Episodic Memory
Cognitive Offloading Task
Also called: intention offloading task, intention offloading paradigm, reminder setting task, offloading delayed intentions, external reminders
Drag numbered circles in order and take special ones to another edge, in rounds with and without reminders. Measures how often people set reminders and what they gain.
7-10 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
- 286
- Evidence grade
- C
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
Measures when people set reminders instead of relying on memory, and what reminders gain them. Numbered circles are dragged in order to the bottom of a box, and a few special circles to another side. In some rounds any circle can be moved early, next to its side, as a reminder.
Constructs
- Cognitive offloading
- Delayed intentions
- Prospective memory
- Metacognition
Research uses
- Memory and aging research
- Research on reminder use and metacognition
- Prospective memory research
How the paradigm works
The Cognitive Offloading Task measures when people set reminders instead of relying on memory, and what the reminders gain them. It follows the intention offloading task of Gilbert (2015). In each round, circles numbered 1 to 10 sit in a box, and the participant drags them in order to the bottom edge, where each one disappears. A card before the round names a few special circles, each to be taken to the left, top or right edge instead: an intention held for a few seconds while the other circles are moved.
More about the paradigm
In remember rounds only the next circle in order can move, so the special circles must be kept in mind, as in Gilbert's Experiment 1b. In reminder rounds any circle can move at any time, so a special circle can be dragged next to its edge at the start of the round, where its place reminds the participant when its turn comes, as in Experiment 1a. The instructions explain this and say that it is optional. The standard session has 8 rounds of each kind with 3 special circles in each: 4 remember rounds, then the 8 reminder rounds, then 4 more remember rounds, so practice and tiredness fall evenly on both kinds. One practice round of each kind, with feedback, comes before the first round of its kind. Settings allow 4 to 12 rounds of each kind and 1 to 5 special circles per round.
A special circle counts as right when the first edge it is taken to on its turn is its own. A circle taken to an edge where it does not belong stays in the box, and a special circle taken to the bottom leaves it, as in Gilbert's task. The main score is the offloading rate: in the reminder rounds, the share of special circles moved before their turn, minus the share of the other circles moved before theirs, which takes out moves that were not reminders (Gilbert 2015; Chiu and Gilbert 2024). The accuracy gain is the share of special circles right in the reminder rounds minus the share in the remember rounds. Accuracy for special circles that were and were not moved early, the time each kind of round took, and the errors are also reported.
Gilbert found that people set more reminders when they had more to remember and when they were interrupted, that setting reminders improved performance, and that individuals tended to set reminders on nearly every trial or on none. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Offloading Rate%
- In reminder rounds, the share of special circles moved before their turn minus the share of the other circles moved before theirs.
- Higher means more reminders were set; no better direction
- Accuracy Gain With Reminders%
- Share of special circles taken to their edge in reminder rounds minus the share in remember rounds.
- Positive when the rounds that allowed reminders went better
- Accuracy, Reminder Rounds%
- Share of special circles whose first edge on their turn was their own, in reminder rounds.
- Higher is better
- Accuracy, Remember Rounds%
- Share of special circles whose first edge on their turn was their own, in remember rounds.
- Higher is better
- Special Circles Moved Early%
- Share of special circles in reminder rounds moved before their turn.
- Context for the offloading rate
- Other Circles Moved Early%
- Share of the other circles from 2 to 10 moved before their turn in reminder rounds.
- Context for the offloading rate
- Accuracy With a Reminder%
- Share right among the special circles moved early in reminder rounds.
- Higher is better
- Accuracy Without a Reminder%
- Share right among the special circles not moved early in reminder rounds.
- Higher is better
- Special Circles Forgottencount
- Special circles first taken to the bottom edge, in all rounds.
- Lower is better
- Wrong-Edge Dropscount
- Circles taken on their turn to an edge where they did not belong.
- Lower is better
- Round Time, Remember Roundsms
- Median time from the start of a remember round to its last circle leaving the box.
- Context for the accuracy
- Round Time, Reminder Roundsms
- Median time from the start of a reminder round to its last circle leaving the box.
- Setting reminders takes time
- Anticipationscount
- Circles that left the box under 100 ms after the circle before them.
- Lower is better
- Rounds Scoredcount
- Rounds recorded in the scored run.
- Informational
Use and evidence
286 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 309% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 95 of 495 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 163 |
| 2024 | 52 |
| 2023 | 28 |
| 2022 | 20 |
| 2021 | 23 |
| 2020 | 28 |
| 2019 | 24 |
| 2018 | 12 |
| 2017 | 1 |
| 2016 | 5 |
| 2015 | 4 |
| 2014 | 5 |
| 2013 | 3 |
| 2012 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade C
100 to 299 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
- 4
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 115
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
Note on the counts: many recent papers discuss AI tools and run no task.
