Task comparison
“Attention” names several distinct task demands. Search finds a target, inhibition withholds or follows a rule, tracking updates moving positions, and vigilance monitors a low-frequency stream.
Category
Task comparison
Published
Nov 15, 2025
Updated
Jul 29, 2026
Author
focus-game.org editorial team
Choosing by mechanism makes results easier to interpret. A reaction time from one task includes a different decision from another, and accuracy denominators can refer to targets, all trials, selected positions, or present/absent judgments.
Practice may change performance on the selected interface. This article does not claim that one page strengthens an underlying faculty or transfers to real-world safety, productivity, health, or academic performance.
Schulte uses ordered number selection. Visual Search asks for a target in a cluttered board. Symbol Search asks whether one or two target marks appear in a candidate row. Set size, similarity, screen dimensions, and input path affect these tasks.
Stroop separates congruent, incongruent, and neutral word/color conditions. Flanker uses a center arrow with compatible, conflicting, or neutral flanks. The short Attention Test mixes targets and withhold cues. Their errors have different meanings.
Multiple Object Tracking marks several objects, removes the markings, moves all objects, and then asks for the original targets. Frame rate, object spacing, speed, duration, and display size are part of the task conditions.
Sustained Attention presents one digit each second and requires a response to target 7. Hits, misses, false alarms, median hit timing, variability, and first/second halves provide complementary descriptions. A faster strategy can also increase false alarms.
Write down the intended rule, keep settings stable, and review the actual denominator. Do not combine pages into a general attention score or use them to label a person normal, abnormal, ready, or impaired.
These questions stay tied to the visible content on this page.
Continue with tools that pair naturally with this page.
Find one target in symbol, letter, or number boards and review completion time, errors, difficulty, and local history.
Start
Complete congruent, incongruent, and neutral Flanker trials, then compare condition accuracy, median response time, and interference.
Start
Track several moving targets among identical distractors, adjust speed and target count, and compare accuracy across local sessions.
Start
Complete a timed vigilance task and review target hits, misses, false alarms, median response time, and response consistency.
Start
Read supporting explainers and practical guides.