Running Digits requires recent auditory information to stay current as input continues
Running Digits is a new WAIS-5 subtest in which auditory information continues to arrive while the person keeps the most recently presented digits available. The central challenge is not simply to retain a completed sequence. As new digits arrive, earlier information drops out and the currently relevant information must be maintained.
This makes Running Digits an updating task within auditory working memory. Attention must track the continuing stream, and the mental representation of the recent digits must be refreshed as each new digit arrives.
Running Digits is a primary WMI subtest in the US and A&NZ editions
Running Digits is a primary Working Memory Index, or WMI, subtest in the 2024 US WAIS-5 and the 2025 Australian and New Zealand Standardised Edition.
The WAIS-5 UK also includes Running Digits and describes the same broad auditory-working-memory demands: registering and maintaining information, refreshing and updating it while input continues, and shifting attention as new information arrives.
The exact battery depends on the WAIS edition used in a market. WAIS-5 availability by market shows which WAIS-5 editions are available and where WAIS-IV remains current.
Registration, maintenance, refreshing, and updating contribute to performance
Running Digits brings several working-memory processes together:
- Registration — taking in each new digit accurately
- Maintenance — keeping the currently relevant digits available
- Refreshing — restoring attention to the information that still needs to be retained
- Updating — replacing information that is no longer current as new input arrives
- Attention shifting — moving attention to each new digit without losing the recent sequence
These processes operate while the auditory stream continues. They are not separate official scores. Running Digits places different demands on working memory, or Gwm, than does a task in which the full sequence is presented before any reordering begins.
Running Digits differs from the former broad Digit Span structure
The Japanese WAIS-IV combines Forward, Backward, and Sequencing conditions in one Digit Span score. The US WAIS-5 separates these into individual subtests and adds Running Digits as another primary working-memory task.
| Subtest or condition | Central task demand | Working-memory process emphasized |
|---|---|---|
| Running Digits | Keep the most recent information current while auditory input continues | Refreshing and updating |
| Digit Sequencing | Reorder a completed set of spoken digits into ascending numerical order | Maintenance and reordering |
| Digits Forward | Reproduce a completed sequence in its presentation order | Registration and maintenance |
| Digits Backward | Reproduce a completed sequence in reverse order | Maintenance and reversal |
WAIS-IV Digit Span explains the three-condition structure used in Japanese WAIS-IV reports. WAIS-IV and WAIS-5 compared shows how that structure changed in the US edition.
What higher and lower Running Digits performance can show
Under standardized WAIS-5 conditions, higher Running Digits performance shows that the person effectively registered incoming digits, kept recent information available, and updated it as the stream continued. Lower performance means that maintaining the current information while repeatedly refreshing and replacing it was more demanding in this task.
The result adds focused evidence about updating auditory information to the wider WAIS-5 working-memory profile.
BrainTypeIQ examines working memory through Computation Span, which combines calculation with retaining intermediate answers, and Visual Reversal, which requires a visual sequence to be remembered and reversed. These different formats contribute to a five-domain profile that shows Gwm alongside verbal comprehension, fluid reasoning, visuospatial processing, and processing speed.