalling. Keeping the pattern in mind with nothing on screen is its own kind of work.

How the tool works and what it records

Three free presets: a 3 by 3 grid with 3 cells, a 4 by 4 grid with 4 cells, and a watch-then-wait round with a 10 second delay. Pro unlocks the full dials: grids from 3 by 3 to 6 by 6, 2 to 12 lit cells, exposure of 1 to 10 seconds, a delay of 0 to 30 seconds, all-at-once or one-by-one presentation, the cell count hint, and adaptive span mode, which starts at 3 cells, climbs one cell per perfect pattern, and ends after two misses at a level. Large-print mode is free.

The timer starts on the first recall tap. Results show recall time, cells recalled, missed, and extra (wrong taps in one-by-one mode); an adaptive run reports span reached and patterns played. Signed-in users get 5 free rounds per tool per day. Pro removes the cap, adds PDF export of six pattern sheets with blank grids, and saves each round to a session log.

Screen or paper?

The screen suits a pattern that must really disappear: exposure is timed to the second, a silent delay can be added, adaptive mode finds a span without anyone counting, and the round is scored the moment check is pressed. Paper suits sessions without a device or wifi, practice where drawing the pattern by hand is part of the point, a partner covering the card at their own pace, and a folder of finished sheets to keep.

The printable version is the Pattern Recall worksheet set on rehabworksheets.com, and there is a free pattern recall worksheet to try first, with no email required.

Using it well

• Start on the 3 by 3 preset. Three cells on a 3 by 3 grid with a 3 second look is the gentlest round. Move to the 4 by 4 preset once two or three rounds in a row come back with no misses and no extras.
• Read missed and extra separately. Missed cells with no extras suggest the pattern faded; extras suggest a guess at where it was. Amber cells on the finished grid show exactly which taps were not in the pattern, which is worth talking through.
• Use adaptive span as a reference point. One adaptive run counts as a single round and stops on its own. Noting the span reached at the start of a block of sessions gives a plain number to look back at later, without reading anything into it.
• Adapt for hand or vision difficulties. Large-print mode enlarges the cells and stays free. When tapping is hard, the person can point or name a row and column while a partner taps; the timer only runs during recall, so a slower pace only adds seconds.

Common questions