Reasoning
Triad Choice Task
Also called: triad task, triads task, taxonomic-thematic triads, taxonomic versus thematic task, conceptual preference task, match-to-sample triads, triad categorization
Measure whether people group things by kind or by theme: participants choose which of two things goes best with a third, as pictures or as words.
3-5 minUntimed
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
- 89
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 0
What it measures
Measures whether people group things by kind or by theme. Each screen shows a thing at the top and two below: one of the same kind, such as a candle for a light bulb, and one that goes with it, such as a plug. Participants choose the one that goes best with the top thing. Scores the share of goes-together choices.
Constructs
- Conceptual organization
- Taxonomic and thematic relations
- Categorization style
- Semantic knowledge
Research uses
- Cultural and cross-language research on categorization
- Developmental and aging research
- Semantic memory research
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The Triad Choice Task measures whether a person groups things by kind or by theme. Each screen shows a thing at the top and two below it: one of the same kind, such as a candle for a light bulb, and one that goes with it by place, use, time or event, such as a plug. The participant clicks or taps the one that goes best with the top thing. There is no time limit and no right or wrong answer, and a choice is followed by 500 ms before the next triad.
More about the paradigm
The format is the taxonomic and thematic triad of conceptual preference research. Smiley and Brown (1979) asked which of two options goes best with a standard and found that young children and older adults chose the thematic option more often than school children and students did. Ji, Zhang and Nisbett (2004) found that Chinese participants grouped by relations more than European Americans, whether tested in English or in Chinese. In studies of North American students, about 80% showed a reliable preference one way or the other, split about evenly between the two (Mirman, Landrigan and Britt 2017). This task uses 20 triads written for it, with pictures from Noto Emoji or, with the words setting, the things' everyday names in the participant's language, the same for every participant. The 20 top things are 5 animals and 15 everyday things and foods. Four check triads pair the top thing with one related and one unrelated thing, one in each quarter of the session. The two kinds of choice are each on the left for half the triads, never on one side more than three times running. The standard session is 24 triads after 2 practice triads, in about 3 to 5 minutes.
The main score is the goes-together share: the share of the 20 triads on which the participant chose the thing that goes with the top one, from 0 (always the same kind) to 1 (always goes together). Neither end is better, and 15 or more choices one way out of 20 is a preference unlikely by chance. Check accuracy, the share of check triads answered with the related thing, shows whether the screens were read. Choices depend on the wording of the question and on the triads used, so compare groups that saw the same version, and run the Semantic Triads Task, which marks thematic answers right, after this task or in another session. Scores support research and do not diagnose.
Scores
- Goes-Together Share%
- Share of answered test triads on which the thing that goes with the top one was chosen, not the one of the same kind.
- Informational; neither end is better
- Goes-Together Choicescount
- Test triads answered with the thing that goes with the top one.
- Informational
- Triads Answeredcount
- Test triads answered, of 20.
- Informational
- Check Accuracy%
- Share of the four check triads answered with the related thing, not the unrelated one.
- Higher is better
- Checks Answeredcount
- Check triads answered, of 4.
- Informational
- Median Choice Timems
- Median time from a test triad appearing to the choice. Choices under 100 ms are left out.
- Informational
- Choices Under 100 mscount
- Choices made less than 100 ms after a triad appeared.
- Lower is better
Use and evidence
89 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 15% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 293 of 670 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 32 |
| 2024 | 18 |
| 2023 | 17 |
| 2022 | 15 |
| 2021 | 7 |
| 2020 | 15 |
| 2019 | 29 |
| 2018 | 27 |
| 2017 | 15 |
| 2016 | 19 |
| 2015 | 22 |
| 2014 | 8 |
| 2013 | 8 |
| 2012 | 10 |
| 2011 | 12 |
| 2010 | 10 |
| 2009 | 12 |
| 2008 | 6 |
| 2007 | 8 |
| 2006 | 6 |
| 2005 | 5 |
| 2004 | 6 |
| 2003 | 5 |
| 2002 | 4 |
| 2001 | 6 |
| 2000 | 1 |
Use grade D
30 to 99 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 1
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 23
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 0
Measured on ConductCognition
Pooled across the studies that feed our platform norms, by device group. A figure needs 50 or more people.
No pooled figure yet.
Note on the counts: includes semantic memory studies that use other tasks.
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 0.48.0, counted 12 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Things
- Everyday things, animals and foods as Noto Emoji pictures (standard), or their names in the participant's language as a setting: one at the top and two below, chosen by a click, a tap or Enter, with no time limit.
