Attention
Rod and Frame Task
Also called: rod-and-frame test, RFT, computerized rod and frame test, subjective visual vertical with a frame, field dependence task, rod-and-frame illusion
Measure how much a tilted frame pulls the sense of upright: participants turn a rod to vertical inside frames tilted 10, 20 or 30 degrees, on a dark full screen.
6-9 minUntimed
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
- 32
- Evidence grade
- B
- Registered clinical studies
- 5
What it measures
Measures how much a tilted square frame pulls a person's sense of upright. Participants turn a rod, shown as two dots in a round window on a dark screen, until it looks upright, with no frame, an upright frame or a frame tilted 10, 20 or 30 degrees to either side.
Constructs
- Visual field dependence
- Perception of the vertical
- Use of visual context
- Visual and vestibular integration
Research uses
- Perception and perceptual style research
- Vestibular and balance research
- Aging and development studies
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The rod and frame task measures how much a tilted frame pulls a person's sense of upright. Each setting covers the screen in black for a second, then shows a round window with two dots that mark the ends of a rod. Participants turn the rod with the arrow keys, half a degree a press, until it looks exactly upright, and press the spacebar; there is no time limit. The rod is shown alone, inside an upright square frame, or inside a frame tilted 10, 20 or 30 degrees to either side, and it starts 20 degrees to the left or right.
More about the paradigm
Witkin and Asch (1948) seated people in a dark room with a luminous rod inside a luminous tilted frame: many set the rod toward the frame's tilt, and how far became a classic measure of reliance on the visual frame, or field dependence. This version follows the computer test of Docherty and Bagust (2010), with the rod shown as two dots, because a line on a pixel screen looks stepped when tilted and smooth when upright. The frame's pull rises to a peak near tilts of 15 to 20 degrees and fades toward 45 (Alberts and colleagues 2016), so three tilts show its shape. The standard session has two rounds of 16 settings, 32 in all, after two practice settings with feedback (the rod alone, then an upright frame), in about 7 minutes; a setting gives one or three rounds.
The main score is the mean distance from upright of the settings with a tilted frame, the classic rod and frame score. The frame's pull at each tilt is half the difference between the mean settings with the frame tilted clockwise and counterclockwise, so a lean in one's own sense of upright cancels out; positive values are toward the frame. Settings with the rod alone give the subjective visual vertical. The test runs in full screen, but unlike the original dark room, the screen's edges and the room around it still show which way is upright, so errors are usually smaller than in the dark-room test. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Mean Error, Tilted Framedegrees
- Mean distance from upright of the settings made with a tilted frame.
- Lower is closer to upright
- Frame Pulldegrees
- Mean pull toward the frame's tilt over tilts of 10, 20 and 30 degrees. Each tilt's pull is half the difference between the settings with the frame tilted clockwise and counterclockwise.
- Larger means more reliance on the frame
- Frame Pull at 20 Degreesdegrees
- The pull at a tilt of 20 degrees, near its usual peak; the pulls at 10 and 30 degrees are also reported.
- Larger means more reliance on the frame
- Rod Alone Settingdegrees
- Mean signed setting with no frame, the subjective visual vertical; positive leans clockwise.
- Near 0 is upright
- Upright Frame Errordegrees
- Mean distance from upright of the settings inside an upright frame.
- Lower is closer to upright
- Setting Spreaddegrees
- Mean spread of the settings within each frame condition.
- Lower is more consistent
- Median Setting Timems
- Median time from the rod appearing to the spacebar.
- Informational
- Unturned Settingscount
- Settings made without turning the rod from where it started.
- Lower is better
Use and evidence
32 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 22% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 293 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 3 |
| 2024 | 5 |
| 2023 | 5 |
| 2022 | 10 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2020 | 5 |
| 2019 | 5 |
| 2018 | 10 |
| 2017 | 12 |
| 2016 | 9 |
| 2015 | 5 |
| 2014 | 16 |
| 2013 | 9 |
| 2012 | 7 |
| 2011 | 15 |
| 2010 | 19 |
| 2009 | 8 |
| 2008 | 9 |
| 2007 | 9 |
| 2006 | 10 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2004 | 6 |
| 2003 | 4 |
| 2002 | 4 |
| 2001 | 5 |
| 2000 | 6 |
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
- 54
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 5
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 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Display
- A round window, its radius 46% of the screen's shorter side, on a black full screen. The frame is a square outline 1.25 times the window's radius, and the rod is two dots 0.65 of the frame's side apart, all drawn by the task's own code.
- Frames
- No frame, an upright frame, or a frame tilted 10, 20 or 30 degrees to either side: 8 conditions.
- Setting
- A black screen for 1,000 ms, then the window. The rod starts 20 degrees to the left or right; each press of an arrow key turns it 0.5 degrees, and the spacebar or Enter sets it. No time limit, and the cursor is hidden.
