Attention
Real or Made-Up Animal Task
Also called: object decision task, object decision test, chimeric animal decision, real versus made-up object decision, picture reality decision
An object decision task: animal silhouettes appear one at a time, and participants press one key for a real animal and another for a made-up one that joins two animals. Scored as accuracy, with response times.
2-4 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
- 26
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
An object decision task: participants decide as quickly as they can whether each animal silhouette shows a real animal or a made-up one, which joins the front of one real animal to the back of another. They press one key for real and another for made up. The main score is accuracy, with response times for real and made-up animals.
Constructs
- Visual object recognition
- Stored knowledge of how things look
- Speed of picture decisions
Research uses
- Research on object recognition after stroke or brain injury
- Studies of knowledge about objects in aging and dementia
- Experimental research on how pictures are recognized
How the paradigm works
The Real or Made-Up Animal Task is an object decision task: participants decide whether a picture shows a real thing or a made-up one, which takes knowing what real things look like. Kroll and Potter (1984) introduced object decision as the picture counterpart of lexical decision, with drawings of real objects and of made-up objects traced from parts of real ones. Made-up objects that join parts of real ones, often called chimeras, became the common form in later work such as Lloyd-Jones and Humphreys (1997).
More about the paradigm
In this version every picture is the silhouette of an animal seen from the side, drawn from Noto Emoji pictures. The 21 real animals are quadrupeds. Each of the 21 made-up animals joins the front of one animal to the back of another of a different kind, with the back scaled so the two bodies meet, so a made-up animal has the outline of a whole animal and only knowing the animals gives it away. Every silhouette, real or made up, is traced and smoothed the same way, and the two sets cover the same share of their square on average. After a 500 ms cross, a picture stays on the screen until the answer, up to 4 seconds (standard; 2.5 or 6 seconds). Participants press F or J; which key means real is drawn for each session, and the session's other yes or no decision tests use the same key for yes. No more than 3 pictures needing the same answer come in a row, and a picture never comes right after one that shows part of the same animal. Eight practice pictures of birds, 4 real and 4 made up, give feedback; the test gives none.
The main score is accuracy over the 42 pictures, with the median time of correct answers to real and to made-up animals. The task also reports d′ and the criterion c for telling real from made-up animals. Object decisions are fast and mostly right in healthy adults: Lloyd-Jones and Humphreys (1997) reported about 600 to 645 ms and 6% to 11% errors for real objects, so healthy adults can score near the top of the scale. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Accuracy%
- Share of the test pictures answered correctly; a missed answer counts as wrong.
- Higher is better; chance is 0.5
- Accuracy, Real Animals%
- Share of real animals answered real.
- Higher is better
- Accuracy, Made-Up Animals%
- Share of made-up animals answered made up.
- Higher is better
- Median Time, Real Animalsms
- Median time of the correct answers to real animals.
- Lower is faster
- Median Time, Made-Up Animalsms
- Median time of the correct answers to made-up animals.
- Lower is faster
- d-Primed'
- z of the share of real animals answered real minus z of the share of made-up animals answered real, with the log-linear correction.
- Higher means real and made-up animals were told apart better
- Criterionz
- Minus the mean of the two z scores, with the log-linear correction.
- Positive when made up was the readier answer; context for the accuracies
- Median Time, Correct Answersms
- Median time of every correct answer.
- Lower is faster
- Fewest Correct Timescount
- The smaller of the numbers of correct answers with a usable time to real and to made-up animals.
- Under 8 is flagged for review
- Anticipationscount
- Answers faster than 100 ms, left out of the times.
- Lower is better
- Missed Answerscount
- Pictures with no answer within the time allowed.
- Lower is better
- Pictures Answeredtrials
- Test pictures recorded in the scored run.
- Fewer than planned is flagged for review
- Planned Picturestrials
- Test pictures the session planned to show (42).
- Informational
Use and evidence
26 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, up 13% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 379 of 495 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 |
| 2024 | 4 |
| 2023 | 9 |
| 2022 | 5 |
| 2021 | 5 |
| 2020 | 4 |
| 2019 | 4 |
| 2018 | 2 |
| 2017 | 9 |
| 2016 | 4 |
| 2015 | 6 |
| 2014 | 4 |
| 2013 | 9 |
| 2012 | 9 |
| 2011 | 12 |
| 2010 | 12 |
| 2009 | 16 |
| 2008 | 21 |
| 2007 | 13 |
| 2006 | 16 |
| 2005 | 15 |
| 2004 | 9 |
| 2003 | 15 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2001 | 4 |
| 2000 | 9 |
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
- 15
- 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.
