**Digit Span Task** The Digit Span Task (DST) was an idea of Miller in 1956. The idea was to test how much a person can receive, process and remember for a variety of elements. On average a person is not capable of retaining more than 7 pieces of information. Later the DST is also used as subtest for intelligence testing. By Jensen in 1998 the DST is used to indicate the Intelligence Quotient (IQ) differences between races. Now the DST is a subtest in the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS). So the DST is among other tests a measure of intelligence. **Differences and Similarites** The task that can be downloaded on this Wiki. Is a digital version of the Digit Span task as described in Orsini, Grossi, Capitani, Laiacona, Papagno & Vallar in 1987 which is based on the WAIS. The task as used in Orsini, Grossi, Capitani, Laiacona, Papagno & Vallar in 1987 is verbal and this task is digital which means that some adjustments are made. In the verbal version the examiner recited lists of digits in increasing length to the subject and the digits were spoken at the rate of one digit per second. In the digital version the digits are presented on a screen for 5 seconds. This means that participants will not be presented with auditory stimuli but with visual stimuli. Their response to the visual stimuli is also different from the verbal version. In the verbal version the participant can react immediately after the sequence is finished and can react verbally to the spoken digit sequence. In the digital version the participant needs to wait until the 5 seconds are over in order to repeat the sequence in a text-box which is presented on the next screen. The participant has 10 seconds to type in the sequence. If the participant repeats a sequence correctly they go to a longer sequence in the verbal version. If the participant correctly repeats a sequence in the digital version he or she need to repeat another sequence correctly to go to the longer sequence, as is usual in later versions of the WAIS. All the sequences are presented in pairs. If both sequences are repeated correctly, the next pair of sequences will be one digit longer. If one sequence of the pair is not repeated correctly and the other sequence was repeated correctly, the next pair of sequences will be of the same length. If both the sequences of the pair are not repeated correctly, the next pair of sequences will be one digit shorter. This principle is the same in the digital and verbal version. The maximum number of digits in a sequence is 9 and the minimum number of digits in a sequence is 2. A sequence with 2 numbers is the start of the task. The digit length can be changed by changing the the variable 'Level' in the Inline Script which is called Set_Level. **Scoring and Data-File** The Digit Span score is the length of the longest correctly repeated sequence. The DST-score is an indication of intelligence among other tests. In the data-file the sequences are referred to as levels. This means that when the longest repeated sequence is 7, the participant reached level 7 in one of trials. In the data file there is also a variable called level. Which is the first variable in the data table when you convert the log file into an Excel file. The conversion from logfile to Excel can be done with the Text Import Wizard in Excel. To get the conversion done the following options should be chosen: - Delimited - Start import at row: 1 - Delimited: Comma - my data has headers **References** Orsini, A., Grossi, D., Capitani, E., Laiacona, M., Papagno, C., & Vallar, G. (1987). Verbal and spatial immediate memory span: normative data from 1355 adults and 1112 children. *The Italian Journal of Neurological Sciences*, 8(6), 537-548. Jensen, A. R. (1998). The g factor: The science of mental ability. *Westport, CT: Praeger*. Miller, G. A. (1956). The magical number seven, plus or minus two: Some limits on our capacity for processing information. *Psychological review*, 63(2), 81. **Additional Information** In order to open the experiment you need to install Open Sesame on your computer. http://osdoc.cogsci.nl/3.1/download/ The experiment is build with Open Sesame version 3.1.9 with Python version 2.7. If you have any questions about the program. You can contact me w.de.vries.22@student.rug.nl