- Rounds
- Two rounds of 16 settings (standard; one to three). Each round shows every frame once with the rod starting on each side, never the same frame twice in a row.
- Practice
- 2 settings with feedback on how far the rod was from upright: the rod alone, then inside an upright frame.
- Scoring
- The mean distance from upright of the settings with a tilted frame. The frame's pull at each tilt is half the difference between the mean settings with the frame tilted clockwise and counterclockwise.
The original test ran in a dark room with a luminous rod and frame. On a screen, the screen's edges and the room still show which way is upright, even in full screen, so errors are usually smaller than in the dark room; the instructions ask participants to dim the lights. No percentile: reliance on the frame is read as a perceptual style, and its size depends on the screen. 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: rod_and_frame_trial test rows from the scored run, one per setting. A setting has no option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Settings made within 200 ms of the rod appearing on at least half the trials invalidate. The rod starts 20 degrees from upright: set without a turn on at least half the trials invalidates, and on any trial is flagged. Settings with no frame or an upright frame more than 10 degrees from upright on average, and a run short of its planned settings, are flagged.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. An answer under 200 ms is faster than a simple visual reaction, so it cannot reflect the item. Following response-time effort screening for untimed tests (Wise and Kong 2005), the session is invalid only when at least half the answers are that fast. A rod set where it started was not adjusted. With no frame tilted, adults set the rod within 2 to 3 degrees of upright (Docherty and Bagust 2010), so an average over 10 degrees means the task, the screen or the head was not upright; it is flagged, not invalid. Large errors with a tilted frame are what the test measures and never count against a session.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Rounds of 16 settings | 2 | 1 to 3 |
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
- Untimed test: runs on desktops and laptops. 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 Rod and Frame Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Witkin HA, Asch SE, 1948; Docherty S, Bagust J, 2010), with the standard settings (rounds of 16 settings: 2). The main score was mean Error, tilted frame (mean distance from upright of the settings made with a tilted frame).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Witkin, H. A., & Asch, S. E. (1948). Studies in space orientation. IV. Further experiments on perception of the upright with displaced visual fields. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38(6), 762-782. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0053671
- Oltman, P. K. (1968). A portable rod-and-frame apparatus. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 26(2), 503-506. https://doi.org/10.2466/pms.1968.26.2.503A small enclosed apparatus whose scores agreed with the room-sized test.
- Docherty, S., & Bagust, J. (2010). From line to dots: An improved computerised rod and frame system for testing subjective visual vertical and horizontal. BMC Research Notes, 3, 9. https://doi.org/10.1186/1756-0500-3-9The rod as two dots, its start and its step.
- Bagust, J., Docherty, S., Haynes, W., Telford, R., & Isableu, B. (2013). Changes in rod and frame test scores recorded in schoolchildren during development: A longitudinal study. PLoS ONE, 8(5), e65321. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065321The black screen between settings and the round view of the display.
- Wenderoth, P. M. (1974). The distinction between the rod-and-frame illusion and the rod-and-frame test. Perception, 3(2), 205-212. https://doi.org/10.1068/p030205Signed against unsigned errors, and how the pull changes with tilt.
- Alberts, B. B. G. T., de Brouwer, A. J., Selen, L. P. J., & Medendorp, W. P. (2016). A Bayesian account of visual-vestibular interactions in the rod-and-frame task. eNeuro, 3(5), ENEURO.0093-16.2016. https://doi.org/10.1523/ENEURO.0093-16.2016The frame tilts and the sizes of rod and frame.
Source papers
- Witkin HA, Asch SE (1948). Studies in space orientation. IV. Further experiments on perception of the upright with displaced visual fields. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 38(6):762-782.Paradigm source, Adults
- Docherty S, Bagust J (2010). From line to dots: an improved computerised rod and frame system for testing subjective visual vertical and horizontal. BMC Research Notes, 3:9.N 30, Adults (20 to 62)
- Bagust J, Docherty S, Haynes W, Telford R, Isableu B (2013). Changes in rod and frame test scores recorded in schoolchildren during development: a longitudinal study. PLoS ONE, 8(5):e65321.N 419, Children aged 7 to 12
- Alberts BBGT, de Brouwer AJ, Selen LPJ, Medendorp WP (2016). A Bayesian account of visual-vestibular interactions in the rod-and-frame task. eNeuro, 3(5):ENEURO.0093-16.2016.N 9, Adults
Questions
How long does the Rod and Frame Task take?
About 6 to 9 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops and laptops. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Mean Error, Tilted Frame, Frame Pull, Frame Pull at 20 Degrees, Rod Alone Setting, Upright Frame Error, Setting Spread, Median Setting Time and Unturned Settings. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Rod and Frame Task used in research?
32 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 22% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 293 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 2 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Rod and Frame Task have?
In the published research, 13 papers report its test-retest reliability and 5 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 of 16 settings (1 to 3). 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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