Corsi Block Tapping Task

Background

The Corsi Block-Tapping Test is a widely used measure of visuospatial short-term and working memory created in 1972 by Canadian-Italian psychologist Philip Michael Corsi under the supervision of Brenda Milner at McGill University. Corsi used the task to investigate the roles of the hippocampus and medial temporal lobe structures in verbal and spatial memory. The task remained mostly unknown outside Milner's lab until it was standardized and popularized in the late 1980s by Italian researchers such as Ennio De Renzi, Paolo Nichelli, and Elio Capitani.

Despite having created one of the most well-known tests in experimental psychology, Corsi left the field after completing his disseration to start a farming commune (Dixon Road Farm) with his wife Jean on Prince Edward Island, Canada, as part of the "back-to-the-landers" countercultural movement.

Task Procedure

The Corsi procedure is the spatial equivalent of the Digit Span Test. A game board is displayed with 9 blocks arranged in an irregular layout. In the analog version, the administrator taps a sequence of blocks at a rate of one per second, and the participant must immediately tap the blocks in the same sequence. In computerized versions, the sequence is presented by flashing each block on the screen a different color, and the participant responds by clicking/touching the blocks in the same order they were flashed.

The sequence length starts at 2 blocks and can increase up to 9 blocks depending on performance. Participants get two chances at each sequence length. If they reproduce the sequence correctly on one of those chances, the length is incremented by one and the next sequence starts. Otherwise, the task ends.

The backwards version of the Corsi was introduced by Isaacs & Vargha-Khadem (1989) in which participants must reproduce the sequence in reverse, similar to the backwards Digit Span. The backwards Corsi was found to be less differentially difficult than its verbal counterpart, suggesting less involvement of central-executive processing.

What it Measures

The Corsi is a measure of visuospatial short-term memory.

Psychological domains

• Visuospatial short-term memory: Spatial attention, visual encoding, sequential memory
• Executive Function: The backwards version requires very light central-executive involvement

Main Performance Metrics

• Total Correct: Total number of correct sequences recalled
• Block Span: The length of the last correctly recalled sequence
• Total Score: The product of Total Correct x Block Span as proposed by Kessels et al (2000)

Psychiatric Conditions

Corsi performance tends to be impaired in patients with the following psychiatric conditions:

• Schizophrenia
• Velocardiofacial Syndrome
• Williams Syndrome
• Non-Verbal Learning Disability (NVLD)
• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD)

Available Test Variations

References

Search Google Scholar for peer-reviewed, published research using the Inquisit Corsi Block Tapping Task.

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Corsi, P. M. (1972). Human memory and the medial temporal region of the brain. Dissertation Abstracts International, 34 (02), 891B. (University Microfilms No. AAI05–77717).

Smirni, P., Villardita, C., & Zappalà, G. (1983). Influence of different paths on spatial memory performance in the Block-Tapping Test. Journal of Clinical Neuropsychology, 5, 355–359.

Trojano, L., Chiacchio, L., De Luca, G., Fragassi, N. A., & Grossi, D. (1994). Effects of testing procedure on Corsi’s Block-Tapping Task in normal subjects and Alzheimer-type dementia. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 78, 859–863.

Berch, D. B, Krikorian R. & Huha E. M. (1998) . The Corsi Block-Tapping Task: Methodological and Theoretical Considerations. Brain and Cognition, 38, 317–338.

Kessels, Roy P. C. , van Zandvoort, Martine J. E. , Postma, Albert , Kappelle, L. Jaap and de Haan, Edward H. F.(2000) 'The Corsi Block-Tapping Task: Standardization and Normative Data', Applied Neuropsychology, 7:4, 252 — 258

Kessels, R.P.C., van den Berg, E., Ruis, C., & Brands, A.M. A. (2008). "The Backward Span of the Corsi Block-Tapping Task and Its Association With the WAIS-III Digit Span". Assessment, 15, 426–34.

Schuhfried GmbH (2011). Vienna Test System Manual (Version 24, Revision 1). Schuhfried GmbH