Decision Making
Intersection Driving Game
Also called: stoplight game, stoplight task, stoplight driving game, Yellow Light Game, yellow light driving task
Measure risk taking in a driving game: at each yellow light, participants stop and wait or cross on red and risk a crash with a car from the side.
9-11 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
- 4
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
Measures risk taking in a driving game. As each traffic light turns yellow, participants brake and wait or keep going and may meet a car from the side street. The main score is the share of lights crossed without stopping.
Constructs
- Risk taking
- Decision making under uncertainty
- Reward sensitivity
Research uses
- Adolescent and young adult risk-taking research
- Peer influence and social context studies
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The Intersection Driving Game measures risk taking in a driving game, in the form of the stoplight game (Chein and colleagues, 2011; Duell and colleagues, 2018), which follows Gardner and Steinberg's (2005) experimental study of risk taking alone and with peers, with a road, cars and lights of our own. The participant's car drives by itself up a road with a row of traffic lights, seen from above. Each light turns yellow as the car comes near it, 2 to 4.5 seconds before the car reaches its white line. The participant then presses the space bar to stop at the light, or keeps going. A stop costs 3 seconds of driving time while the car waits for the green light. Going on crosses on red: at half the lights a car comes from the side street and the two crash, which stops the drive for 6 seconds; at the others the car goes straight through with no delay. The side street cannot be seen before the choice.
More about the paradigm
Each drive has 20 lights. Each of five yellow times (2,000, 2,625, 3,250, 3,875 and 4,500 ms before the line, the timing reported for the stoplight game) is used four times, and two of the four lights at each time have a car on the side street, in an order drawn from the session's seed. Because a stop loses 3 seconds and a crash 6 at half the lights, stopping and going on lose the same time on average: neither choice is better, and how often a person goes on is a matter of preference. Points follow the time lost: 20 for a light passed with no delay, 10 for a stop and 0 for a crash. The points are not exchanged for money unless the study sets the paid line. The standard session has a practice drive of 4 lights and 2 drives of 20, about 9 to 11 minutes. Every light is set before the session, and nothing a participant does changes a later light. Desktop and laptop only, with a keyboard.
The main score is the risky choice rate: the share of lights crossed without stopping, which the stoplight studies report as the percentage of risky decisions. Crashes, going on after short and long yellows, going on after a crash and after a safe crossing, the first and last drive, and the time from the yellow to the brake are also reported. The scores describe choices in a game played for points. They support research and do not diagnose or describe how a person drives.
Scores
- Risky Choice Rate%
- Share of lights crossed without stopping: crashes and safe crossings over lights driven.
- Higher means more risk taken
- Crash Rate%
- Share of lights that ended in a crash.
- Informational: a car comes at half the lights
- Crashes per Crossing%
- Share of the lights crossed on red that ended in a crash; about half by design.
- Informational
- Risky Choices After Short Yellows%
- Share of lights crossed when the light turned yellow 2,000 or 2,625 ms before the line.
- Informational
- Risky Choices After Long Yellows%
- Share of lights crossed when the light turned yellow 3,875 or 4,500 ms before the line.
- Informational
- Yellow Time Effect%
- The short-yellow rate minus the long-yellow rate. The yellow's length says nothing about the side street.
- Above 0 means more crossings when the yellow came close to the line
- Risky Choices After a Crash%
- Share of lights crossed right after a crash, within a drive.
- Informational
- Risky Choices After a Safe Crossing%
- Share of lights crossed right after a light crossed with no car, within a drive.
- Informational
- Risky Choice Rate, First Drive%
- The risky choice rate in the first scored drive.
- Informational
- Risky Choice Rate, Last Drive%
- The risky choice rate in the last scored drive; empty with one drive.
- Informational
- Brake Timems
- Median time from the light turning yellow to the brake, for stops at or after 100 ms.
- Informational
- Late Brakescount
- Brakes pressed less than 250 ms before the line, too late to stop.
- Informational
- Early Pressescount
- Space bar presses before the light turned yellow, which do nothing.
- Informational
- Anticipationscount
- Brakes under 100 ms after the light turned yellow, which cannot be reactions to it.
- Lower is better
- Time Lostseconds
- Driving time lost to stops (3 seconds each) and crashes (6 seconds each).
- Informational
- Pointspoints
- Points over the scored drives: 20 for a safe crossing, 10 for a stop and 0 for a crash.
- Informational
- Pausescount
- Times a light paused because the window lost focus, the tab was hidden or the window changed size.
- Lower supports interpretation
- Long Frames%
- Share of screen frames that took longer than 50 ms.
- Above 0.05 is flagged for review
- Completed Lightscount
- Lights driven in the scored run.
- Fewer than planned is informational
- Planned Lightscount
- Lights the run set out to show.
- Informational
Use and evidence
4 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 73% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 479 of 495 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 1 |
| 2024 | 2 |
| 2023 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 |
| 2021 | 0 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2019 | 6 |
| 2018 | 3 |
| 2017 | 4 |
| 2016 | 1 |
| 2015 | 1 |
| 2014 | 1 |
| 2013 | 1 |
| 2012 | 0 |
| 2011 | 0 |
| 2010 | 0 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2006 | 1 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 0 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade E
Fewer than 30 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 3
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
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 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Each light
- The car drives up the road by itself. The light turns yellow 2,000, 2,625, 3,250, 3,875 or 4,500 ms before the car reaches its line, and the space bar brakes. A brake less than 250 ms before the line comes too late to stop.
