Task library
Classic cognitive tasks you can try, then run
Each page explains one standard paradigm: how it works, what people usually find and how to score it. Try a short version in your browser, with nothing recorded, then use the same template in a study of your own.
Flanker task
Respond to the middle arrow and ignore the ones around it. A two-minute measure of how well attention filters out conflicting information.
N-back task
Press when the letter on screen matches the one from two steps back. The standard way to load working memory and see how well people keep up.
Go / No-Go task
Press fast for green, hold back for red. Because green comes up most of the time, stopping on red is harder than it sounds.
Stop-signal task
Respond to the arrow, unless it turns red just after it appears. It measures how quickly you can cancel a response that is already on its way.
Posner cueing task
An arrow hints where a target will appear. When the hint is right you respond faster, which shows attention moving before your eyes do.
Visual search task
Find the T among the Ls. The more letters on screen, the longer it takes, and that slope shows how attention scans a scene.
Iowa Gambling Task
Pick cards from four decks to win play money. Two decks pay more per card but lose in the long run, and most people work out which ones without being told.
Digit span test
Watch a string of digits, then type it back. The longest string you get right is your digit span, one of the oldest measures in psychology.
Corsi block-tapping test
Blocks light up one after another and you tap them back in the same order. The spatial counterpart of the digit span.
Mental rotation task
Is the rotated letter normal or mirror-reversed? The further it is turned, the longer you take, as if you were turning it in your head.
Also try
The Stroop effect and the Implicit Association Test
In-depth write-ups with the open questions still worth answering →
The gallery has more than 50 ready-made tasks, from questionnaires to reinforcement learning. Missing one you need? Describe it to the AI builder, or tell us which to write up next.
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