| Task | Instructions | Scoring | Maximum |
| Date Orientation | "Tell me the date." Ask for omitted items. | One point each for year, season, date, day of week, and month | 5 |
| Place Orientation | "Where are you?" Ask for omitted items. | One point each for state, county, town, building, and floor or room | 5 |
| Register 3 Objects | Name three objects slowly and clearly. Ask the patient to repeat them. | One point for each item correctly repeated | 3 |
| Serial Sevens | Ask the patient to count backward from 100 by 7. Stop after five answers. (Or ask the patient to spell "world" backward.) | One point for each correct answer (or letter) | 5 |
| Recall 3 Objects | Ask the patient to recall the objects mentioned above. | One point for each item correctly remembered | 3 |
| Naming | Point to your watch and ask the patient, "What is this?" Repeat with a pencil. | One point for each correct answer | 2 |
| Repeating a Phrase | Ask the patient to say "no ifs, ands, or buts." | One point if successful on first try | 1 |
| Verbal Commands | Give the patient a plain piece of paper and say, "Take this paper in your right hand, fold it in half, and put it on the floor." | One point for each correct action | 3 |
| Written Commands | Show the patient a piece of paper with "CLOSE YOUR EYES" printed on it. | One point if the patient's eyes close | 1 |
| Writing | Ask the patient to write a sentence. | One point if sentence has a subject and verb and makes sense | 1 |
| Drawing | Ask the patient to copy a pair of intersecting pentagons onto a piece of paper. | One point if the figure has ten corners and two intersecting lines | 1 |
Adapted from Folstein, M.F.; Folstein, S.E.; McHugh, P.R. "Mini-mental state." A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research 1975, 12(3):189-198.