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Flanker test online: can you ignore the other arrows?

See how well you keep your focus on one arrow while its neighbors try to pull you the other way — the skill behind following one voice in a noisy room or spotting the right exit sign in traffic.

Start now

Up to 3 minutes of scored rounds · short tutorial included · nothing to install or prepare

Look only at the arrow in the middle.

  1. 1Learn and practiceA short tutorial and 6 practice rounds that count toward nothing.
  2. 260 scored roundsAnswer Left or Right; the next row simply appears.
  3. 3Your resultsSpeed, accuracy and interference cost, read against reference ranges.

What is the flanker test?

The flanker test is a short attention task: you answer according to the arrow in the middle of a row of five and ignore the arrows on either side of it. It measures how well you resolve response conflict and suppress distractors. This version is a digital implementation of the Eriksen Flanker Task, the paradigm B. A. Eriksen and C. W. Eriksen published in 1974, and it follows that published procedure.1

Answer the middle arrow. Ignore the rest.

Every round shows five arrows. Press Left or Right according to where the middle one points. The arrows around it may agree, disagree or be plain bars, and the three kinds of row are mixed through the task in roughly equal shares.

Fixation point +

Congruent: the neighbors agree

All five arrows point the same way. The middle one points right, so the answer is Right.

These rows are the easy reference: the information around the target backs up your answer.

Fixation point +

Incongruent: the neighbors disagree

The four outer arrows point right, the middle one points left. The answer is Left.

This is the pull the whole task is built around: your eyes take in four arrows saying one thing while the one that counts says another.

Fixation point +

Neutral: the neighbors say nothing

The middle arrow sits between plain bars that point nowhere. It points left, so the answer is Left.

These rows are the baseline: they show how much agreement helps you and how much disagreement costs you.

One round, from start to finish

  1. 1A fixation pointA small cross shows you where to look.
  2. 2Five arrows appearAnswer Left or Right within 3 seconds.
  3. 3On to the nextNo right or wrong is shown during the scored part.

The practice rounds let you warm up first, and you can repeat the tutorial as often as you like.

Try the 60 rounds

What the flanker test measures

Two abilities are at its core. Three more take part in every answer you give.

A person sitting on a sofa at home, concentrating on a phone held in both hands.

At its core

Response conflict resolution
Settling a clash between two answers that both seem right.When the GPS says turn right but the lane arrow on the road points left.
Distractor suppression
Keeping what doesn't matter from steering what you do.Reading an email to the end while coworkers talk at the next desk.

It also contributes to

Focal selective attention
Narrowing your focus to one spot and holding it there.Finding your gate on a crowded departures board.
Adaptive control
Adjusting how carefully you respond as the situation changes.Easing off the gas after you nearly miss your exit.
Processing speed
How quickly you take something in and act on it.Moving off smoothly when the light turns green.

Curious how strongly the other arrows pull on you?

See where your focus holds

How to read your flanker test result

At the end of the 60 rounds, the task shows your results next to CogniFit's reference ranges. Four measures tell most of the story, and one of them is the heart of the task.

Incongruent rowsYour time
Congruent rowsYour time
Key measureInterference cost

Interference cost is the simple comparison the task is built for: how much slower you were, in milliseconds, when the neighbors pointed the other way than when they agreed. Lower means the other arrows pulled on you less.

Speed

Median reaction time

Your typical answering time: half your answers were faster, half slower. A single very slow answer doesn't move it. Lower means quicker.

Accuracy

Share of correct answers

Out of every hundred answers you gave, how many were right. Higher is better.

Steadiness

Reaction time variation

How irregular your rhythm was compared with your overall speed, so fast and slow people can be compared on steadiness alone. Lower means a more even rhythm.

A result describes one session, read against reference ranges. It is not a diagnosis or a verdict on your attention, and a tired or distracted day can shift it.

Numbers mean more when they're yours.

See your own numbers

The science behind the Eriksen flanker task

The idea is simple: put the answer in the middle, surround it with information that agrees, disagrees or says nothing, and compare how you respond.

The paradigm goes back to a 1974 study by B. A. Eriksen and C. W. Eriksen on how "noise letters" affect the identification of a target letter.1 The original used letters; this version uses arrows, with the same logic of a target and the items flanking it.

