The simplest is on they give on yearly SS well exams: during the conversation the evaluator will say three names like “table, rock, elevator” and then about 5 minutes later as you to recall them. 2/3 is passing IIRC. He couldn’t do any, I bet.
No test is foolproof. But a good test is to ask the person to draw a clock, then place the hour and minute hands to read, say, 7:15.
I suppose this test will eventually have to be discarded, as everything is digital for today’s young folks.
I remembered all three each time. The way to do it is to start repeating the three in one’s head and keep on with that repetition until the conversation that’s designed to divert you is over and the examiner asks you to repeat the three words. There is also the clock problem where the examiner asks the patient to draw a clock face with the time at 1110. The way to do that is to put in noon at the top and six at the bottom then fill in the three and the nine at the side. From there it becomes pretty easy to draw the hour hand and the minute hand. I am 81, and the mere fact that I am able to come up with this procedure for dealing with those questions does a pretty good job of saying that I’ve still got a lot of cognitive recognition, which is very clear Joe does not have.