Episodic Memory
Grocery Trip Game
Also called: shopping trip task, errand list task, grocery list memory task, list shopping game
Measure everyday planning and list memory in a game format: participants study a list of pictured things, then buy them from memory in a shop seen from above.
8-12 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
- 2,503
- Evidence grade
- A
- Registered clinical studies
- 1,832
Figures for the Verbal Learning test, the published test this game is compared with.
How these are countedWhat it measures
A game-format measure of everyday planning and list memory. Participants study a list of pictured things, then buy them from memory in a shop seen from above, where a walker fetches each item chosen. The main score is the share of list items bought. It is a new measure: its reliability and norms come from use.
Constructs
- List memory
- Everyday planning
- Route planning
Research uses
- Research on everyday memory and planning in middle and older age
- Research on everyday memory in older adults and in patients
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The Grocery Trip Game is a game-format measure of everyday planning and list memory: buying the things on a list from memory, by a short route. Each trip opens with a list of pictures with their labels, which the participant studies for as long as they like, from 3 seconds to a minute, before choosing I'm ready. The list then hides and the shop opens: a grid seen from above, 8 squares by 7, with aisles round two shelf blocks that hold 24 pictured things on their shelves (fruit, vegetables, bakery things, dairy foods, a drink and household things), a walker at the entrance, the till at the other end of the bottom aisle, and a basket with as many places as the list has things. Choosing a thing walks the walker the shortest way to it and puts it in the basket. The trip ends when the basket is full and the walker reaches the till, when the participant chooses Till, or after 3 minutes. Following a list through a shop, picking the things and going to the till is the task of virtual supermarket tests (Zygouris and colleagues, 2020), and an untimed shopping task scored by points was studied by Yan and colleagues (2021). Those tests also ask for the bill to be paid at the till; this game leaves that out, so no arithmetic enters the score, and it shows no prices. This game is an original shop built by ConductScience in the Wayfinding Game's grid world, and nothing is taken from those tests' shops, lists or pictures.
More about the paradigm
A session has a practice trip of 2 things, after which the list is shown again with a tick or a cross for each, and 4 test trips with lists of 4, 5, 6 and 7 things, 22 in all, which say only that the trip is finished. Each session runs one of two forms: two sets of 24 things on the same shelf places, each place keeping its kind, so the lists and the best routes are the same in both forms. The form follows the person's earlier sessions of the game in the study, so a retest 7 to 28 days later, run as a visit of the same study, gets the other form; a retest run as a second study can repeat the first form.
The main score is the share of the test trips' list things that are in the basket at the end. The things bought that were not on the list are also counted. Route efficiency, a second score, is the best route through the list things bought to the till divided by the squares walked plus the shortest way to the till from where the trip ended, over the trips with at least one list thing bought. The median time the list was studied is reported for information. A trip during which the tab was hidden is left out. Nothing rewards speed. A game look and a plain look draw the same shop and differ only in the floor and the shelf faces, and each session records which look ran. The labels are words in the participant's language. Scores are research measures.
Scores
- List Things Bought%
- The share of the scored test trips' list things that are in the basket at the end.
- Higher is better
- Things Not on the Listcount
- Things in the basket at the end that were not on the list, over the scored test trips.
- Lower is better
- Route Efficiencyscore
- Over the test trips with at least one list thing bought: the best route through the list things bought to the till, divided by the squares walked plus the shortest way to the till from where the trip ended, averaged.
- Higher is better; 1 is the best route
- Median Study Timems
- Median time the list was on screen before the shop opened, over the scored test trips.
- Informational; nothing rewards a short or a long look
Use and evidence
2,503 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 14% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 10 of 582 test families in our census. These counts belong to the Verbal Learning test, the published test this game is compared with. This game is a new measure, so its own reliability and norms come from use. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 569 |
| 2024 | 487 |
| 2023 | 607 |
| 2022 | 413 |
| 2021 | 427 |
| 2020 | 468 |
| 2019 | 477 |
| 2018 | 438 |
| 2017 | 428 |
| 2016 | 392 |
| 2015 | 375 |
| 2014 | 372 |
| 2013 | 306 |
| 2012 | 314 |
| 2011 | 288 |
| 2010 | 259 |
| 2009 | 207 |
| 2008 | 215 |
| 2007 | 167 |
| 2006 | 189 |
| 2005 | 114 |
| 2004 | 117 |
| 2003 | 118 |
| 2002 | 85 |
| 2001 | 77 |
| 2000 | 93 |
Use grade A
1,000 or more papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade A
At least 25 papers report its test-retest reliability and at least 25 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 134
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 1,123
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 1,832
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.
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 the Verbal Learning test, the published test this game is compared with, not the game's own.
Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Shop
- One fixed shop of 8 by 7 squares seen from above, in the Wayfinding Game's grid world: aisles round two shelf blocks that hold 24 pictured things, one on each shelf square, with the entrance and the till at the two ends of the bottom aisle. The same shop and places in every session.
