Attention
Hidden Shapes Test
Also called: figure-disembedding task, Gottschaldt figures task, field independence task
Measure how well people find a simple shape hidden in a complex line drawing, choosing among three drawings at three levels of difficulty.
5-8 minUntimed
Free to start: 10 free participants per account, then $0.99 per participant for academic research, or any yearly plan. Preview any test free after you sign up.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 116
- Evidence grade
- B
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
What it measures
A measure of finding a simple shape hidden in a complex drawing, after the embedded figures paradigm. Each screen shows a shape above three line drawings, and participants choose the drawing that hides it at the same size and turn. The drawings get busier in three levels. The main score is the number of shapes found, with the median time to find them.
Constructs
- Finding a part in a whole (disembedding)
- Visual search for a shape
- Field independence
Research uses
- Perception and cognitive style research
- Autism research
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The hidden shapes test measures how well a simple shape can be found inside a complex drawing, the ability that embedded figures tests measure. Each screen shows a shape above three line drawings, and participants choose the drawing that hides it at the same size and turn. In that drawing the shape's outline is all there, with other lines continuing its edges and crossing it; the other two drawings hide a near miss of it instead, its mirror image or the shape at another size, among about as many lines. Everything stays on the screen until the answer, with no time limit.
More about the paradigm
The standard session is 24 items, 8 at each of three levels with more lines at each level, easy first, after 3 practice items with feedback that marks the hidden shape. Within a level the order comes from the session's seed. The drawings are our own, made by a fixed rule on a 6 by 6 grid, and are the same for every session; each item is kept only when the shape appears in its drawing and in neither of the others. The right drawing takes each of the three places equally often. The format follows the three-choice embedded figures task of de-Wit and colleagues (2017).
The main score is the number of shapes found. Accuracy overall and at each level, the median time to a correct answer and the median time to answer are also reported. Chance is one in three. Presses under 100 ms are counted as anticipations. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Shapes Foundcount
- Items answered with the drawing that hides the shape.
- Higher is better
- Accuracy%
- Share of items answered correctly.
- Higher is better; chance is 0.33
- Median Time to Findms
- Median time from the screen's onset to a correct answer.
- Lower is faster
- Accuracy, Easy Drawings%
- Share correct at the level with the fewest lines.
- Higher is better
- Accuracy, Medium Drawings%
- Share correct at the middle level.
- Higher is better
- Accuracy, Hard Drawings%
- Share correct at the level with the most lines.
- Higher is better
- Median Response Timems
- Median time to answer, right or wrong.
- Informational; the test has no time limit
- Anticipationscount
- Presses under 100 ms from the screen's onset. They are not taken as answers.
- Lower is better
- Planned Itemstrials
- Items the session planned to show.
- Informational
- Total Itemstrials
- Items answered in the scored run.
- Fewer than planned is flagged for review
Use and evidence
116 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 22% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 174 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 21 |
| 2024 | 15 |
| 2023 | 21 |
| 2022 | 27 |
| 2021 | 32 |
| 2020 | 27 |
| 2019 | 28 |
| 2018 | 31 |
| 2017 | 27 |
| 2016 | 35 |
| 2015 | 34 |
| 2014 | 41 |
| 2013 | 31 |
| 2012 | 34 |
| 2011 | 36 |
| 2010 | 37 |
| 2009 | 21 |
| 2008 | 26 |
| 2007 | 23 |
| 2006 | 23 |
| 2005 | 18 |
| 2004 | 32 |
| 2003 | 22 |
| 2002 | 21 |
| 2001 | 26 |
| 2000 | 18 |
Use grade C
100 to 299 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade B
At least 8 test-retest papers, and either 5 registered clinical studies or 150 reliability or validity papers.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 23
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 157
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 1
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 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Screen
- A simple shape above three line drawings on a 6 by 6 grid, drawn at the same scale. The shape is hidden in one drawing at the same size and turn; each other drawing hides a near miss of it, its mirror image or the shape at another size.
- Lines
- Lines that continue the hidden shape's edges, lines that cross it and lines anywhere in the drawing: 7 at the easy level, 12 at the medium level and 17 at the hard level. The three drawings of an item differ by at most 4 unit lines.
- Items
- 24 items (standard; 18 or 12), a third from each level, easy first, in a seeded order within each level. 8 shapes, each once at each level, and the right drawing takes each place equally often.
- Answer
- Click or tap a drawing, or press 1, 2 or 3. No time limit, and 400 ms between items.
- Practice
- 3 items with feedback for 2,500 ms that marks the hidden shape in red.
- Drawings
- Made once by a fixed rule and the same for every session. An item is kept only when the shape appears in its drawing and in neither of the others.
The drawings, shapes and name are our own. Classic embedded figures tests ask people to trace the shape and score the time to find it; this test asks which of three drawings hides it, as in de-Wit and colleagues (2017).
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: hidden_shapes_test from the scored run, a choice among three drawings with no time limit (chance 1 in 3). Below chance invalidates and not above chance is flagged. One drawing position on 90% of answers invalidates when accuracy is not above chance; the right drawing takes each position equally often. Answers under 200 ms on at least half the items invalidate. A run short of its planned items is flagged for review.
Why these rules
Accuracy significantly below chance (one-sided exact test, p < .05) cannot come from guessing; it means the response mapping was reversed or the task was not followed (Slick, Sherman and Iverson 1999 treat below-chance forced-choice performance as definite response bias). Chance-level accuracy can be a real result in impaired participants, so it is only flagged. One option on at least 90% of answered trials, when the correct options are balanced and accuracy is not above chance, means the answers did not depend on the items (the task counterpart of long-string responding in surveys; Curran 2016). 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.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Number of items | 24 (standard) | 24 (standard), 18, 12 |
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 and tablets. Participant devices
- Languages: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese.
- Available on: Every plan, including the free plan.
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Hidden Shapes Test in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Witkin, 1950; de-Wit et al., 2017), with the standard settings (number of items: 24). The main score was shapes found (items answered with the drawing that hides the shape).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Witkin, H. A. (1950). Individual differences in ease of perception of embedded figures. Journal of Personality, 19(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1950.tb01084.x
- Gottschaldt, K. (1926). Über den Einfluß der Erfahrung auf die Wahrnehmung von Figuren. Psychologische Forschung, 8(1), 261-317. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02411523Simple shapes hidden in complex line figures.
- de-Wit, L., Huygelier, H., Van der Hallen, R., Chamberlain, R., & Wagemans, J. (2017). Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT): testing the stimulus features that influence embedding. PeerJ, 5, e2862. https://doi.org/10.7717/peerj.2862The choice among three drawings, and lines that continue the shape's edges as a source of difficulty.
Source papers
- de-Wit L, Huygelier H, Van der Hallen R, Chamberlain R, Wagemans J (2017). Developing the Leuven Embedded Figures Test (L-EFT): testing the stimulus features that influence embedding. PeerJ, 5:e2862.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Hidden Shapes Test take?
About 5 to 8 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?
Shapes Found, Accuracy, Median Time to Find, Accuracy, Easy Drawings, Accuracy, Medium Drawings, Accuracy, Hard Drawings, Median Response Time, Anticipations, Planned Items and Total Items. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Hidden Shapes Test used in research?
116 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 22% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 174 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade C). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Hidden Shapes Test have?
In the published research, 23 papers report its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses it as an outcome (evidence grade B in the ConductCognition test census).
Which settings can a researcher change?
Number of items (24 (standard), 18, 12). 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.
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