- Triads
- 20 triads written for this test, the same for everyone. One choice is the same kind of thing as the top one; the other goes with it by food, home, use, place, time or event.
- Checks
- 4 check triads, one in each quarter, pair the top thing with one related and one unrelated thing.
- Question
- Which goes best with the top one? There is no right or wrong answer.
- Sides
- Each kind of choice is on the left for half the triads, never on one side more than 3 times running.
- Timing
- 500 ms between triads.
- Practice
- 2 triads, each shown again with the choice marked for 1,000 ms.
The triads are written for this test with Noto Emoji pictures and our own words in each language; no triad of a published study or test is used. Neither choice is right, and the goes-together share describes how a person groups things, not how well. 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: triad_choice_choice test rows from the scored run, the 20 test triads and the 4 check triads. Test triads have no correct choice, so accuracy is not judged against chance. The unrelated choice on every check triad invalidates and on half of them or more is flagged. One place on at least 90% of the screens invalidates. Fewer than half the test triads answered invalidates, and any other shortfall is flagged. Choices under 200 ms on at least half the screens invalidate.
Why these rules
There is no correct option to compare with chance, so accuracy is not judged against chance. Each check triad pairs the top thing with one related thing and one unrelated thing, so choosing the unrelated one each time means the screens were not read. Each side holds the goes-together choice on half the test triads and the related choice on half the checks, so one side on nearly every screen follows no preference. 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.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Pictures or words | Pictures | Pictures, Words |
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, laptops, tablets and phones. 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 Triad Choice Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Smiley SS, Brown AL, 1979; Lin EL, Murphy GL, 2001; Ji LJ, Zhang Z, Nisbett RE, 2004), with the standard settings (pictures or words: Pictures). The main score was goes-together share (share of answered test triads on which the thing that goes with the top one was chosen, not the one of the same kind).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Smiley, S. S., & Brown, A. L. (1979). Conceptual preference for thematic or taxonomic relations: A nonmonotonic age trend from preschool to old age. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 28(2), 249-257. https://doi.org/10.1016/0022-0965(79)90087-0A standard and two options, one taxonomic and one thematic: which goes best with the standard.
- Lin, E. L., & Murphy, G. L. (2001). Thematic relations in adults' concepts. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 130(1), 3-28. https://doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.130.1.3Thematic relations in adults' categories, when they are meaningful and salient.
- Ji, L.-J., Zhang, Z., & Nisbett, R. E. (2004). Is it culture or is it language? Examination of language effects in cross-cultural research on categorization. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87(1), 57-65. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.87.1.57Culture and the language of testing in relational and categorical grouping.
- Mirman, D., & Graziano, K. M. (2012). Individual differences in the strength of taxonomic versus thematic relations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4), 601-609. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0026451Twenty picture triads and each person's number of taxonomic choices.
- Mirman, D., Landrigan, J.-F., & Britt, A. E. (2017). Taxonomic and thematic semantic systems. Psychological Bulletin, 143(5), 499-520. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000092Review of individual, developmental and cultural differences in taxonomic and thematic choices.
Source papers
- Mirman D, Graziano KM (2012). Individual differences in the strength of taxonomic versus thematic relations. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 141(4):601-609.N 30, 42-77
- Smiley SS, Brown AL (1979). Conceptual preference for thematic or taxonomic relations: A nonmonotonic age trend from preschool to old age. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 28(2):249-257.Paradigm source, Preschool to old age
Questions
How long does the Triad Choice Task take?
About 3 to 5 minutes, as listed in the test library.
What device does a participant need?
Untimed test: runs on desktops, laptops, tablets and phones. The browser must be Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
What scores does it produce?
Goes-Together Share, Goes-Together Choices, Triads Answered, Check Accuracy, Checks Answered, Median Choice Time and Choices Under 100 ms. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Triad Choice Task used in research?
89 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 15% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 293 of 670 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade D). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.48.0, counted 12 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Triad Choice Task have?
In the published research, 1 paper reports its test-retest reliability and 0 registered clinical studies use it as an outcome (evidence grade D in the ConductCognition test census).
Does it report a percentile?
No. Scores and quality flags only.
Which settings can a researcher change?
Pictures or words (Pictures, Words). 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.
Every test: the full test list.
Run this test in your next study
Start free with 10 free participants on any test, then use participant credits or a yearly plan.