- Trips
- A practice trip of 2 things, then 4 test trips with lists of 4, 5, 6 and 7 things, 22 in all, the same lists in this order for everyone.
- List
- Pictures with their labels in a column. The participant studies them for 3 to 60 seconds and chooses I'm ready; at 60 seconds the shop opens by itself and the list hides.
- Shopping
- Choosing a thing walks the walker the shortest way to it, at 150 ms a square, and puts it in the basket, which holds as many things as the list. A tap on a thing already bought, and taps while the walker moves, are counted and do nothing, and a second finger or a palm never buys. The trip ends when the basket is full and the walker reaches the till, when Till is chosen, or after 3 minutes.
- Feedback
- After the practice trip the list is shown again with a tick or a cross for each thing. Test trips say only that the trip is finished, and nothing rewards speed.
- Forms
- Two sets of 24 things on the same places, each place keeping its kind (fruit, vegetables, bakery things, dairy foods, a drink and household things), so the lists and the best routes are the same. Each session takes its form from the participant's earlier sessions of the game in the same study.
- Looks
- A game look, with grass on the floor and brick lines on the shelf faces, or a plain look with flat surfaces. The things, the walker, the entrance, the till and the basket are drawn the same in both, and each session records which look ran.
- Data
- Each trip's list and basket by place, every square walked, the best route, how the trip ended, the study and trip times, the repeated taps and the taps while walking. The scorer replays each trip on its shop.
The Grocery Trip Game is a new measure, and its own reliability and norms come from use. It shows no prices and asks for no payment, so no arithmetic enters the score. The tasks cited below use their own shops; their results are research findings about those tasks and say nothing about this game. The labels are words in the participant's language. Scores support research.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: grocery_trip_game from the scored run, the 4 test trips, one per trip; a trip during which the tab was hidden, or whose walk cannot be replayed on its shop, is left out. A bought item has no chance level, so accuracy is not judged against chance, and trips have no answer window to miss. A trip that ends with an empty basket, at the till or at the time limit, is an omission, and omissions on 3 or more of the 4 trips invalidate. A session in which no test trip bought a list item is flagged for review. A hidden tab is flagged.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. A trip that ends with nothing in the basket buys nothing to score, so most trips ending that way mean the game was not played; a trip stopped by the 3-minute limit with an empty basket counts the same as one taken to the till empty. Buying no list item at all is a possible result of forgetting the lists, so it is flagged and kept. A trip studied or shopped while the tab was hidden may not have been seen, so it is left out. These limits are ConductScience choices: the sources set none.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Look | Game | Game, Plain |
Every plan can change the look, which never changes how a result is scored.
Need a setting this test does not have?
Devices and languages
- Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops and tablets. 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 Grocery Trip Game in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Zygouris et al., 2020; Yan et al., 2021), with the standard settings (look: Game). The main score was list things bought (the share of the scored test trips' list things that are in the basket at the end).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Zygouris, S., Iliadou, P., Lazarou, E., Giakoumis, D., Votis, K., Alexiadis, A., Triantafyllidis, A., Segkouli, S., Tzovaras, D., Tsiatsos, T., Papagianopoulos, S., & Tsolaki, M. (2020). Detection of Mild Cognitive Impairment in an At-Risk Group of Older Adults: Can a Novel Self-Administered Serious Game-Based Screening Test Improve Diagnostic Accuracy? Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, 78(1), 405-412. https://doi.org/10.3233/JAD-200880The method: following a list through a virtual shop, buying the things on it and going to the till, where that task also asks for the right amount to be paid. This game leaves the payment out.
- Yan, M., Yin, H., Meng, Q., Wang, S., Ding, Y., Li, G., Wang, C., & Chen, L. (2021). A Virtual Supermarket Program for the Screening of Mild Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults: Diagnostic Accuracy Study. JMIR Serious Games, 9(4), e30919. https://doi.org/10.2196/30919An untimed shopping task on a computer, scored by points. Its results belong to that task and say nothing about this game.
Source papers
Questions
How long does the Grocery Trip Game take?
About 8 to 12 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops and tablets. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
List Things Bought, Things Not on the List, Route Efficiency and Median Study Time. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Verbal Learning test used in research?
These counts belong to the Verbal Learning test, the published test this game is compared with. This game is a new measure, so its own reliability and norms come from use. 2,503 papers from 2021 to 2025 name the task in their title or abstract, up 14% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 10 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade A). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Verbal Learning test have?
These counts belong to the Verbal Learning test, the published test this game is compared with. This game is a new measure, so its own reliability and norms come from use. In the published research, 134 papers report the task's test-retest reliability and 1,832 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade A in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Look (Game, Plain). Every plan can change the look, which never changes how a result is scored.
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.
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