Catch the Target
Click as fast as you can when the star appears; a speed bonus is added to your score.
Hold Back
Do not click on circles, squares or triangles — a wrong click costs points. Colour is meaningless, watch the shape only.
Combined Score
Hits plus speed bonus add points, wrong clicks subtract. After 30 stimuli your total goes on the leaderboard.
What Is an Attention Test?
The test on this page is one of the most established tasks in attention research, the go/no-go paradigm: shapes appear one after another, you click as fast as you can when the target shape (a star) shows up, and you suppress the response on distractor shapes (circle, square, triangle). The task measures two things at once: how fast you respond to targets (selective attention and processing speed) and how well you hold back the urge to click (response inhibition, i.e. impulse control). Similar designs form the basis of clinical continuous performance tests (CPT).
Scoring balances both skills: every hit on the star earns base points plus a speed bonus; clicking a distractor or the blank screen costs points. The purely fast lose points to false alarms; the purely cautious miss the speed bonus. Top scores live where speed and accuracy balance — exactly what attention research calls the "speed-accuracy trade-off". The colour of each shape is random and deliberately meaningless; only the shape counts, so colour vision deficiencies do not affect the result.
How It Works
- Press "Start test" and a short "Get ready" screen appears; then the stimuli begin.
- 30 shapes appear one by one in the centre. Each stays for about 1 second; the blank gaps between them vary randomly.
- When you see a star, click the area or press Space. The faster you are, the bigger the speed bonus (50 base + up to 90).
- When a circle, square or triangle appears, do nothing. Clicking these or the blank screen costs 60 points.
- A missed star scores nothing and carries no penalty; it counts as a miss in your accuracy.
- The top bar shows progress, your running score and accuracy; each response gets brief feedback (+points / −60 / Missed).
- After 30 stimuli you see your total score, accuracy percentage and average reaction time on hits.
- Your score joins the leaderboard; later rounds only update it when they are higher.
Tips for a Better Result
- Catch the outline, not the details. The star's five points separate it from circles and squares at a glance; ask "spiky or round?" instead of studying the whole shape.
- Ignore the colour. Colour is random on every stimulus and carries no information. Players who click a yellow circle because "the star was yellow" lose the most points.
- Keep the finger ready, not primed. Waiting permanently "about to click" produces false alarms. Start the response after seeing the shape; one second is enough.
- Stay patient on the blank screen. The gaps are deliberately random; clicking on rhythm is a straight penalty.
- Do not rush out of fear of missing. A missed star only loses a bonus; a wrong click loses points — they are not equal. When unsure, waiting is mathematically the better bet.
- Keep your eyes centred. Shapes always appear in the same spot; a wandering gaze wastes the first 100-150 milliseconds.
- Take short breaks. Sustained attention tires in 20-30 minutes; put small pauses between long streaks of rounds.
- Fix accuracy before speed. Settle at 90%+ accuracy first, then push the pace — the reverse order builds a false-alarm habit.
What It Measures and Builds
- Selective attention: Separating target from distractor at speed is a direct measure of the attention system's filtering power.
- Response inhibition (impulse control): Stopping a prepared movement at the last moment is the essence of the go/no-go task and a cognitive cornerstone of self-control.
- Sustained attention: Staying equally sharp across all 30 stimuli is required; errors that pile up near the end signal tiring attention.
- Processing speed: The average reaction time on hits reports how fast you recognize and act, in milliseconds.
- Speed-accuracy balance: The scoring punishes both extremes; finding your own balance is the real skill the test teaches.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a go/no-go test measure?
Two things at once: the speed of responding to targets (selective attention and processing speed) and the ability to suppress the response on distractors (impulse control). It is the core design behind clinical continuous performance tests.
What is a good score?
In a 30-stimulus round, above 1500 is good and above 1800 is very good; top scores come with 93%+ accuracy. Accuracy matters as much as the score — 2000 points at 75% accuracy is an unbalanced profile.
Do the colours mean anything?
No — colour is random on every stimulus and deliberately meaningless. Only the shape counts, so players with colour vision deficiencies are at no disadvantage.
Why is clicking the blank screen penalized?
Without the penalty, clicking constantly would be a winning strategy and the test could not measure impulse control. Only clicks on the ready and feedback screens are free.
What happens if I miss a star?
A missed star scores nothing but costs nothing either; it only lowers your accuracy. A wrong click costs 60 points — which is why waiting is the better bet when unsure.
Can attention be improved?
Go/no-go performance improves markedly with practice: false alarms drop, reaction time shortens and consistency grows. Regular sleep and short breaks make a measurable difference too.
Does this test diagnose ADHD?
No. Similar tasks can be part of clinical assessments, but diagnosis requires professional interviews, history and standardized scales. This version is a self-administered exercise and practical measure.
How is it different from Stroop and Schulte?
Stroop measures suppressing conflicting information; Schulte measures visual scanning. Go/no-go centres on stopping a prepared response — impulse control. They are different faces of attention.
Is the test free? Do I need an account?
Completely free; no account, download or sign-up needed — it runs straight in the browser. A nickname is all the leaderboard asks for.
How is the score calculated?
Every hit on the star earns 50 points + a speed bonus (up to 90); clicking a distractor or the blank screen costs 60. The total over 30 stimuli is your score, and the leaderboard keeps your best.
Ready to Start?
Press the "Start test" button above and measure right away — no sign-up, completely free.
Explore attention's other faces with the Stroop Test and the Schulte Table, test your reflexes with the Reaction Time Test, or take the free IQ test.