Challenge: twenty objects in five minutes

The challenge protocol

Equipment. A list of twenty common nouns, a timer, a sheet of paper.

Phase 1, encoding: five minutes maximum. The system is fixed: body anchors doubled left and right, so twenty anchors.

Phase 2, distraction: two minutes. Count backwards from 300 to 250, in threes, out loud. This phase is essential: it empties working memory and tests real consolidation rather than auditory echo.

Phase 3, recall: three minutes. Write the twenty items in order. Then, as a bonus, backwards.

Scoring grid

Score	Level	What it means
0 to 9	Untrained	You are still encoding in words, not in images