Reasoning
Chart Questions Task
Also called: graph literacy, graph comprehension, chart reading questions
Measure how people read values, compare data and draw conclusions from bar, line and pie charts, with original questions in eight languages.
5-8 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Try it here first, with no account.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 51
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
How many books are on shelf B?
What it measures
Measure how people read values, compare data and draw conclusions from bar, line and pie charts. Participants type numeric answers to original questions in eight languages, with no time limit.
Constructs
- Graph comprehension
- Reading quantitative information
- Reasoning from charts
Research uses
- Science communication research
- Graph literacy research
- Within-study comparisons
How the paradigm works
Graph comprehension involves reading values, comparing data and drawing conclusions. Research on graph literacy examines whether people understand common graphical formats (Galesic and Garcia-Retamero, 2011).
More about the paradigm
This task presents nine fixed original charts: three bar charts, three line charts and three pie charts. Each chart type has a value question, a comparison and a conclusion question. Researchers can select all types or one type alone. The session seed sets the question order. Participants type numeric answers while each chart remains visible, with no time limit. One separate practice question gives feedback; the test gives none. The questions and descriptions are written in eight languages.
Scores
- Questions correctcount
- Number of correct numeric answers, out of 9 or 3 according to the setting.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Accuracy%
- All questions in the scored run: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Bar chart accuracy%
- Questions with bar charts: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Line chart accuracy%
- Questions with line charts: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Pie chart accuracy%
- Questions with pie charts: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Value accuracy%
- Reading a value: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Comparison accuracy%
- Comparing values: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Conclusion accuracy%
- Drawing a conclusion from values: proportion correct, with blank answers incorrect and empty subsets null.
- Higher means more correct answers
- Blank answerscount
- Questions submitted with no answer.
- Describes unanswered questions
- Questions answeredcount
- Questions submitted with a nonblank answer.
- At least half of planned questions required
- Questions showncount
- Submitted questions in the scored run.
- 9 or 3 in a completed run
- Planned questionscount
- Question count set before the session.
- 9 for all chart types, 3 for one type
- Median time per questionms
- Median response time among nonblank answers at or after 100 ms.
- Describes pace, not a speed score
- Answers under 100 mscount
- Nonblank answers given in under 100 ms.
- Expected to be 0
Use and evidence
51 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 55% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 357 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 11 |
| 2024 | 5 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2022 | 8 |
| 2021 | 12 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2019 | 7 |
| 2018 | 6 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2016 | 7 |
| 2015 | 6 |
| 2014 | 0 |
| 2013 | 6 |
| 2012 | 3 |
| 2011 | 3 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 8
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 1
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: Original fixed charts and questions; no published Graph Literacy Scale items or norms..
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 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Charts
- 9 fixed original charts: 3 bar charts, 3 line charts and 3 pie charts. Each type has one question about a value, one comparison and one conclusion. No published Graph Literacy Scale items are used.
- Settings
- All chart types by default, or bar, line or pie charts alone for 3 questions. The session seed sets the question order, with every item used once.
- Displays
- Bar and line charts use a 0 to 60 vertical scale with ticks every 10. Line charts show days 1 to 4. Pie charts show four labeled sectors with percentages. Charts are drawn by code from the fixed item values.
- Answer
- Type a number, including for percentage questions. The chart stays visible until submission. No calculator, no time limit and no feedback during the test.
- Practice
- 1 separate practice question in the selected chart type, or a bar chart for all types, with the correct answer shown. A 1000 ms lead-in and a 300 ms gap between questions.
- Scores
- Questions correct is primary. Accuracy is also reported overall, by chart type and by question kind, from 0 to 1. Blank answers count as incorrect; unshown chart types stay empty.
- Languages
- Questions and chart descriptions are written in all eight languages. Compare runs with the same language and chart setting.
These original questions measure performance on this set of charts. They are not the published Graph Literacy Scale, and no published norms or percentiles are applied.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: chart_questions_item from the run with the most completed questions, latest on ties. Typed numbers have no chance level. Answering fewer than half the planned questions invalidates. An incomplete run is flagged. Answers under 200 ms on at least half of four or more answers invalidate. A hidden tab is flagged.
Why these rules
Reading values and reasoning from a chart are measured by original untimed numeric questions. Low accuracy is the result of interest and never invalidates by itself. At least half the planned questions must be attempted for interpretation. Extremely fast answers cannot follow a newly presented chart; a hidden tab may permit outside help and is flagged.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Chart types | All types | All types, Bar charts, Line charts, Pie charts |
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
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- No percentile. Scores and quality flags only. How norms work
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Chart Questions Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Galesic & Garcia-Retamero, 2011), with the standard settings (chart types: All types). The main score was questions correct (number of correct numeric answers, out of 9 or 3 according to the setting).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Galesic, M., & Garcia-Retamero, R. (2011). Graph literacy: A cross-cultural comparison. Medical Decision Making, 31(3), 444-457. https://doi.org/10.1177/0272989X10373805
Source papers
- Galesic, M., & Garcia-Retamero, R. (2011). Graph literacy: A cross-cultural comparison. Medical Decision Making, 31(3), 444-457.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Chart Questions Task take?
About 5 to 8 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?
Questions correct, Accuracy, Bar chart accuracy, Line chart accuracy, Pie chart accuracy, Value accuracy, Comparison accuracy, Conclusion accuracy, Blank answers, Questions answered, Questions shown, Planned questions, Median time per question and Answers under 100 ms. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Chart Questions Task used in research?
51 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 55% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 357 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 10 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Chart Questions Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Chart types (All types, Bar charts, Line charts, Pie charts). Settings can be changed on yearly plans; free and pay-as-you-go studies use the standard settings.
Which languages can participants use?
Participants can take this test in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese, with its words in the same language. 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
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