History buffs take heart! Your love of presidential particulars may set you apart from many of your peers—and give you an edge in an intriguing memory test that may illustrate the typical pattern of cultural forgetfulness. Follow the instructions below to take the presidential memory test and then see how your performance compares with various groups of Americans at different points in time. In 1974, 1991 and 2009 researchers led by psychologist Roddy Roediger at Washington University in Saint Louis asked college students to recall as many presidents’ names as possible, in the chronological order that they served. In 2009 they also surveyed adults of different ages. Results, described in Science this past November, show that almost everyone forgets presidents at a predictable rate—only about chief executives prior to the one currently in office are remembered by most of the population. In addition, almost everyone remembers the first few and a couple important names in the middle of the pack. Learn more about what this study reveals about our cultural memory in Scientific American MIND. To see how your memory compares, first make a list of the numbers 1 through 44. Then write down the presidents’ names in the numerical slot you believe to be correct (for instance, put Obama at number 44). All done? Time to score yourself. First simply count how many presidents you could remember, without paying attention to their numerical placement. Compared with college students in 2009, if you named:                              you’re in the: 34 presidents…………………………..90th percentile 27 presidents…………………………..80th percentile 24 presidents…………………………..70th percentile 21 presidents…………………………..60th percentile 19 presidents…………………………..50th percentile 18 presidents…………………………..40th percentile 15 presidents…………………………..30th percentile 13 presidents…………………………..20th percentile 11 presidents…………………………..10th percentile These results were pretty similar for people of all ages, as you will see depicted in the graphs below. The college students were able to name slightly more presidents than people ages 30 to 49 or 50 to 69, probably because their history lessons happened more recently, the researchers suspected. Now it’s time to see how you stack up when numerical placement is taken into account. Scroll to the bottom of this article to find the correct chronological list, and count how many presidents you placed correctly. Compared with college students in 2009, if you placed:                               you’re in the: 21 presidents…………………………..90th percentile 15 presidents…………………………..80th percentile 12 presidents…………………………..70th percentile  9 presidents…………………………..60th percentile  8 presidents…………………………..50th percentile  7 presidents…………………………..40th percentile  6 presidents…………………………..30th percentile  5 or fewer…………………………..20th percentile or lower. (Thanks to memory researcher and study author Andy DeSoto at Washington University for providing these scoring charts in percentile form.) The researchers studied numerical placement because a large body of data exists on how people remember ordered lists—they tend to remember items at the beginning, at the end and occasional ones in the middle—when an item is particularly important or unusual. Our collective memory for presidents follows the same trend. One final point: The researchers noted that a very small handful of participants were able to name every president in order, with ease—almost as if they had memorized them with a mnemonic or otherwise made it a point of personal pride to know the whole list. To those students of history (and trivia geeks), we tip our hats.

Here is the complete, chronological list of presidents so you can check your work:

  1. George Washington
  2. John Adams
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. James Madison
  5. James Monroe
  6. John Quincy Adams
  7. Andrew Jackson
  8. Martin Van Buren
  9. William Henry Harrison
  10. John Tyler
  11. James K. Polk
  12. Zachary Taylor
  13. Millard Fillmore
  14. Franklin Pierce
  15. James Buchanan
  16. Abraham Lincoln
  17. Andrew Johnson
  18. Ulysses S. Grant
  19. Rutherford B. Hayes
  20. James A. Garfield
  21. Chester A. Arthur
  22. Grover Cleveland
  23. Benjamin Harrison
  24. Grover Cleveland
  25. William McKinley
  26. Theodore Roosevelt
  27. William Howard Taft
  28. Woodrow Wilson
  29. Warren G. Harding
  30. Calvin Coolidge
  31. Herbert Hoover
  32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
  33. Harry S. Truman
  34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
  35. John F. Kennedy
  36. Lyndon B. Johnson
  37. Richard M. Nixon
  38. Gerald R. Ford
  39. James Carter
  40. Ronald Reagan
  41. George H. W. Bush
  42. William J. Clinton
  43. George W. Bush
  44. Barack Obama

