Language
Rhyme Judgment Task
Also called: rhyme decision task, rhyming judgment task, rhyme judgement task, rhyme verification task, orthographic-phonological conflict task
Measure how spelling affects judgments of sound: participants decide whether two English words rhyme, and pairs whose spelling and sound disagree, such as charm and warm, take longer than pairs where they agree.
4-6 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
- 43
- Evidence grade
- C
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
What it measures
Measures how much spelling gets in the way of judging sound. Two English words appear one after the other, and participants press F or J to say whether they rhyme. Some pairs look alike but do not rhyme (charm, warm) and some rhyme but look different (kite, night); the score is how much longer these 32 conflict pairs take than the 32 pairs where spelling and sound agree.
Constructs
- Phonological processing
- Orthographic and phonological interaction
- Visual word recognition
Research uses
- Reading research, including research on reading difficulties
- Individual differences in phonological processing
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The Rhyme Judgment Task measures how much a word's spelling gets in the way of judging its sound. Two English words appear one after the other, and the participant decides as quickly and accurately as possible whether they rhyme, pressing F or J. Spelling and sound are crossed, as in Polich, McCarthy, Wang and Donchin (1983) and Welcome and Alton (2015): some pairs rhyme and are spelled alike from the last vowel on (light, night), some rhyme but are spelled differently (kite, night), some are spelled alike but do not rhyme (charm, warm), and some do neither (table, warm). People are slower and make more errors when spelling and sound disagree, because the written form is read along with the sound. Welcome and Alton found conflict pairs 113 ms slower than the others on average (SD 48 ms) in 36 university students, every one of them slower on conflict pairs, and students who were weaker at reading made-up words were slowed more.
More about the paradigm
Each session shows 8 practice pairs with feedback, then 64 test pairs without, 16 of each kind, with no more than three of one answer in a row. Each test item is a second word with two first words, one spelled like it and one spelled differently; two lists drawn from the session's seed decide which first word each item shows, so across sessions every second word follows both, and each word appears once in a session. A cross shows for 500 ms, the first word for 500 ms and a blank for 500 ms; the second word then stays until F or J, and a pair not judged within 3 seconds counts as missed. Which key means rhyme is drawn from the seed. Every pair was written for this library and checked against the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, and pairs whose rhyme depends on the accent were left out. The words are English in every session; the instructions follow the session's language.
The main score, the conflict effect, is the median time to answer conflict pairs (rhymes spelled differently and non-rhymes spelled alike) minus the median time to answer the pairs where spelling and sound agree, over right answers at or after 100 ms. The task also reports the effect for rhymes and for non-rhymes, the accuracy cost of conflict, the accuracy for each kind of pair, overall accuracy and the median response time. One person's effect rests on 32 conflict and 32 agreeing pairs, so it is a research measure best compared between groups. It describes how a reader handles English spelling, not reading ability. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Conflict Effectms
- Median time to answer conflict pairs (rhymes spelled differently, non-rhymes spelled alike) minus the median time for pairs where spelling and sound agree, over right answers.
- Positive values mean spelling slowed the judgment of sound; not better or worse
- Rhyme Conflictms
- Median time for rhymes spelled differently minus rhymes spelled alike, over right answers.
- Positive values mean a different spelling slowed rhyme answers
- Non-Rhyme Conflictms
- Median time for non-rhymes spelled alike minus non-rhymes spelled differently, over right answers.
- Positive values mean a shared spelling slowed no-rhyme answers
- Conflict Accuracy Cost%
- Accuracy on the pairs where spelling and sound agree minus accuracy on the conflict pairs.
- Positive values mean more errors on conflict pairs
- Rhymes Spelled Alike%
- Right answers as a share of right and wrong ones, for rhymes spelled alike from the last vowel on.
- Higher means more right answers
- Rhymes Spelled Differently%
- Right answers as a share of right and wrong ones, for rhymes spelled differently.
- Higher means more right answers
- Non-Rhymes Spelled Alike%
- Right answers as a share of right and wrong ones, for non-rhymes spelled alike from the last vowel on.
- Higher means more right answers
- Non-Rhymes Spelled Differently%
- Right answers as a share of right and wrong ones, for non-rhymes spelled differently.
- Higher means more right answers
- Accuracy%
- Right answers as a share of right and wrong ones, over all test pairs.
- Below 0.6 on two kinds of pair is invalid
- Median Response Timems
- Median time of right answers at or after 100 ms, from the second word.
- Lower is faster
- Missed Pairscount
- Test pairs not judged within 3 seconds.
- Expected to be 0
- Anticipationscount
- Answers under 100 ms after the second word appeared, counted neither right nor wrong.
- Expected to be 0
- Session In Another Language0/1
- 1 when the session ran in a language other than English; the words are English in every session.
