Processing speed
Warning Interval Task
Also called: temporal preparation, variable foreperiod task, temporal orienting, warned reaction time
Measure how warning intervals and cues change response speed: people press when a dot appears after a short or long wait.
3-4 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
- 128
- Evidence grade
- D
- Registered clinical studies
- 1
What it measures
Measure preparation for when a target will appear. People press Space when a dot follows a short or long warning interval, with or without a cue to its timing. Scores compare response times across intervals and cues.
Constructs
- Temporal preparation
- Temporal orienting
- Response speed
Research uses
- Temporal attention research
- Response preparation research
- Within-study group comparison
How the paradigm works
The Warning Interval Task measures preparation for when something will happen. A warning appears before a target. When short and long intervals are mixed, responses can become faster after the longer interval. A cue that predicts the interval can also help people prepare (Weinbach and Henik, 2012).
More about the paradigm
A cross appears for 500 ms, followed by a 100 ms warning. A dot appears 600 or 1,400 ms after the warning starts. Ready is neutral; Soon and Later always predict the short and long intervals. People press Space when the dot appears, within 1,500 ms. Eight practice trials give feedback, then 80 test trials (20 in each of four conditions, adjustable from 8 to 40) run in a seeded order with a rest halfway. The session takes about 3 to 4 minutes on a desktop or laptop.
The main score is mean response time after neutral short warnings minus neutral long warnings. Separate scores compare neutral and informative warnings at each interval. A positive difference means faster responses in the second condition. Each condition needs three usable responses; trials with pre-target keys and responses under 100 ms are excluded. The measured warning intervals and frame intervals are saved with each trial.
Scores
- Foreperiod Effectms
- Mean neutral short minus neutral long response time.
- Positive means faster responses after the long warning interval
- Short Interval Cue Benefitms
- Neutral minus informative mean response time at 600 ms.
- Positive means faster responses with a timing cue
- Long Interval Cue Benefitms
- Neutral minus informative mean response time at 1,400 ms.
- Positive means faster responses with a timing cue
- Neutral Short Response Timems
- Mean usable response time with a neutral warning and a 600 ms interval.
- Compare conditions within the study
- Neutral Long Response Timems
- Mean usable response time with a neutral warning and a 1,400 ms interval.
- Compare conditions within the study
- Cued Short Response Timems
- Mean usable response time after Soon.
- Compare with the neutral short interval
- Cued Long Response Timems
- Mean usable response time after Later.
- Compare with the neutral long interval
- Mean Response Timems
- Mean of usable target responses.
- Lower means faster responses
- Anticipationscount
- Target responses under 100 ms, excluded from means.
- Lower is better
- Early Key Pressescount
- Space presses before the target; the affected trials leave the means.
- Lower is better
- Missed Responsescount
- Trials without a recorded Space response.
- Lower is better
- Usable Trialstrials
- Answered trials at or after 100 ms with no early keys.
- More gives a steadier estimate
- Completed Trialstrials
- Recorded test trials in the selected run, including missed targets.
- Compare with planned trials
- Planned Trialstrials
- Test trials planned for the run.
- Informational
- Frame Intervalms
- Median measured interval between animation frames.
- About 16.7 ms on a 60 Hz screen
Use and evidence
128 papers from 2021 to 2025 name this task in their title or abstract, down 1% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 210 of 582 test families in our census. See the counts for every test.
Show the numbers
| Year | Papers |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 35 |
| 2024 | 24 |
| 2023 | 15 |
| 2022 | 24 |
| 2021 | 30 |
| 2020 | 36 |
| 2019 | 21 |
| 2018 | 34 |
| 2017 | 19 |
| 2016 | 19 |
| 2015 | 27 |
| 2014 | 30 |
| 2013 | 26 |
| 2012 | 22 |
| 2011 | 32 |
| 2010 | 39 |
| 2009 | 16 |
| 2008 | 16 |
| 2007 | 16 |
| 2006 | 8 |
| 2005 | 9 |
| 2004 | 4 |
| 2003 | 5 |
| 2002 | 5 |
| 2001 | 6 |
| 2000 | 2 |
Use grade C
100 to 299 papers from 2021 to 2025.
