Executive Function
Squared Attention Tasks
Also called: Stroop Squared, Flanker Squared, Simon Squared, squared tasks, three-minute tests of attention control
Measure attention control in three 90-second conflict tasks with color words, arrows and directions, scored as correct minus wrong answers.
8-10 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
- 11
- Evidence grade
- C
- Registered clinical studies
- 3
What it measures
Measures attention control with three short conflict tasks on color words, arrows and directions, in which the item and both answers can each point the wrong way. Participants answer as many as they can in 90 seconds per task, and the score is correct minus wrong answers.
Constructs
- Attention control
- Conflict resolution
- Goal maintenance
Research uses
- Attention control and individual differences research
- Short batteries that need a reliable attention measure
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The squared attention tasks measure attention control: keeping to a goal when a habit points the other way. They follow the three Squared tasks of Burgoyne, Tsukahara, Mashburn, Pak and Engle (2023), new takes on the Stroop, flanker and Simon tasks in which both the item and the two answers can carry a conflict, and the score is a count of answers rather than a difference between response times.
More about the paradigm
In each part an item appears at the top of the screen with two answers below it, and participants press F for the answer on the left or J for the answer on the right. Colors (Stroop Squared): the word RED or BLUE is printed in red or blue, and the correct answer is the one whose word names that ink, whatever ink the answer itself is printed in. Arrows (Flanker Squared): the item and each answer are rows of five arrows, and the correct answer is the one whose middle arrow points the way the item's outer arrows point. Directions (Simon Squared): an arrow on the left or right side points left or right, and the correct answer is the word for its direction; the arrow and the two words change sides at random. In every part the item and the pair of answers are each congruent or incongruent, and the four combinations are equally likely. The color and direction words follow the session's language.
Each part has 30 seconds of practice and then 90 seconds that count; researchers can set 60 to 120 seconds. Each item stays until an answer, a word of feedback follows for 300 ms, and the time left and the score stay on screen. Each correct answer adds a point and each wrong answer takes one away, as in the published tasks. The main score is the total over the three parts, and each part's score is reported too. Answers under 100 ms count as anticipations and score nothing. The published tasks were answered with a mouse and this version with keys, so its counts are not directly comparable with the published ones.
Scores
- Net Scorepoints
- Correct minus wrong answers over the three timed parts.
- Higher is better
- Colors Part Scorepoints
- Correct minus wrong answers in the colors part, after Stroop Squared.
- Higher is better
- Arrows Part Scorepoints
- Correct minus wrong answers in the arrows part, after Flanker Squared.
- Higher is better
- Directions Part Scorepoints
- Correct minus wrong answers in the directions part, after Simon Squared.
- Higher is better
- Correct Answerscount
- Correct answers in the three timed parts, answers under 100 ms aside.
- Higher is better
- Wrong Answerscount
- Wrong answers in the three timed parts, answers under 100 ms aside.
- Lower is better
- Accuracy%
- Share of answers that were correct, answers under 100 ms aside.
- Higher is better
- Median Correct Response Timems
- Median time from an item's onset to a correct answer.
- Lower is faster
- Anticipationscount
- Answers under 100 ms from the item's onset.
- Lower is better
- Seconds per Partseconds
- Length of each timed part.
- Informational
- Total Itemstrials
- Items shown in the three timed parts, the one cut off when each part's time ran out included.
- Informational
Use and evidence
11 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract. That ranks it 368 of 395 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 |
| 2024 | 1 |
| 2023 | 2 |
| 2022 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2020 | 1 |
| 2019 | 1 |
| 2018 | 0 |
| 2017 | 3 |
| 2016 | 0 |
| 2015 | 1 |
| 2014 | 0 |
| 2013 | 0 |
| 2012 | 1 |
| 2011 | 1 |
| 2010 | 1 |
| 2009 | 0 |
| 2008 | 0 |
| 2007 | 0 |
| 2006 | 0 |
| 2005 | 0 |
| 2004 | 0 |
| 2003 | 0 |
| 2002 | 1 |
| 2001 | 0 |
| 2000 | 0 |
Use grade E
Fewer than 30 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
- 1
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 2
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 3
Note on the counts: first posted in 2022; earlier matches are other uses of the words.