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 0.22.0, counted 3 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Rounds
- Each round shows circles 1 to 10 in a box, dragged in order to its bottom edge. A card before the round names 3 special circles (standard; 1 to 5), from circles 3 to 10, each to be taken to the left, top or right edge instead.
- Remember rounds
- Only the next circle in order can move, so the special circles are held in mind. 8 rounds (standard; 4 to 12): half before the reminder rounds and half after.
- Reminder rounds
- Any circle can move at any time, so a special circle can be set next to its edge as a reminder. The instructions say that this is optional. As many rounds as the remember rounds.
- Errors
- A circle taken to an edge where it does not belong stays in the box; a special circle taken to the bottom edge leaves it.
- Scores
- The offloading rate: in reminder rounds, the share of special circles moved before their turn minus the share of the other circles moved before theirs. The accuracy gain: special circles taken first to their own edge in reminder rounds minus remember rounds.
- Practice
- One round of each kind, with feedback, before the first round of its kind: 1 special circle, then 2.
Gilbert (2015) built this task to study how people offload intentions: they set more reminders when they had more to remember or were interrupted, and reminders improved their accuracy. The box, the circles and the rounds are drawn by our code; no published layout is used. Setting reminders is a strategy with no better amount, so the scores describe how a person handled the task. They are research measures: compare groups or conditions rather than ranking people.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: cognitive_offloading_round from the scored run, one per round, with every circle's drops. Setting a reminder is a choice and a special circle taken to the bottom is a forgotten intention, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Circles that leave the box under 200 ms after the circle before them, on at least half of the circles, invalidate. Fewer rounds than planned is flagged and withholds the percentile. No special circle taken to its side, and other circles moved early on at least half their chances in the reminder rounds, are flagged. A hidden tab is flagged.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. 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. Forgetting every special circle can be a real result, so it is flagged rather than invalidated; so is moving every circle early, which the offloading rate corrects for but which may mean the circles were rearranged rather than set as reminders. A run cut short has fewer rounds of one kind than the other.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds of each kind | 8 | 4 to 12 |
| Special circles per round | 3 | 1 to 5 |
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 Cognitive Offloading Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Gilbert, 2015), with the standard settings (rounds of each kind: 8; special circles per round: 3). The main score was offloading rate (in reminder rounds, the share of special circles moved before their turn minus the share of the other circles moved before theirs).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Gilbert, S. J. (2015). Strategic offloading of delayed intentions into the external environment. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68(5), 971-992. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470218.2014.972963The task: circles dragged in order, special circles taken to other edges, and reminders set by moving them early.
- Chiu, G., & Gilbert, S. J. (2024). Influence of the physical effort of reminder-setting on strategic offloading of delayed intentions. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77(6), 1295-1311. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218231199977Rounds that fix every circle but the next, and the offloading rate corrected for other circles moved early.
- Gilbert, S. J., Boldt, A., Sachdeva, C., Scarampi, C., & Tsai, P.-C. (2023). Outsourcing memory to external tools: A review of ‘intention offloading’. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 30(1), 60-76. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-022-02139-4A review of the studies that used this task.
- Risko, E. F., & Gilbert, S. J. (2016). Cognitive offloading. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 20(9), 676-688. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2016.07.002
Source papers
- Gilbert SJ (2015). Strategic offloading of delayed intentions into the external environment. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 68(5):971-992.Paradigm source
- Chiu G, Gilbert SJ (2024). Influence of the physical effort of reminder-setting on strategic offloading of delayed intentions. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 77(6):1295-1311.Paradigm source
Questions
How long does the Cognitive Offloading Task take?
About 7 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?
Offloading Rate, Accuracy Gain With Reminders, Accuracy, Reminder Rounds, Accuracy, Remember Rounds, Special Circles Moved Early, Other Circles Moved Early, Accuracy With a Reminder, Accuracy Without a Reminder, Special Circles Forgotten, Wrong-Edge Drops, Round Time, Remember Rounds, Round Time, Reminder Rounds, Anticipations and Rounds Scored. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Cognitive Offloading Task used in research?
286 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 309% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 95 of 495 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade C). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.22.0, counted 3 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Cognitive Offloading Task have?
In the published research, 4 papers report its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade C in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Rounds of each kind (4 to 12) and special circles per round (1 to 5). 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. 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.
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