How long does the Affective Go/No-Go Task take?
About 5 to 6 minutes, as listed in the test library.
Response Inhibition
Affective Go/No-Go Task
Measure emotional response inhibition with alternating positive-word and negative-word target rules.
Useful for affective-bias studies, mood-state research, and CANTAB-adjacent inhibition batteries.
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Preview any test free after you sign up.
Response inhibition5-6 minTimed: desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad
Preview
Cognitive test preview
What this task measures
Measures affective response inhibition by asking participants to respond to words from one emotional valence while withholding responses to the other.
Core constructs
- Affective response inhibition
- Emotional flexibility
- Valence bias
- Set switching
Research fit
- Affective inhibition studies
- Mood-state and emotional-bias research
- Response inhibition batteries
- CANTAB-comparison workflows where licensed AGN word sets are not available
Paradigm overview
Affective Go/No-Go adapts the go/no-go inhibition paradigm to emotional word stimuli. Each block designates a target valence, and participants respond to target-valence words while withholding responses to non-target words.
The browser version alternates positive-go and negative-go rules to capture affective switching, omission errors, commission errors, and response-time asymmetry. The current stimuli are a public-domain starter word set rather than ANEW or NRC VAD data, avoiding restricted lexicon redistribution while preserving the task structure.
Key scoring outputs
Affective Shift Cost
msMean response time on the first target word after the target category changes, minus mean response time on the other target words. Presses on target words only.
Lower is better
Positive Target RT
msMean response time on correct positive-target trials.
Lower is better
Negative Target RT
msMean response time on correct negative-target trials.
Lower is better
Positive-Rule Commissions
countResponses made to non-target words in positive-target blocks.
Lower is better
Negative-Rule Commissions
countResponses made to non-target words in negative-target blocks.
Lower is better
Positive-Rule Omissions
countMissed responses to positive targets.
Lower is better
Negative-Rule Omissions
countMissed responses to negative targets.
Lower is better
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Blocks per valence rule | 2 | 1 to 4 |
| Trials per block | 18 | 12 to 36 |
| Word display (ms) | 300 | 150 to 1,000 |
| Response window (ms) | 1,500 | 800 to 3,000 |
Yearly plans can change settings within these limits. Free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. Participant devices
- Task text: English.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite this test
Paradigm source: Murphy FC et al. (1999).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.1.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
Source papers
Murphy FC et al. (1999), Erickson K et al. (2005), and Rubinsztein JS et al. (2006) healthy-control AGN samples.
N 11618-79
Research FAQ
Common questions about this online cognitive test
What device does a participant need?
Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Affective Shift Cost, Positive Target RT, Negative Target RT, Positive-Rule Commissions, Negative-Rule Commissions, Positive-Rule Omissions and Negative-Rule Omissions. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Blocks per valence rule (1 to 4), trials per block (12 to 36), word display (ms) (150 to 1,000) and response window (ms) (800 to 3,000). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
The test's own text is in English. Participant pages can be in Italian on yearly plans, but this test's screens stay in English.
Is this a clinical test?
No. ConductCognition is for research use only. It runs, scores and exports the test; clinical interpretation is outside the platform.
Every test: the full test list.
Run this test in your next study
Start free with 10 free participants on any test, then use participant credits or a yearly plan.