Research has since used the task to study attention. Fan and colleagues (2002) built flanker trials into a test of the efficiency and independence of attentional networks.2 Zelazo and colleagues (2013) described a flanker task as part of the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery, used in research to measure executive function and attention.3

Researchers have also studied how reliable the measures from tasks like this one are, and Hedge, Powell and Sumner (2018) showed why a task that works well for comparing groups can be less suited to telling individuals apart.4

  1. 1974Eriksen & EriksenThe effect of noise letters on identifying a target letter.1
  2. 2002Fan, McCandliss, Sommer, Raz & PosnerFlanker trials in a test of the efficiency and independence of attentional networks.2
  3. 2013Zelazo and colleaguesA flanker task in the NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery, for measuring executive function and attention.3
  4. 2018Hedge, Powell & Sumner"The reliability paradox," on the reliability of measures from tasks like this one.4
A person at a kitchen table leaning toward a laptop in soft morning light, focused on the task.

What this version can tell you

How you performed in this session — your speed, accuracy, steadiness and interference cost — set next to reference ranges, and how that changes if you take it again.

What it cannot tell you

The studies above establish the paradigm and describe groups, not any one person. This version cannot diagnose anything, and it cannot yet say what a given score means for you as an individual.

More detail: how this version is built

The three kinds of row are spread through the task rather than run in blocks, so the difference between them isn't measured together with tiredness.

The arrows and their order are drawn fresh every time, so you can take the task again without meeting the same sequence. Repeating the tutorial before you start doesn't affect any result.

Variability is computed only on correct answers, because errors come from a different process. The task also compares incongruent and congruent rows with neutral ones, which separates the cost of conflict on its own from the benefit of agreement, called facilitation.

Quality checks — for example, answers that came back too fast to be real — decide whether a session can be read at all. They describe the session, not the person.

Reading about the effect is one thing. Feeling it is another.

Feel the effect yourself

Questions about the flanker test online

How long does the flanker test take?
The scored part is 60 rounds of up to 3 seconds each, so 3 minutes at most. Before it come a short tutorial and 6 practice rounds, which aren't counted in the scored time.
Do I need an account to take it?
No. The task opens right on this page. When you finish, the results screen offers to sign up so you can track your results over time.
Can I take it on my phone?
Yes. It works on a computer, tablet or phone. You answer by choosing between 2 buttons on screen: Left or Right.
Why doesn't it tell me if I got a round right?
During the scored part, the next row simply appears. That keeps every round the same, so your results reflect the task itself. The practice rounds before it are there to get comfortable.
Can I take it again?
Yes. The arrows and their order are drawn fresh every time, so you won't repeat the same sequence.
Is my result a diagnosis?
No. It shows how you performed in one session against reference ranges. It is not a clinical conclusion about your attention or your health.

Now you know what it measures. Try the flanker test.

Five arrows, one that counts, 60 rounds. Then see your speed, accuracy and interference cost — and sign up if you want to follow them over time.

Start the flanker test Sign up to track your results

Enjoy interference tasks? Try another classic: the Colours and Words (Stroop) test.

Sources

  1. 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/BF03203267
  2. Fan, J., McCandliss, B. D., Sommer, T., Raz, A., & Posner, M. I. (2002). Testing the efficiency and independence of attentional networks. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 14(3), 340–347. https://doi.org/10.1162/089892902317361886
  3. Zelazo, P. D., Anderson, J. E., Richler, J., Wallner-Allen, K., Beaumont, J. L., & Weintraub, S. (2013). NIH Toolbox Cognition Battery (CB): Measuring executive function and attention. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 78(4), 16–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12032
  4. Hedge, C., Powell, G., & Sumner, P. (2018). The reliability paradox. Behavior Research Methods, 50(3), 1166–1186. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0935-1
  5. CogniFit. Arrow Flanker Task: description of the task, its conditions and the measures it reports.

Related task: Colours and Words (Stroop) test

This content is for information only. It is not medical advice and does not replace professional care. The flanker test does not diagnose any condition; if you have concerns about your attention or memory, talk to a health professional.

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