In 1974, 1991 and 2009 researchers led by psychologist Roddy Roediger at Washington University in Saint Louis asked college students to recall as many presidents’ names as possible, in the chronological order that they served. In 2009 they also surveyed adults of different ages. Results, described in Science this past November, show that almost everyone forgets presidents at a predictable rate—only about chief executives prior to the one currently in office are remembered by most of the population. In addition, almost everyone remembers the first few and a couple important names in the middle of the pack. Learn more about what this study reveals about our cultural memory in Scientific American MIND.

To see how your memory compares, first make a list of the numbers 1 through 44. Then write down the presidents’ names in the numerical slot you believe to be correct (for instance, put Obama at number 44).

All done? Time to score yourself. First simply count how many presidents you could remember, without paying attention to their numerical placement.

Compared with college students in 2009, if you named:                              you’re in the: 34 presidents…………………………..90th percentile 27 presidents…………………………..80th percentile 24 presidents…………………………..70th percentile 21 presidents…………………………..60th percentile 19 presidents…………………………..50th percentile 18 presidents…………………………..40th percentile 15 presidents…………………………..30th percentile 13 presidents…………………………..20th percentile 11 presidents…………………………..10th percentile

These results were pretty similar for people of all ages, as you will see depicted in the graphs below. The college students were able to name slightly more presidents than people ages 30 to 49 or 50 to 69, probably because their history lessons happened more recently, the researchers suspected. Now it’s time to see how you stack up when numerical placement is taken into account. Scroll to the bottom of this article to find the correct chronological list, and count how many presidents you placed correctly.

Compared with college students in 2009, if you placed:                               you’re in the: 21 presidents…………………………..90th percentile 15 presidents…………………………..80th percentile 12 presidents…………………………..70th percentile  9 presidents…………………………..60th percentile  8 presidents…………………………..50th percentile  7 presidents…………………………..40th percentile  6 presidents…………………………..30th percentile  5 or fewer…………………………..20th percentile or lower.

(Thanks to memory researcher and study author Andy DeSoto at Washington University for providing these scoring charts in percentile form.)

The researchers studied numerical placement because a large body of data exists on how people remember ordered lists—they tend to remember items at the beginning, at the end and occasional ones in the middle—when an item is particularly important or unusual. Our collective memory for presidents follows the same trend.

One final point: The researchers noted that a very small handful of participants were able to name every president in order, with ease—almost as if they had memorized them with a mnemonic or otherwise made it a point of personal pride to know the whole list. To those students of history (and trivia geeks), we tip our hats.

Here is the complete, chronological list of presidents so you can check your work:

  1. George Washington
  2. John Adams
  3. Thomas Jefferson
  4. James Madison
  5. James Monroe
  6. John Quincy Adams
  7. Andrew Jackson
  8. Martin Van Buren
  9. William Henry Harrison
  10. John Tyler
  11. James K. Polk
  12. Zachary Taylor
  13. Millard Fillmore
  14. Franklin Pierce
  15. James Buchanan
  16. Abraham Lincoln
  17. Andrew Johnson
  18. Ulysses S. Grant
  19. Rutherford B. Hayes
  20. James A. Garfield
  21. Chester A. Arthur
  22. Grover Cleveland
  23. Benjamin Harrison
  24. Grover Cleveland
  25. William McKinley
  26. Theodore Roosevelt
  27. William Howard Taft
  28. Woodrow Wilson
  29. Warren G. Harding
  30. Calvin Coolidge
  31. Herbert Hoover
  32. Franklin D. Roosevelt
  33. Harry S. Truman
  34. Dwight D. Eisenhower
  35. John F. Kennedy
  36. Lyndon B. Johnson
  37. Richard M. Nixon
  38. Gerald R. Ford
  39. James Carter
  40. Ronald Reagan
  41. George H. W. Bush
  42. William J. Clinton
  43. George W. Bush
  44. Barack Obama