- Flagged for review
Use and evidence
43 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, about the same as from 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 318 of 495 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 9 |
| 2024 | 8 |
| 2023 | 7 |
| 2022 | 9 |
| 2021 | 10 |
| 2020 | 9 |
| 2019 | 15 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2017 | 8 |
| 2016 | 7 |
| 2015 | 16 |
| 2014 | 13 |
| 2013 | 14 |
| 2012 | 15 |
| 2011 | 9 |
| 2010 | 11 |
| 2009 | 8 |
| 2008 | 13 |
| 2007 | 6 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2005 | 7 |
| 2004 | 12 |
| 2003 | 6 |
| 2002 | 6 |
| 2001 | 5 |
| 2000 | 5 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade C
At least 2 test-retest papers, 30 reliability or validity papers or 3 registered clinical studies.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 3
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 11
- 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 0.22.0, counted 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Pairs
- 64 English pairs written for this test, 16 of each kind: rhymes spelled alike from the last vowel on (light, night), rhymes spelled differently (kite, night), non-rhymes spelled alike (charm, warm) and non-rhymes spelled differently. Rhymes were checked against the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, and pairs whose rhyme depends on the accent were left out. The words are English in every session.
- Lists
- Each second word has two first words, one spelled like it and one not, and two lists drawn from the session's seed decide which it follows, so every word appears once per session.
- Trial
- A cross for 500 ms, the first word for 500 ms and a blank for 500 ms, then the second word until F or J or 3,000 ms. Which key means rhyme is drawn from the seed.
- Session
- 8 practice pairs with feedback, then 64 with none, with no more than 3 of one answer in a row.
- Scoring
- The conflict effect is the median time to answer conflict pairs minus the median for pairs where spelling and sound agree, over right answers at or after 100 ms. Below 60% correct on two kinds of pair is invalid.
The pairs were written for this test, not taken from published item sets. Across the two lists, the conflict pairs and the agreeing pairs end on the same second words, so the effect does not rest on the second words. One person's effect rests on 32 conflict and 32 agreeing pairs, so compare groups, not single people. 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: rhyme_judgment_test from the scored run, F or J for rhyme or no rhyme within 3 seconds (chance 50%, half the pairs rhyme). Below chance invalidates, not above chance is flagged, and 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. Below 60% correct on two or more of the four kinds of pair invalidates. A session in a language other than English 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. Welcome and Alton (2015) set aside participants below 60% correct on two or more kinds of pair as not having understood the task; conflict pairs are hard for many readers, so one kind below 60% is allowed. The word lists are English. A session run in another language shows English words to a participant who may not read English fluently, so it is flagged for review. These limits are ConductScience choices.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
This test runs with fixed settings.
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Devices and languages
- Timed test: participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. Participant devices
- Instructions and screens: English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. Words and sentences: English.
- 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 Rhyme Judgment Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Polich, McCarthy, Wang & Donchin, 1983; Welcome & Alton, 2015). The main score was conflict effect (median time to answer conflict pairs (rhymes spelled differently, non-rhymes spelled alike) minus the median time for pairs where spelling and sound agree, over right answers).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Polich, J., McCarthy, G., Wang, W. S., & Donchin, E. (1983). When words collide: Orthographic and phonological interference during word processing. Biological Psychology, 16(3-4), 155-180. https://doi.org/10.1016/0301-0511(83)90022-4The paradigm: rhyme matching of word pairs that rhyme or not and look alike or not, slower whenever spelling and sound conflict.
- Johnston, R. S., & McDermott, E. A. (1986). Suppression effects in rhyme judgement tasks. The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology Section A, 38(1), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.1080/14640748608401587Rhyme judgments of pairs crossed for spelling and sound, shown together or one after the other; saying something aloud while judging hurt accuracy most on look-alike pairs that do not rhyme.
- Welcome, S. E., & Alton, A. C. (2015). Individual differences in the effect of orthographic/phonological conflict on rhyme and spelling decisions. PLOS ONE, 10(3), e0119734. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0119734The method in detail: the first word for 500 ms, a 500 ms gap, then the second word; conflict pairs 113 ms slower on average, and more so for weaker readers of made-up words.
Source papers
- Welcome SE, Alton AC (2015). Individual differences in the effect of orthographic/phonological conflict on rhyme and spelling decisions. PLOS ONE, 10(3):e0119734.Paradigm source, Adults
- No normative data for this task.Paradigm source, N/A
Questions
How long does the Rhyme Judgment Task take?
About 4 to 6 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?
Conflict Effect, Rhyme Conflict, Non-Rhyme Conflict, Conflict Accuracy Cost, Rhymes Spelled Alike, Rhymes Spelled Differently, Non-Rhymes Spelled Alike, Non-Rhymes Spelled Differently, Accuracy, Median Response Time, Missed Pairs, Anticipations and Session In Another Language. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Rhyme Judgment Task used in research?
43 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, about the same as from 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 318 of 495 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.22.0, counted 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Rhyme Judgment Task have?
In the published research, 3 papers report its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses it as an outcome (evidence grade C in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which languages can participants use?
The instructions and screens are in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese (Brazil), Chinese (Simplified) and Japanese. The words and sentences stay in English, so sessions in other languages are flagged for review. 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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