Battery guide
Pilot Screening Battery guide
Four short tests for a first run with remote participants, to check feasibility and data quality.
- Guide version
- 1.0.0
- Battery version
- 1.0.0
What it measures
Who it is for: Evaluation or dissertation pilots.
It measures Psychomotor speed, Decision speed, Selective attention and Interference cost and inhibition.
Processing speed: How quickly people take in information and respond.
Attention: Keeping attention on a task and picking out what matters.
Executive function: Planning, switching rules, handling conflict and making decisions.
Scores describe how a person performs on these tasks. Research use only.
Tests in order
The tests run in this order. A study started from the battery keeps the order and the settings.
1. Simple Reaction Time. Measures basic processing speed by asking participants to respond as quickly as possible when a stimulus appears on screen.
2. Choice Reaction Time. Measures attention and decision speed by requiring participants to select the correct response based on which stimulus appears.
3. Eriksen Flanker Task. Measures selective attention and cognitive control by requiring participants to identify the direction of a central arrow while ignoring flanking arrows.
4. Stroop Color-Word Test. Measures cognitive inhibition by asking participants to identify the ink color of color words, creating interference between reading and color naming.
| Order | Test | Domain | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simple Reaction Time | Processing speed | 2 to 3 minutes |
| 2 | Choice Reaction Time | Attention | 3 to 4 minutes |
| 3 | Eriksen Flanker Task | Attention | 4 to 5 minutes |
| 4 | Stroop Color-Word Test | Executive function | 4 to 6 minutes |
Time and devices
Allow about 15 minutes for the whole battery. The table gives each test's time.
The battery has timed tests. Participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad, and the timed tests run in full screen. Tablets and phones cannot run it.
On a desktop or laptop the screen must be at least 1024 by 700 pixels.
Participants need Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
| Test | Timing | Devices |
|---|---|---|
| Simple Reaction Time | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
| Choice Reaction Time | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
How to give it
Start a study from the battery in the app. The tests, their order and their settings are already set and stay fixed. If you change, reorder or customize a test, the study becomes a custom study and no longer carries the battery.
Each test opens with its instructions. Participants see these:
Simple Reaction Time: Press the spacebar as quickly as you can when you see the target appear on screen.
Choice Reaction Time: Press the LEFT arrow key if the stimulus appears on the left, or the RIGHT arrow key if it appears on the right. Respond as quickly and accurately as you can.
Eriksen Flanker Task: Focus on the MIDDLE arrow and indicate its direction. Press the LEFT arrow key if the middle arrow points left, or the RIGHT arrow key if it points right. Ignore the surrounding arrows.
Stroop Color-Word Test: You will see color words displayed in different ink colors. Press the key that matches the INK COLOR, not the word itself. R=Red, G=Green, B=Blue, Y=Yellow.
| Step | Before you invite participants |
|---|---|
| 1 | Verify consent copy and IRB language before activation. |
| 2 | Run the participant link yourself on a laptop and phone browser. |
| 3 | Use 5 to 10 pilot participants before broad recruitment. |
How each test is scored
The server scores each test when the participant finishes it. The primary score is the one the app compares with a norm. The other scores are reported with it.
Every result records its scoring version. For this battery they are Simple Reaction Time 1.0.0, Choice Reaction Time 1.0.0, Eriksen Flanker Task 1.0.0 and Stroop Color-Word Test 1.0.1.
| Test | Score | What it is | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Reaction Time | Mean Reaction Time (ms, primary) | Average reaction time across valid trials, excluding anticipatory responses (<100ms). | Lower is better |
| Simple Reaction Time | Median Reaction Time (ms) | Median reaction time, more robust to outliers than the mean. Preferred when the RT distribution is skewed. | Lower is better |
| Simple Reaction Time | RT Standard Deviation (ms) | Standard deviation of reaction times. Reflects response consistency (intraindividual variability). Elevated IIV is a biomarker for cognitive decline. | Lower is better |
| Simple Reaction Time | Minimum RT (ms) | Informational | |
| Simple Reaction Time | Maximum RT (ms) | Slowest response recorded. May indicate lapses in attention. | Informational |
| Simple Reaction Time | Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion of trials with a valid response. Expected near ceiling for healthy participants. | Higher is better |
| Choice Reaction Time | Mean Reaction Time (ms, primary) | Average RT on correct trials only. Primary measure of decision speed. | Lower is better |
| Choice Reaction Time | Median Reaction Time (ms) | Median RT on correct trials, robust to outliers. | Lower is better |
| Choice Reaction Time | RT Standard Deviation (ms) | Variability in reaction times across correct trials. | Lower is better |
| Choice Reaction Time | Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion of correct responses (correct key pressed). | Higher is better |
| Choice Reaction Time | Correct Trials | Number of trials with a correct response. | Higher is better |
| Choice Reaction Time | Error Trials | Number of trials with an incorrect key press. | Lower is better |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Congruent RT (ms) | Average RT on congruent trials (all arrows same direction). | Lower is better |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Incongruent RT (ms) | Average RT on incongruent trials (flankers oppose target). | Lower is better |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Flanker Effect (ms, primary) | Incongruent RT minus congruent RT. Primary measure of interference cost. Higher values indicate greater susceptibility to distraction. | Lower is better |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Congruent Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion correct on congruent trials. Expected near ceiling. | Higher is better |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Incongruent Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion correct on incongruent trials. More sensitive to attentional deficits than congruent accuracy. | Higher is better |
| Eriksen Flanker Task | Overall Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion correct across all trial types. | Higher is better |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Congruent RT (ms) | Average RT when word meaning matches ink color. | Lower is better |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Incongruent RT (ms) | Average RT when word meaning conflicts with ink color. | Lower is better |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Stroop Effect (ms, primary) | Incongruent RT minus congruent RT. Primary measure of interference cost from automaticity. | Lower is better |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Interference Score | (Incongruent RT - Neutral RT) / Neutral RT. Ratio-based measure controlling for baseline processing speed. | Lower is better |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Congruent Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion correct on congruent trials. | Higher is better |
| Stroop Color-Word Test | Incongruent Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion correct on incongruent trials. More sensitive than congruent accuracy. | Higher is better |
Session quality rules
The app checks every session when it scores it and records one of four states.
An Invalid session stays in the study's results, labelled with its reason, and does not count toward norms.
A session can carry warnings and still be valid. The results list the warnings next to the scores.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Norm-ready | The session passed every check and a norm exists for it, so the app can show a percentile. |
| Raw-only | The scores are usable, but the app shows no percentile. Typical reasons are no norm for the test, changed settings, or a warning that makes a comparison unfair, such as a restart or a screen too short for the display. |
| Invalid technical | The setup broke the timing or the task. Examples are leaving full screen, a browser tab that lost focus during a timed test, and long pauses. |
| Invalid behavioral | The responses suggest the task was not done as asked. Examples are a failed attention check, repeated switching away from the task, and accuracy at or below chance on a choice task. |
Published norms used
No published norm is used for any test in this battery.
ConductCognition also builds norms from its own participants. An age band of a test uses them once it holds at least 50 valid sessions on the same device and input type, run with standard settings and scored with the current scoring version. Sessions from paying customers' studies and from clinical or patient samples do not count.
A report shows a percentile only when the app has stored one for that session. Otherwise it shows the raw scores.
How to cite
ConductScience, Inc. Pilot Screening Battery guide, version 1.0.0. ConductCognition. https://conductcognition.com/batteries/pilot-screen/guide
Cite the guide version you used. Name the battery version (1.0.0) and the scoring versions listed in this guide.