Executive Function
Anagram Task
Also called: anagram solving task, anagram problems, word scramble task, unscramble the word
Measure verbal problem solving: participants unscramble five letters into an English word before a countdown runs out.
6-10 minUntimed
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.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 59
- Evidence grade
- C
- Registered clinical studies
- 2
What it measures
Measures verbal problem solving. Participants see five scrambled letters and type the English word they spell, trying again after a wrong word, with 30 seconds per anagram by default. The main score is the number of anagrams solved. The words are in English.
Constructs
- Verbal problem solving
- Lexical search
- Insight
Research uses
- Problem-solving and insight research
- Motivation and persistence research
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
An anagram task asks a person to rearrange scrambled letters into a word, a classic test of verbal problem solving. Since Mayzner and Tresselt (1958), anagram studies have asked how the order of the letters and the solution word affect solution time; in Gilhooly and Johnson's (1978) regression over 80 five-letter anagrams, the significant predictors of solution were letter-pair (bigram) measures, the starting letter and the anagram's likeness to its solution, not the word's frequency or imagery. Novick and Sherman (2003) found that skilled solvers often have a solution pop into mind, and anagrams are widely used in research on insight (Bowden 1997).
More about the paradigm
The 36 anagrams here were made for this test: five-letter English nouns whose letters make no other English word, 12 in each of three bands of word frequency. Each word has one fixed scramble, the same in every session, in which every letter moves and no two neighboring letters of the word stay together in order. A session shows 24 by default, or 12 or 36 as a setting, a third from each band, in an order drawn from the session's random seed. Each anagram has 30 seconds by default, 15 to 60 as a setting, with a countdown bar. The participant types a word and presses Enter; a word that is not the answer clears the box and is saved, and the participant can try again until the time runs out. Two practice anagrams show the answer; the test does not. The words are English; sessions run in other languages are flagged for review. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Anagrams Solvedcount
- Anagrams whose word was submitted within the time limit.
- Higher means more anagrams solved
- Percent Solved%
- Anagrams solved as a percent of those presented.
- Higher means more solved; use it to compare sessions of different lengths
- Median Solution Timems
- Median time from an anagram's appearance to the submission of its word, over solved anagrams, leaving out submissions under 100 ms.
- Lower means faster solutions; it covers solved anagrams only
- Percent Solved, Common Words%
- Percent solved among anagrams of the most common words (Zipf 4.6 or more).
- Higher means more solved
- Percent Solved, Middle Words%
- Percent solved among anagrams of words of middle frequency (Zipf 4.0 to 4.6).
- Higher means more solved
- Percent Solved, Less Common Words%
- Percent solved among anagrams of the least common words (Zipf 3.4 to 4.0).
- Higher means more solved
- Wrong Wordscount
- Submitted words that were not the answer.
- Describes how readily words were tried
- Not Solvedcount
- Anagrams whose time ran out before their word was submitted.
- A normal result on hard anagrams
- Anagrams Attempteditems
- Anagrams with a submitted word, or with text in the box when the time ran out.
- Fewer than 20% of those presented is invalid
- Anagrams Presenteditems
- Anagrams shown in the scored run.
- Fewer than 75% of those set is invalid
- Anagrams Setitems
- Anagrams the session set out to show.
- 12, 24 or 36
- Submissions Under 100 mscount
- Words submitted within 100 ms of an anagram's appearance.
- Expected to be 0
- Paste Attemptscount
- Blocked attempts to paste or drop text into the answer box.
- Any is flagged for review
Use and evidence
59 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 27% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 241 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 10 |
| 2024 | 9 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2021 | 21 |
| 2020 | 18 |
| 2019 | 15 |
| 2018 | 16 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2016 | 17 |
| 2015 | 21 |
| 2014 | 23 |
| 2013 | 22 |
| 2012 | 19 |
| 2011 | 14 |
| 2010 | 13 |
| 2009 | 19 |
| 2008 | 15 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2006 | 5 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2004 | 7 |
| 2003 | 4 |
| 2002 | 10 |
| 2001 | 5 |
| 2000 | 3 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade C
At least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 2
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 31
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 2
How the grades work
Use: A is 1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025, B 300 to 999, C 100 to 299, D 30 to 99 and E fewer than 30. Evidence: A means at least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome; B, at least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers; C, at least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies; D, little published measurement evidence found. The counts measure use. They include every paper that names the task in its title or abstract. Grades describe the published research on this task, not ConductCognition's version of it.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Anagrams
- 36 written for this test: five-letter English nouns whose letters make no other English word, 12 in each of 3 bands of word frequency.
