Processing Speed
Pursuit Tracking Test
Also called: pursuit rotor task, rotary pursuit task, pursuit tracking task
Measure eye-hand coordination and motor skill learning as participants keep a dot on a target circling at three speeds, with a mouse or trackpad.
5-7 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. Preview any test free after you sign up.
- Papers, 2021 to 2025
- 78
- Evidence grade
- B
- Registered clinical studies
- 12
What it measures
Measures eye-hand tracking. Participants keep a dot on a target that moves around a circle at three speeds, using a mouse or trackpad. The main score is the percent of time on target.
Constructs
- Eye-hand coordination
- Visuomotor tracking
- Motor skill learning
- Procedural learning
Research uses
- Motor skill learning research
- Procedural learning in neurological research
- Aging research
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The pursuit tracking test is a computer version of the rotary pursuit task, a measure of eye-hand coordination and motor skill learning since Koerth (1922). A red target dot moves clockwise around a circular track, and participants use a mouse or trackpad to keep a white dot on it. The usual pointer is hidden and the program draws the white dot. The track's radius is 0.35 of the screen's shorter side and the target's radius 0.05 of it. A click on the target starts each run.
More about the paradigm
After one practice run of 10 seconds at the slow speed, the test has 4 rounds, each with one 15 second run at 6, 12 and 18 revolutions per minute, in an order drawn from the session's seed, so 12 runs in all. The target starts every run at the same point, drawn once per session. After each run the participant sees the percent of time on target. On every screen frame the run adds the time since the previous frame to the time tracked, and to the time on target when the white dot's center is within the target, so the score follows what the participant saw; the white dot's path is saved. If the pointer leaves the window or the tab is hidden, the run starts again. A study can set 2 to 8 rounds and runs of 10 to 30 seconds.
The main score is the percent of time on target across all runs. The test also reports time on target at each speed, the mean distance between the white dot and the target's center in target radii, and the practice gain: time on target in the last round minus the first, in percentage points. On a rotary pursuit task, time on target falls as the target speeds up and rises with practice, and people with Huntington's disease improved less with practice than people with Alzheimer's disease or healthy adults (Heindel et al., 1989). The scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Time on Target%
- Time with the white dot's center within the target, as a percent of the time tracked, across all scored runs.
- Higher means closer tracking
- Time on Target, Slow%
- Time on target in the runs at 6 revolutions per minute.
- Higher means closer tracking
- Time on Target, Medium%
- Time on target in the runs at 12 revolutions per minute.
- Higher means closer tracking
- Time on Target, Fast%
- Time on target in the runs at 18 revolutions per minute.
- Higher means closer tracking
- Distance from Targetscore
- Mean distance between the white dot and the target's center, divided by the target's radius, weighted by time.
- Lower is closer; under 1 means on the target on average
- Practice Gain%
- Time on target in the last round minus the first round, in percentage points.
- Higher means more improvement with practice
- Runs Without Movementcount
- Scored runs in which the pointer did not move.
- Lower supports interpretation
- Restarted Runscount
- Runs started again because the pointer left the window or the tab was hidden.
- Lower supports interpretation
Use and evidence
78 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 5% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 210 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 20 |
| 2024 | 15 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2022 | 17 |
| 2021 | 11 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2019 | 21 |
| 2018 | 18 |
| 2017 | 18 |
| 2016 | 13 |
| 2015 | 23 |
| 2014 | 23 |
| 2013 | 26 |
| 2012 | 13 |
| 2011 | 26 |
| 2010 | 28 |
| 2009 | 25 |
| 2008 | 20 |
| 2007 | 19 |
| 2006 | 15 |
| 2005 | 25 |
| 2004 | 18 |
| 2003 | 18 |
| 2002 | 22 |
| 2001 | 15 |
| 2000 | 20 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 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
- 13
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 92
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 12
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.
- Track
- A circle 0.35 of the screen's shorter side in radius; the target's radius is 0.05 of that side. The usual pointer is hidden.
- Speeds
- 6, 12 and 18 revolutions per minute, clockwise, from a start point drawn once per session.
- Runs
- 4 rounds (standard, 2 to 8) of one run at each speed, in an order drawn from the session's seed; 15 seconds per run (standard, 10 to 30).
- Start
- A click on the target starts each run; the time on target shows for 1,500 ms after it.
- Practice
- One 10 second run at 6 revolutions per minute.
- Data
- Time on target and tracked time added frame by frame, the mean distance from the target, and the cursor path at 50 samples per second.
The classic apparatus is a turntable whose target is followed with a stylus, often at 60 revolutions per minute. Mouse versions run slower, so this version uses 6 to 18. The scores support research and do not diagnose.
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 tracking runs. A run has no correct answer, so accuracy is not judged against chance. A run with no pointer movement counts as a missed response under the platform's timed-test rule. A session with no tracked time invalidates, and five or more restarted runs are flagged.
Why these rules
Missed responses and responses under 100 ms keep the platform's timed-test rule: more than max(3, 25%) missed responses or more than max(2, 20%) responses under 100 ms invalidate, and any is flagged. A response under 100 ms cannot be a reaction to the stimulus. Time on target is only meaningful when the participant moved the pointer, so a run without any movement is a missed response. A run starts again after the pointer leaves the window or the tab is hidden, but five or more restarts suggest the task was not done in one sitting.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds | 4 | 2 to 8 |
| Run length (seconds) | 15 | 10 to 30 |
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 Pursuit Tracking Test in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Koerth, 1922; Ammons, 1955), with the standard settings (rounds: 4; run length (seconds): 15). The main score was time on target (time with the white dot's center within the target, as a percent of the time tracked, across all scored runs).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Koerth, W. (1922). A pursuit apparatus: Eye-hand coordination. Psychological Monographs, 31(1), 288-292. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0093169
- Ammons, R. B. (1955). Rotary pursuit apparatus: I. Survey of variables. Psychological Bulletin, 52(1), 69-76. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040849
- Heindel, W. C., Salmon, D. P., Shults, C. W., Walicke, P. A., & Butters, N. (1989). Neuropsychological evidence for multiple implicit memory systems: A comparison of Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease patients. Journal of Neuroscience, 9(2), 582-587. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.09-02-00582.1989Rotary pursuit learning compared across neurological groups.
Source papers
- Koerth W (1922). A pursuit apparatus: Eye-hand coordination. Psychological Monographs, 31(1):288-292.Paradigm source, N/A
- Ammons RB (1955). Rotary pursuit apparatus: I. Survey of variables. Psychological Bulletin, 52(1):69-76.Paradigm source, N/A
- Heindel WC, Salmon DP, Shults CW, Walicke PA, Butters N (1989). Neuropsychological evidence for multiple implicit memory systems: A comparison of Alzheimer's, Huntington's, and Parkinson's disease patients. Journal of Neuroscience, 9(2):582-587.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Pursuit Tracking Test take?
About 5 to 7 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?
Time on Target, Time on Target, Slow, Time on Target, Medium, Time on Target, Fast, Distance from Target, Practice Gain, Runs Without Movement and Restarted Runs. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Pursuit Tracking Test used in research?
78 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 5% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 210 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Pursuit Tracking Test have?
In the published research, 13 papers report its test-retest reliability and 12 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade B in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Rounds (2 to 8) and run length (seconds) (10 to 30). 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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