Flanker Interference Test

A flanker task: answer the direction of the middle arrow out of five. The gap between your mean reaction time on opposite-flanker trials and matching ones is your attentional interference.

How to use

  1. A fixation cross flashes, then five arrows appear.
  2. Answer the middle arrow with the left/right buttons or the arrow keys.
  3. After 40 trials you get your interference figure and both condition times.

Adult flanker effects are usually reported around 40–60 ms. Smaller means you stayed on the centre arrow instead of being pulled by its neighbours.

Below 80% accuracy the interference figure is flagged as untrustworthy — mashing either button quickly drives it toward zero.

FAQ

How is this different from a Stroop test?

Both measure interference, but the stimulus differs. Stroop needs you to read colour words, which ties it to a language; the flanker task only shows arrow directions, so it is the same task anywhere.

Why 40 trials?

Interference is a difference between two condition means, so a handful of trials makes it noisy. Twenty per condition steadies it.

What happens when I get one wrong?

That trial counts as an error and is left out of the interference figure. Accuracy is shown separately in the result.

Related tools

  • Reaction Time Test — Click the instant the screen turns green. Your grade comes from the median of 5 tries.
  • Matrix Reasoning Test — Find the rule in a 3×3 grid and fill the empty cell. Items are generated fresh every run.
  • Aim Accuracy Test — Hit as many targets as you can in 30 seconds — hit count plus accuracy.
  • Memory Span Test — Repeat the order tiles flash in to measure spatial working memory (Corsi block task).