How to Improve Spatial Memory with Location-Based Practice

Spatial memory — the ability to encode, retain, and recall the locations of objects and places — is one of the more responsive cognitive abilities when it comes to training. Unlike some cognitive skills where the evidence for improvement is mixed or modest, spatial memory training using location-based tasks has produced some of the more compelling results in cognitive training research, including transfer to broader measures of memory and fluid intelligence.

This article covers what the research shows about effective spatial memory training, what kind of practice produces the strongest gains, and includes a free embedded test at the bottom so you can begin practising directly.

Why Location-Based Tasks Work So Well

Spatial memory training tasks that use specific locations — remembering where things are in a grid, a room, or an environment — appear to engage memory systems more effectively than generic memory exercises. Research on spatial working memory training found that practice on a location-based spatial task improved not just the trained skill but also episodic memory and fluid intelligence — two broader cognitive measures that don't typically improve from narrow task-specific practice.

This breadth of transfer is unusual in cognitive training research, where many interventions show improvement only on the specific trained task with little generalisation. The fact that spatial location training shows broader transfer suggests it engages fundamental memory mechanisms — particularly those involving the hippocampus and surrounding medial temporal structures — that support memory more generally, not just spatial memory specifically. The same study used a large pool of varied spatial scenes rather than repeating a limited set of stimuli, and the degree of improvement on the training task itself predicted the size of the gains in broader memory measures — suggesting that genuine engagement with varied spatial material, not rote repetition, drove the effect.

The importance of varied, spaced practice is consistent with broader cognitive training research. Research on training schedules found that spacing training sessions apart — rather than concentrating practice into fewer, longer sessions — produced significantly more transfer to untrained tasks. This pattern, sometimes called the spacing effect, appears to apply broadly across cognitive training domains, including spatial memory.

What Makes Spatial Memory Training Effective

Sequential location tasks — remembering not just where things are but the order in which they appeared — are particularly effective because they engage both spatial encoding and working memory simultaneously. This is the format used in the Corsi block-tapping paradigm and the Spatial Span Test: a sequence of locations is shown, and you must reproduce it in order.

Increasing difficulty matters considerably. Training that stays at a comfortable difficulty level produces limited improvement once the initial learning curve flattens. Training that progressively increases the number of locations or the complexity of the sequence — pushing just beyond your current capacity — produces continued improvement over a longer period.

Stimulus variety prevents the training from becoming narrow memorisation of specific patterns. If the same sequences are repeated across sessions, improvement reflects familiarity with those specific patterns rather than genuine capacity growth. Varied, novel sequences each session ensure that the improvement reflects real gains in spatial working memory capacity.

Distributed practice — shorter sessions spread across multiple days — produces more durable improvement than the same total practice time concentrated into a single long session. This pattern holds across most cognitive training research and applies to spatial memory specifically.

Location Memory in Everyday Contexts

Spatial memory training has relevance well beyond formal cognitive tests. Location-based memory underlies a surprising range of everyday tasks: remembering where you parked, recalling the layout of a building you've visited a few times, finding your way back to a specific spot in an unfamiliar park, or remembering which drawer contains a specific item in someone else's kitchen.

One particularly relevant everyday application is what researchers call location-based prospective memory — remembering to do something when you are in a particular place, like remembering to buy something the next time you're at a particular shop. This depends on the same spatial encoding mechanisms that location-based memory tasks train, linking laboratory spatial memory training to a practical everyday memory skill.

Physical Activity and Spatial Memory

An interesting and practically useful finding from spatial memory research is the role of physical activity. Both chronic exercise habits and even single bouts of physical activity have been shown to improve spatial memory performance, likely through effects on hippocampal function — the same brain structures most directly involved in spatial location encoding.

This means that combining physical activity with spatial memory practice may produce stronger results than either alone. While this is not a substitute for direct cognitive training, it suggests that overall physical activity levels are a relevant factor in spatial memory performance and should be considered alongside dedicated practice.

Spatial Attention as a Foundation

Spatial memory depends substantially on spatial attention — the ability to selectively attend to and encode locations in the first place. Research on training spatial attention in both younger and older adults found that improvements in spatial attention transferred to gains in spatial working memory tasks that were not directly trained — suggesting that attention and memory for locations are closely linked and that improving one supports the other.

This is relevant for spatial memory training generally: paying close, deliberate attention to locations during encoding — rather than passively glancing at them — improves the durability and accuracy of the resulting spatial memory. The Spatial Span Test requires this kind of active attention by design, since the sequence must be watched carefully to be reproduced correctly afterward.

Building Your Practice Routine

Based on the research, an effective spatial memory practice routine should include: regular sessions of 10-15 minutes rather than infrequent long sessions, progressively increasing difficulty as accuracy improves, varied stimuli rather than memorising fixed patterns, and consistency over multiple weeks rather than expecting immediate results.

The Spatial Span Test below provides exactly this kind of structured practice, using the Corsi block-tapping format with sequences that increase in difficulty as you improve. Complementary tools on the Spatial Reasoning hub — including mental rotation and maze navigation — train related spatial skills that support overall spatial cognition alongside spatial memory specifically.

Practice Your Spatial Memory Now

The test below uses the Corsi block-tapping format — watch the sequence of blocks light up, then reproduce it in the same order. This is one of the most research-validated spatial memory training formats available. For more difficulty levels and session history, visit the Spatial Span Test page.