MoCA Memory Recall — Questions and Answers
Question 1: How many words does the examiner read aloud in the MoCA memory registration task?
- Three
- Five (Correct answer)
- Seven
- Ten
Correct answer: Five
The MoCA memory task uses a list of five words.
The standard English MoCA (version 7.1) uses a five-word list: Face, Velvet, Church, Daisy, and Red. The examiner reads the list aloud at roughly one word per second. The test-taker is asked to repeat the words immediately after each of two reading trials, and later to recall them without help.
Question 2: How many learning trials are given for the word list on the MoCA, and does the examiner stop early if the patient repeats all five words on the first try?
- One trial; a second is given only if the patient misses a word
- Two trials, and the second is given even if the first was perfect (Correct answer)
- Three trials regardless of performance
- As many trials as needed until all five words are recalled
Correct answer: Two trials, and the second is given even if the first was perfect
Two learning trials are always administered, regardless of first-trial performance.
The MoCA specifies exactly two learning trials. After the first reading, the examiner records what the patient repeats and then says, in effect, that the list will be read a second time. The second reading occurs even when the patient repeated all five words correctly the first time, because the goal is to standardize the amount of exposure to the list before the delayed recall.
Question 3: How are the immediate (learning) trials of the MoCA word list scored?
- One point per word on the first trial only
- One point per word on the second trial only
- No points are awarded for the learning trials (Correct answer)
- Half a point per word across both trials
Correct answer: No points are awarded for the learning trials
The learning trials are not scored; only delayed recall earns points.
On the MoCA, the two immediate recall trials serve only to encode the words. The examiner ticks off which words were repeated but assigns no points. The five memory points are awarded exclusively during the delayed recall phase, when the patient must produce the words spontaneously after a delay of about five minutes.
Question 4: When the patient is told the word list will be tested later, what instruction must the examiner include before the delay begins?
- That they may write the words down to help remember
- That they will be asked to recall the words again at the end of the test (Correct answer)
- That the words are all types of flowers
- That they should repeat the words silently during the other tasks
Correct answer: That they will be asked to recall the words again at the end of the test
The examiner explicitly tells the patient they will be asked for the words later.
MoCA instructions require the examiner to tell the patient at the end of the learning trials that they will be asked to recall the words again later in the test. This forewarning is part of the standardized procedure. The patient is not permitted to write anything down, and the examiner does not give any category hints at this stage.
Question 5: Approximately how long after the learning trials does the MoCA delayed recall take place?
- About 30 seconds
- About 1 minute
- About 5 minutes (Correct answer)
- About 20 minutes
Correct answer: About 5 minutes
Delayed recall occurs roughly five minutes later, after the intervening tasks.
The MoCA is designed so that the attention, sentence repetition, verbal fluency, and abstraction tasks are administered between word learning and delayed recall. This produces a delay of approximately five minutes. The delay is what makes the task a test of episodic memory rather than simple short-term retention.
Question 6: A patient spontaneously recalls 'Face', 'Church', and 'Red' at delayed recall. With a category cue they also produce 'Velvet', and with multiple choice they identify 'Daisy'. How many memory points are awarded?
- 5 points
- 4 points
- 3 points (Correct answer)
- 2 points
Correct answer: 3 points
Only words recalled without any cue count toward the score, so 3 points.
The MoCA awards one point for each of the five words recalled freely, with no prompting. Here three words were recalled spontaneously, so the score is 3 out of 5. Words retrieved after a category cue or a multiple-choice cue are noted for clinical interpretation but do not add points to the total score.
MoCA Memory Recall
How many words does the examiner read aloud in the MoCA memory registration task?