- Pictures
- 42 animal silhouettes traced from Noto Emoji pictures: 21 real quadrupeds and 21 made-up animals, each the front of one animal joined to the back of another of a different kind.
- Trial
- A 500 ms cross, then the silhouette on a dark panel until the answer, for up to 4 seconds (standard; 2.5 or 6 seconds). A missed answer shows a message for 800 ms.
- Answer
- F or J for real or made up. Which key means real is drawn for each session, as in the session's other yes or no decision tests.
- Order
- A seeded order for each session, with no more than 3 pictures needing the same answer in a row, and no picture right after one that shows part of the same animal.
- Practice
- 8 pictures of birds, 4 real and 4 made up, with 800 ms of feedback after each answer.
- Made-up animals
- Each of 21 quadrupeds gives its front to one made-up animal and its back to another. The back is scaled so the two bodies are equally deep where they join, and every silhouette, real or made up, is traced and smoothed the same way.
The pictures, the name and the scoring are our own. Many of the animals also appear in color in other tests, most of all the Mnemonic Similarity Task, the Size Order Memory Test, the Change Blindness Task and the Misinformation Effect Task. 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: object_decision_test from the scored run, F or J for a real or a made-up animal (chance 50%, half the pictures real) within the response window, correctness from the key for the picture. Below chance invalidates and not above chance is flagged. One key on 90% of answers invalidates when accuracy is not above chance. Missed responses and responses under 100 ms follow the timed-test rule. Recording fewer than half the planned pictures invalidates, and any other incomplete run is flagged. Fewer than 8 correct answers for real or for made-up animals 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). 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. The median response times need enough correct answers of each kind. A hidden tab lets the study, delay or response timers run without the participant, so a percentile is withheld after one.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Time to answer each picture | 4 seconds (standard) | 2.5 seconds, 4 seconds (standard), 6 seconds |
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.
- Recruiting online? See the setup guides for Prolific, Sona Systems, CloudResearch Connect and Qualtrics.
Cite and describe
Participants completed the Real or Made-Up Animal Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Kroll & Potter, 1984; Lloyd-Jones & Humphreys, 1997), with the standard settings (time to answer each picture: 4 seconds). The main score was accuracy (share of the test pictures answered correctly; a missed answer counts as wrong).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Kroll, J. F., & Potter, M. C. (1984). Recognizing words, pictures, and concepts: A comparison of lexical, object, and reality decisions. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23(1), 39-66. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-5371(84)90499-7Object decision as the picture counterpart of lexical decision, with made-up objects traced from parts of real ones.
- Lloyd-Jones, T. J., & Humphreys, G. W. (1997). Perceptual differentiation as a source of category effects in object processing: Evidence from naming and object decision. Memory & Cognition, 25(1), 18-35. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03197282Made-up objects that keep the look of real ones, pictures shown until the answer, and response times for real objects.
- Warrington, E. K., & James, M. (1991). A new test of object decision: 2D silhouettes featuring a minimal view. Cortex, 27(3), 377-383. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0010-9452(13)80033-0Object decision with silhouettes, in a published test battery.
- Riddoch, M. J., & Humphreys, G. W. (2022). BORB: Birmingham Object Recognition Battery. Psychology Press (first published 1993). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003069645A published battery that includes an object decision test.
- Hautus, M. J. (1995). Corrections for extreme proportions and their biasing effects on estimated values of d'. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 27(1), 46-51. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03203619The log-linear correction for d-prime.
Source papers
- Kroll JF, Potter MC (1984). Recognizing words, pictures, and concepts: a comparison of lexical, object, and reality decisions. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior, 23(1):39-66.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Real or Made-Up Animal Task take?
About 2 to 4 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?
Accuracy, Accuracy, Real Animals, Accuracy, Made-Up Animals, Median Time, Real Animals, Median Time, Made-Up Animals, d-Prime, Criterion, Median Time, Correct Answers, Fewest Correct Times, Anticipations, Missed Answers, Pictures Answered and Planned Pictures. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Real or Made-Up Animal Task used in research?
26 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, up 13% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 379 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 Real or Made-Up Animal Task 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).
Which settings can a researcher change?
Time to answer each picture (2.5 seconds, 4 seconds (standard), 6 seconds). 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.
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