The seven domains
A domain is something we have a test for. That is the whole definition, and it is doing real work: sleep, stress and concentration are things people search for and we have no instrument for any of them, so they are not on this page and never will be until they are measurable.
| Domain | What it is | The test | Explained |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working memory | How much you hold in mind at once | Digit spanYes | |
| Pattern recognition | What you notice — what fits, what breaks, what is missing | Odd one outYes | |
| Processing speed | How quickly you match and decide | Symbol matchYes | |
| Verbal comprehension | How wide a range of words you recognise | Word meaningYes | |
| Spatial reasoning | Shapes turned over in your head | Paper foldingNot yet | |
| Numerical facility | Straightforward arithmetic, against a clock | ArithmeticYes | |
| Attention | Holding a rule while something competes with it | Ignore the wordYes |
Why one of them still says "not yet"
Because a domain gets a written explanation only once we can show that people actually ask about it in a form we can answer honestly — a real question with curiosity behind it, evidenced by looking, not assumed. Six have cleared that; one has not.
It would take an afternoon to write the missing one anyway. We would rather this table have a visible gap in it than have seven pages of which one exists because it made the set look complete. The gap is the honest state and it is easier to close than to justify.
Domains, and the things that are not domains
The distinction matters enough to be worth one paragraph. Domains have tests. Factors do not.
Sleep, stress, exercise, nutrition, aging and distraction all affect how you perform on the tests above, and all of them get searched far more than any domain name on this page. We have no instrument for any of them, which means anything we published about them would be a summary of other people's work with our name on it. Calling one of them a domain would be the fastest way to blur what the tests here actually do, so the vocabulary is enforced rather than left to habit.
The number they add up to
All seven together make the Cognitive Fingerprint — a shape with seven arms and a number between 0 and 100. That number is a position inside these seven tasks and not a comparison with other people, because our reference sample is zero. How it is built, including the one constant we chose rather than derived.
Where to go next
- The instrument register — every test with its version, its norming rung and its reference sample.
- Build your Cognitive Fingerprint — all seven, about twenty minutes, nothing stored.
- How everything here is scored.
- Everything we have written, newest first.