- Stop or go on
- A stop slows the car to the line and waits at the red light: 3 seconds lost and 10 points. Going on crosses on red. At a light with a car on the side street the two crash: 6 seconds lost and 0 points. At the others the car goes straight through: no time lost and 20 points.
- Side street
- Hidden until the choice. In each drive every yellow time is used 4 times, and 2 of the 4 lights at each time have a car on the side street, in an order drawn from the session's seed. Lights are 5 to 7 seconds of driving apart.
- Drives
- 2 drives of 20 lights (standard; 1 to 4), with a rest between them, after a practice drive of 4 lights. Points are hypothetical by default; a setting changes the instruction line to say the study pays.
- Fixed plan
- Every light is set before the session, and no choice changes a later light.
- Score
- The share of lights crossed without stopping, which the stoplight studies report as the percentage of risky decisions.
The scene, the cars and the points are ConductScience's own; no stoplight game software is used. The yellow times and the costs of 3 seconds for a stop and 6 for a crash follow the published stoplight game, where intersections were 10 to 16 seconds apart; here lights are 5 to 7 seconds apart to keep the session short. The scores describe choices in a game played for points, not how a person drives.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: the scored run's lights. Stopping and going on lose the same time on average, so no choice is right and accuracy is not judged against chance; stopping at every light or at none is accepted. A session in which the space bar was never pressed, frames over 50 ms on more than 5% of frames, or three or more pauses are flagged. A brake is a response timed from the yellow, and responses under 100 ms follow the timed-test rule.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Going on is the preference the test measures, not a mistake. A brake under 100 ms after the light turns yellow cannot be a reaction to it. A session with no press at all may mean the keyboard was not used, and many long frames mean the road did not move smoothly on that computer.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Drives | 2 | 1 to 4 |
| Payment line | Hypothetical points (standard) | Hypothetical points (standard), The study pays for points |
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 Intersection Driving Game in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Chein, Albert, O'Brien, Uckert and Steinberg, 2011), with the standard settings (drives: 2; payment line: Hypothetical points). The main score was risky choice rate (share of lights crossed without stopping: crashes and safe crossings over lights driven).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Chein, J., Albert, D., O'Brien, L., Uckert, K., & Steinberg, L. (2011). Peers increase adolescent risk taking by enhancing activity in the brain's reward circuitry. Developmental Science, 14(2), F1-F10. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-7687.2010.01035.xThe stoplight game: a car driven through 20 intersections a round, a choice to stop or go on at each yellow light, a short delay for a stop and a longer one for a crash. Adolescents took more risks with friends watching.
- Defoe, I. N., Semon Dubas, J., Dalmaijer, E. S., & van Aken, M. A. G. (2020). Is the peer presence effect on heightened adolescent risky decision-making only present in males? Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49(3), 693-705. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-019-01179-9The game's timing from Chein and colleagues' supporting information: the yellow 2 to 4.5 seconds before the intersection in five steps, a 3-second wait and a 6-second crash. Its risk score, the share of yellow lights crossed without braking, predicted self-reported risky traffic behavior, alcohol use and delinquency.
- Duell, N., Steinberg, L., Icenogle, G., Chein, J., Chaudhary, N., Di Giunta, L., et al. (2018). Age patterns in risk taking across the world. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(5), 1052-1072. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-017-0752-yThe stoplight game in 11 countries: 20 intersections, the space bar to brake, 3 seconds lost for a stop and 6 for a crash, and risk scored as the percentage of intersections entered without braking.
- Gardner, M., & Steinberg, L. (2005). Peer influence on risk taking, risk preference, and risky decision making in adolescence and adulthood: An experimental study. Developmental Psychology, 41(4), 625-635. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.41.4.625Risk taking fell with age, people took more risks with two peers present than alone, and the peer effect was stronger in adolescents and youths than in adults.
- Op de Macks, Z. A., Flannery, J. E., Peake, S. J., Flournoy, J. C., Mobasser, A., Alberti, S. L., Fisher, P. A., & Pfeifer, J. H. (2018). Novel insights from the Yellow Light Game: Safe and risky decisions differentially impact adolescent outcome-related brain function. NeuroImage, 181, 568-581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2018.06.058A version of the stoplight game in which going on and stopping cost the same time on average, scored as the share of decisions to go on and the crashes that followed.
Source papers
- Chein J, Albert D, O'Brien L, Uckert K, Steinberg L (2011). Peers increase adolescent risk taking by enhancing activity in the brain's reward circuitry. Developmental Science, 14(2):F1-F10.Paradigm source, Adolescents and adults
- Duell N, Steinberg L, Icenogle G, Chein J, Chaudhary N, Di Giunta L, and colleagues (2018). Age patterns in risk taking across the world. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(5):1052-1072.Paradigm source, Ages 10 to 30
Questions
How long does the Intersection Driving Game take?
About 9 to 11 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?
Risky Choice Rate, Crash Rate, Crashes per Crossing, Risky Choices After Short Yellows, Risky Choices After Long Yellows, Yellow Time Effect, Risky Choices After a Crash, Risky Choices After a Safe Crossing, Risky Choice Rate, First Drive, Risky Choice Rate, Last Drive, Brake Time, Late Brakes, Early Presses, Anticipations, Time Lost, Points, Pauses, Long Frames, Completed Lights and Planned Lights. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Intersection Driving Game used in research?
4 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 73% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 479 of 495 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade E). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.22.0, counted 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Intersection Driving Game have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use 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?
Drives (1 to 4) and payment line (Hypothetical points (standard), The study pays for points). 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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