- Scrambles
- One fixed scramble per word, the same in every session: every letter moves, no two neighboring letters of the word stay together in order, and the scramble starts with a consonant.
- Session
- 24 anagrams by default, or 12 or 36 as a setting, a third from each band, in an order drawn from the session's seed with no more than 2 of one band in a row. All of it is saved.
- Time limit
- 30 seconds per anagram by default, 15 to 60 as a setting, with a countdown bar.
- Answer
- Typed with autocorrect off and submitted with Enter or a button. A word that is not the answer is saved with its time, clears the box, and can be followed by more tries until the time runs out.
- Practice
- 2 anagrams outside the set, each followed by its answer. The test does not show answers.
The words and scrambles were chosen by rule for this test; no published anagram list is used. The words are English; sessions run in other languages are flagged for review.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: anagram_task_item from the scored run, one anagram each, solved when its word is typed within the time limit. Typed answers have no chance level, so accuracy is not judged against chance, and a time-out is a normal result on a hard anagram. Fewer than 75% of the anagrams set presented invalidates, and so does fewer than 20% of those presented attempted. First answers under 200 ms on at least half of 4 or more answered anagrams invalidate. A blocked paste or a session run in another language is flagged for review. A hidden tab withholds the percentile.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. A low score is the result the test measures and never invalidates, but with almost nothing typed, a low score cannot be told from no effort, so too few attempts invalidate. A score over a much shorter session cannot be compared with a full one. A blocked paste can mean answers were being looked up; it is flagged. An answer under 200 ms is faster than a simple visual reaction, so it cannot reflect the item. Following response-time effort screening for untimed tests (Wise and Kong 2005), the session is invalid only when at least half the answers are that fast. The anagrams are English words. A session run in another language asks a participant who may not know English well to find English words, so it is flagged for review. A hidden tab lets the study, delay or response timers run without the participant, so a percentile is withheld after one.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Anagrams | 24 anagrams (standard) | 12 anagrams, 24 anagrams (standard), 36 anagrams |
| Time per anagram (seconds) | 30 | 15 to 60 |
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
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. Participant devices
- Instructions and screens: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. Words and sentences: English.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Anagram Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Mayzner & Tresselt, 1958; Gilhooly & Johnson, 1978), with the standard settings (anagrams: 24 anagrams; time per anagram (seconds): 30). The main score was anagrams solved (anagrams whose word was submitted within the time limit).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Mayzner, M. S., & Tresselt, M. E. (1958). Anagram solution times: A function of letter order and word frequency. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 56(4), 376-379. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0041542
- Gilhooly, K. J., & Johnson, C. E. (1978). Effects of solution word attributes on anagram difficulty: A regression analysis. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 30(1), 57-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/14640747808400654
- Bowden, E. M. (1997). The effect of reportable and unreportable hints on anagram solution and the aha! experience. Consciousness and Cognition, 6(4), 545-573. https://doi.org/10.1006/ccog.1997.0325
- Novick, L. R., & Sherman, S. J. (2003). On the nature of insight solutions: Evidence from skill differences in anagram solution. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 56(2), 351-382. https://doi.org/10.1080/02724980244000288
Source papers
- Gilhooly KJ, Johnson CE (1978). Effects of solution word attributes on anagram difficulty: A regression analysis. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 30(1):57-70.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Anagram Task take?
About 6 to 10 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Anagrams Solved, Percent Solved, Median Solution Time, Percent Solved, Common Words, Percent Solved, Middle Words, Percent Solved, Less Common Words, Wrong Words, Not Solved, Anagrams Attempted, Anagrams Presented, Anagrams Set, Submissions Under 100 ms and Paste Attempts. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Anagram Task used in research?
59 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 27% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 241 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Anagram Task have?
In the published research, 2 papers report its test-retest reliability and 2 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade C in the ConductCognition test census).
Which settings can a researcher change?
Anagrams (12 anagrams, 24 anagrams (standard), 36 anagrams) and time per anagram (seconds) (15 to 60). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
The instructions and screens are in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. The words and sentences stay in English, so sessions in other languages are flagged for review. English is on every plan, and the other languages come with yearly plans. Have a native speaker read the machine-translated text before launch.
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.