The Corsi block-tapping task: Methodological and theoretical considerations

The Corsi block-tapping task has enjoyed extensive use in clinical and expe rimental studies for a quarter of a century and is arguably the single most important nonverbal task in neuropsychological research. Nevertheless, the re has been considerable inconsistency not only in the administration and s coring of this measure, but also in the physical properties of the test app aratus. In this paper, we survey a wide range of studies that have made use of the block-tapping task during the past 25 years and provide a detailed appraisal of the manifold methodological variations. Additionally, we discu ss the historical context in which the Corsi originated and offer a critica l examination of the cognitive processing operations purported to underlie performance on this task. (C) 1998 Academic Press.