Recognition of this list would be assessed by presenting a list of words to the subject after delay that contained the words on the list presented earlier plus distraction words that were not on the list. The subject is requested to indicate the words that appeared on the list. Both verbal and visual-spatial information is tested using recall and recognition procedures. Immediate recall is assessed by reciting strings of numbers to the patient that increase in length over trials. Failure to immediately repeat two strings of the same length represents the stopping point of the trials.
Normal subjects can immediately recall approximately seven digits.