Utrecht University Developmental Assessment Battery (UU-DAB)

The Monkey game

Response format grade 2-6

Response format grade 1

The Monkey game is a verbal span-backwards task suitable for self-reliant assessment, in which children have to remember and recall different words backward. Children hear spoken words which they have to remember and recall in backwards order by clicking on the words presented visually in a 3 × 3 matrix. Children from grade 1 are presented with pictures of the words, since word identification may not have yet have been automatized by children in this grade. Children from Grades 2 -6 are presented with written words (see the screenshots of the game response formats). The task consists of five levels each of four items (20 items in total), in which working memory load is manipulated by the number of words children have to remember and recall backward, ranging from two words in level 1 to six words in level 5. No cut-off rules are applied.

The Monkey game is available in the following languages:

  • Dutch
  • English (developed in collaboration with dr. Joan Christodoulou)
  • German

For more information: