Attention
Dot Heading Task
Also called: heading judgment task, heading perception, optic flow, focus of expansion
Measure how people judge their heading from moving dots, with accuracy at three fixed offsets from a central marker.
4-6 minTimed: desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad
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
- 84
- Evidence grade
- C
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
What it measures
Judge whether moving dots suggest heading to the left or right of a central marker. Scores heading accuracy at three fixed offsets, using original expanding dot fields.
Constructs
- Heading perception
- Optic-flow processing
- Visual self-motion perception
Research uses
- Research on visual motion and navigation
How the paradigm works
Expanding optic flow helps people judge where they are heading. Participants watch original white dot fields while looking at a red central marker, then choose whether the heading was to its left or right.
More about the paradigm
Each trial has 500 ms of fixation and 1200 ms of motion. The focus of expansion is 8, 16 or 32 screen pixels to either side, with 12 trials per signed offset by default: 72 test trials. Six practice trials give feedback. Trial order and dot births are seeded before the session. Arrow keys and answer buttons become available after motion; there is no answer deadline.
Scores report heading accuracy overall and at each offset, response preference and timing. Answers under 100 ms are excluded. Fixed offsets replace the published adaptive staircase. These screen coordinates are not calibrated visual angles, so compare sessions on similar screens. The task measures heading judgments without measuring gaze.
Scores
- Heading Accuracy%
- Share of usable trials with the correct heading side.
- Higher means more correct judgments
- Accuracy at 8 px%
- Accuracy at the smallest heading offset.
- Higher means more correct judgments
- Accuracy at 16 px%
- Accuracy at the middle heading offset.
- Higher means more correct judgments
- Accuracy at 32 px%
- Accuracy at the largest heading offset.
- Higher means more correct judgments
- Right Responses%
- Share of usable answers choosing the right side.
- Describes response preference
- Median Answer Timems
- Median time from motion offset to a usable answer.
- Informational
- Anticipationscount
- Answers under 100 ms, excluded from accuracy.
- Lower is better
- Missing Answerscount
- Rows without a recognized answer.
- Lower is better
- Early Key Pressescount
- Arrow keys pressed before the answer screen, ignored.
- Informational
- Frame Intervalms
- Median measured interval between frames.
- About 16.7 ms at 60 Hz
- Dropped Frames%
- Skipped frames divided by expected display frames.
- Above 0.05 is flagged
- Motion Durationms
- Median measured motion duration.
- About 1200 ms
- Completed Trialstrials
- Answered test trials in the selected run.
- Fewer than planned is flagged
- Planned Trialstrials
- Number of test trials planned.
- Informational
Use and evidence
84 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 27% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 268 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 21 |
| 2024 | 14 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2022 | 19 |
| 2021 | 15 |
| 2020 | 14 |
| 2019 | 10 |
| 2018 | 18 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2016 | 11 |
| 2015 | 20 |
| 2014 | 15 |
| 2013 | 14 |
| 2012 | 12 |
| 2011 | 16 |
| 2010 | 43 |
| 2009 | 10 |
| 2008 | 4 |
| 2007 | 10 |
| 2006 | 7 |
| 2005 | 4 |
| 2004 | 11 |
| 2003 | 3 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2001 | 4 |
| 2000 | 6 |
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
- 1
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 38
- 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-offset optic-flow judgments; screen pixels, not calibrated visual angles; no gaze measurement..
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 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Display
- 120 white dots with 400 ms lifetimes in a 320 by 260 px panel. Original perspective projections use depths from 3 to 8 model units and forward speed 2 units per second.
- Timing
- 500 ms fixation, then 1200 ms of expanding motion. Answer after the dots disappear; no response deadline. Actual frame intervals, display duration and dropped frames are saved.
- Trials
- 72 standard trials: 12 at each signed offset, 8, 16 and 32 px to either side. The setting allows 6 to 24 repeats, giving 36 to 144 tests.
- Practice
- 6 trials with 1000 ms feedback. Breaks after each 36 test trials.
- Response
- Left or right arrow, or click Left or Right, for heading relative to the red central marker.
- Scores
- Heading accuracy overall and by offset, right-response rate, answer time and frame quality. Answers under 100 ms leave accuracy and answer-time estimates.
Our original dot fields and fixed offsets replace the published noise manipulations and adaptive staircase. Offsets are screen pixels, not calibrated visual angles. Compare sessions on similar screens. Gaze is not measured.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: heading_judgment_test from the fullest run, with the latest tied run selected. Heading answers have two choices. Incomplete runs and poor display timing are flagged. Responses under 100 ms follow the timed-test rule.
Why these rules
Small heading offsets can be difficult, so accuracy describes this fixed display rather than a clinical threshold. Measured screen timing is part of interpreting the stimulus.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Trials per signed heading offset | 12 | 6 to 24 |
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
- Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. 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 Dot Heading Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Sikoglu and colleagues, 2010), with the standard settings (trials per signed heading offset: 12). The main score was heading accuracy (share of usable trials with the correct heading side).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Sikoglu, E. M., Calabro, F. J., Beardsley, S. A., & Vaina, L. M. (2010). Integration mechanisms for heading perception. Seeing and Perceiving, 23(3), 197-221. https://doi.org/10.1163/187847510X503605Heading judgments to the left or right of a reference from expanding optic flow.
Source papers
- Sikoglu, E. M., Calabro, F. J., Beardsley, S. A., & Vaina, L. M. (2010). Integration mechanisms for heading perception. Seeing and Perceiving, 23(3), 197-221.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Dot Heading Task take?
About 4 to 6 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Heading Accuracy, Accuracy at 8 px, Accuracy at 16 px, Accuracy at 32 px, Right Responses, Median Answer Time, Anticipations, Missing Answers, Early Key Presses, Frame Interval, Dropped Frames, Motion Duration, Completed Trials and Planned Trials. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Dot Heading Task used in research?
84 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 27% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 268 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Dot Heading Task have?
In the published research, 1 paper reports its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses 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?
Trials per signed heading offset (6 to 24). 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.
Run this test in your next study
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