Exercises / Switch
Task switching test online, free
Classify the same shape by colour or by form, following a cue that keeps changing. Trains the cost of dropping one rule and picking up another.
Try it
Read the cue, then classify the shape by that property alone.
45 seconds. No account, nothing saved, nothing to install.
What does the Task switching test measure?
A cued task-switching paradigm. Responses are reliably slower on the trial right after the rule changes. That gap, the switch cost, is the number this exercise tracks.
Headline measure: Switch cost (ms)
Your score describes how you did on this task, on this day, at this difficulty. It is not an IQ score, a percentile or a medical measure. Read more on what the exercises measure.
How does the Task switching test work?
Read the cue, then classify the shape by that property alone.
- A cue says COLOUR or SHAPE, then a shape appears.
- Answer by the cued property only. The button labels change with the cue.
- The buttons stay in the same two positions for the whole set.
Controls
- ←Left answer
- →Right answer
- TapTap either answer button
How is the Task switching test scored?
Each set reports accuracy and switch cost. Scores compare you with your own earlier sets, never with other people.
Where does the Task switching test come from?
Rogers and Monsell alternated two easy tasks in a fixed, fully predictable order. People still slowed down on every trial that followed a switch, even knowing it was coming. That slowdown is the switch cost, and it is the reason juggling two simple jobs is harder than doing either one twice.