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.
- Parts
- Colors, arrows and directions, in that order, after Stroop Squared, Flanker Squared and Simon Squared.
- Keys
- F for the answer on the left and J for the answer on the right.
- Items
- In each part the item and the pair of answers are each congruent or incongruent; the four combinations are equally likely, and the correct answer is on each side half the time.
- Colors
- RED or BLUE printed in red or blue; choose the answer whose word names the ink, whatever ink the answer is in.
- Arrows
- Rows of five arrows; choose the answer whose middle arrow points the way the item's outer arrows point.
- Directions
- An arrow on the left or right; choose the answer that names the way it points, wherever the words sit.
- Timing
- 30 seconds of practice, then 90 seconds that count (standard; 60 to 120) in each part. Each item stays until an answer, and feedback shows for 300 ms.
- Score
- Correct minus wrong answers in each part and over the three parts. Answers under 100 ms score nothing.
The published tasks were answered by clicking with a mouse. This version uses the F and J keys and draws its own items, with the words in the session's language, so its counts are not directly comparable with the published ones.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: squared_attention_test from the scored run, the answers given in the three timed parts, F or J (chance 50%); the item cut off when a part's time ran out is left out. Below chance invalidates and not above chance is flagged. One key on 90% of answers invalidates when accuracy is not above chance. Responses under 100 ms follow the timed-test rule. A part scoring 0 or less is flagged and withholds the percentile.
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. Burgoyne et al. (2023) set a part's score to missing when it was at or below chance; here it is flagged for review.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Part length (seconds) | 90 | 60 to 120 |
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 Squared Attention Tasks task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Burgoyne, Tsukahara, Mashburn, Pak & Engle, 2023), with the standard settings (part length (seconds): 90). The main score was net score (correct minus wrong answers over the three timed parts).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Burgoyne, A. P., Tsukahara, J. S., Mashburn, C. A., Pak, R., & Engle, R. W. (2023). Nature and measurement of attention control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(8), 2369-2402. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001408
- Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643-662. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0054651The color-word conflict of the colors part.
- Eriksen, B. A., & Eriksen, C. W. (1974). Effects of noise letters upon the identification of a target letter in a nonsearch task. Perception & Psychophysics, 16(1), 143-149. https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03203267The flanker conflict of the arrows part.
- Simon, J. R. (1969). Reactions toward the source of stimulation. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 81(1), 174-176. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0027448The spatial conflict of the directions part.
- Draheim, C., Tsukahara, J. S., Martin, J. D., Mashburn, C. A., & Engle, R. W. (2021). A toolbox approach to improving the measurement of attention control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(2), 242-275. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0000783The attention control tasks the Squared tasks were compared with.
Source papers
- Burgoyne AP, Tsukahara JS, Mashburn CA, Pak R, Engle RW (2023). Nature and measurement of attention control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(8):2369-2402.Paradigm source, Young adults
- Draheim C, Tsukahara JS, Martin JD, Mashburn CA, Engle RW (2021). A toolbox approach to improving the measurement of attention control. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 150(2):242-275.Paradigm source, Young adults
Questions
How long does the Squared Attention Tasks take?
About 8 to 10 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?
Net Score, Colors Part Score, Arrows Part Score, Directions Part Score, Correct Answers, Wrong Answers, Accuracy, Median Correct Response Time, Anticipations, Seconds per Part and Total Items. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Squared Attention Tasks used in research?
11 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract. That ranks it 368 of 395 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade E). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.14.0, counted 31 October 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Squared Attention Tasks have?
In the published research, 1 paper reports its test-retest reliability and 3 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade C in the ConductCognition test census).
Which settings can a researcher change?
Part length (seconds) (60 to 120). 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, with its words in the same language. 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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