Running Digits requires recent auditory information to stay current as input continues
Running Digits is a new WAIS-5 subtest in which auditory digits continue to arrive while the person keeps the most recently presented digits available. The stopping point is not known in advance; when the input stops, the person reports the recent digits that are currently relevant.
Running Digits is a primary subtest of the WAIS-5 Working Memory Index (WMI), requiring attention to a continuing auditory stream and repeated updating of the recent digits.
What higher and lower Running Digits performance can show
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- Updating — replacing information that is no longer current as new input arrives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
Higher performance shows that incoming digits were registered and the recent sequence was updated effectively. Lower performance means that maintaining current information while repeatedly refreshing and replacing it was more demanding. The result adds focused evidence about auditory updating to the wider working-memory profile. How to read WAIS results explains how to place this evidence alongside other subtests and the wider index profile.
A similar demand appears when spoken directions are revised as you go and each update must replace information that is no longer current.
Running Digits differs from WAIS-IV Digit Span
WAIS-IV combines Forward, Backward, and Sequencing conditions in one Digit Span score. WAIS-5 separates them 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 Digit Span explains the three-condition structure and how it changed in WAIS-5. WAIS-IV and WAIS-5 compared shows the wider reorganization.
BrainTypeIQ uses calculation and visual-sequence working-memory tasks
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 tasks contribute to a five-domain profile by showing calculation with retained results and visual-sequence reversal. BrainTypeIQ has no equivalent task for continuous auditory updating; Running Digits differs because recent spoken information must keep changing until the input stops.