Evidence grade D
Little published measurement evidence found.
- Papers on test-retest reliability
- 0
- Papers on reliability or validity
- 28
- Registered clinical studies using it as an outcome
- 1
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.
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 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
Task design
The trial sequence as the test runs in ConductCognition.
- Display
- A cross for 500 ms, a word warning for 100 ms, then a blank until a central dot appears 600 or 1,400 ms after warning onset.
- Cues
- Ready gives no timing information. Soon always predicts 600 ms; Later always predicts 1,400 ms. Each interval has equal numbers of neutral and informative cues.
- Answer
- Press Space when the dot appears, within 1,500 ms. Keys pressed before the target are counted; those trials and answers under 100 ms leave the response-time means.
- Trials
- 20 trials per condition (8 to 40): 80 test trials in a seeded order, with a rest halfway. Eight practice trials give feedback for 800 ms each.
- Score
- Mean neutral short minus neutral long response time. Cue benefits compare neutral minus informative response time at each interval. Each mean needs at least three usable answers.
A fixed, visual version of the foreperiod and temporal cueing methods. The fully informative word cues, intervals and trial counts are specific to this version. Compare effects within a study using the same devices; percentiles are not computed.
Quality checks
Each session is marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason, before you see its scores.
Scored rows: warning_interval_test from the run with most trials. Space answers to the target; no choice accuracy or repeated-key check. Trials with keys before the target leave the means. Incomplete runs or fewer than three usable responses in a required cell are flagged. Missed responses and responses under 100 ms follow the timed-test rule.
Why these rules
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. A hidden tab lets the study, delay or response timers run without the participant, so a percentile is withheld after one. A warning cue is not the target, so pre-target keys do not measure target response time.
No percentile. Scores and quality flags only.
Running this test
Settings you can change
| Setting | Standard | Allowed |
|---|---|---|
| Trials per condition | 20 | 8 to 40 |
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.
- 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 Warning Interval Task in a web browser (ConductCognition task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0; Weinbach and Henik, 2012), with the standard settings (trials per condition: 20). The main score was foreperiod effect (mean neutral short minus neutral long response time).
ConductCognition versions: task version 1.0.0, scoring version 1.0.0. Every export records the versions each session used, for a methods section.
- Weinbach, N., & Henik, A. (2012). Temporal orienting and alerting: The same or different? Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 236. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2012.00236Distinguishes warning effects, variable foreperiods and symbolic temporal cues.
Source papers
- Weinbach N, Henik A (2012). Temporal orienting and alerting: The same or different? Frontiers in Psychology, 3, 236.Paradigm source, Adults
Questions
How long does the Warning Interval Task take?
About 3 to 4 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?
Foreperiod Effect, Short Interval Cue Benefit, Long Interval Cue Benefit, Neutral Short Response Time, Neutral Long Response Time, Cued Short Response Time, Cued Long Response Time, Mean Response Time, Anticipations, Early Key Presses, Missed Responses, Usable Trials, Completed Trials, Planned Trials and Frame Interval. Each session is also marked valid, needs review or invalid, with the reason.
How widely is the Warning Interval Task used in research?
128 papers from 2021 to 2025 name it in their title or abstract, down 1% compared with 2016 to 2020. That ranks it 210 of 582 test families in the ConductCognition test census (use grade C). Source: ConductCognition test census 0.39.0, counted 8 November 2026 from OpenAlex and ClinicalTrials.gov.
How much reliability evidence does the Warning Interval Task have?
In the published research, 0 papers report its test-retest reliability and 1 registered clinical study uses 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?
Trials per condition (8 to 40). 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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