Resources
How test order works
A battery runs its tests in one fixed order for everyone. In your own study, each section can run its tests in a fixed order, a random order or a balanced Latin square, and each participant's order is saved.
- Updated
- 10 November 2026
- Version
- 1.0.0
Why order matters
A test can change how people do on the next one: they tire, they get practice, or a strategy carries over. When every participant takes the tests in the same order, practice and fatigue build up in the same tests for everyone. Counterbalancing spreads those order effects across the tests, so they do not pile up on one.
Each choice suits a different question. A fixed order gives every participant the same session, which suits comparing people or groups, and comparing sessions over time. Counterbalancing suits comparing one test with another in the same people.
In a battery
A battery's order is part of the battery. Every participant takes its tests in the order its page and guide list, and a study started from it keeps that order. Reordering the tests makes the study a custom study.
In your own study
A study can be split into sections of tests, instructions and breaks. Each section runs its tests in one of three orders.
| Order | What it does |
|---|---|
| Fixed order | Steps run in the order shown. |
| Random order | Each participant gets the tests in a new random order. Instructions and breaks stay where they are. |
| Latin square | Tests rotate across participants in a balanced Latin square, so each test is used in each position equally often. A section needs 2 to 12 tests. Instructions and breaks stay where they are. |
Balanced Latin squares
ConductCognition builds balanced Latin squares, also called Williams designs: each test is used in each position equally often, and each test comes directly after every other test equally often. Each new participant gets the order the fewest active participants in their group have, so the orders fill evenly.
Whole sections can be counterbalanced the same way, and a section such as a practice block can keep its place while the others rotate.
What is saved
A participant's order is set when they agree to the consent form, or when they start the study if the consent screen is off. Their group, order number and exact sequence of tests are saved then, and they do not change, even when you publish a new protocol version.
Exports carry each participant's order, so you can check for order effects in your analysis.
| Export column | What it holds |
|---|---|
| order_index | The participant's order number, counted from 1 as in the app. |
| section_label | The section this test was in. |
| sequence_position | Where this test came among the participant's tests. |
| realized_sequence | The participant's tests in the order they received them, joined by >. |