Focus and attention tests explained

The Stroop test: ignoring what you read

In the Stroop test you name the colour of the ink a word is printed in, while the word itself names a different colour: the word RED printed in blue. Reading is so automatic that the word gets in the way, and everyone is slower and makes more mistakes on these mismatched words. The effect is named after John Ridley Stroop, who described it in 1935.

It measures inhibition: how well you can stop an automatic response and give the one you meant to. To improve, look at the ink colour rather than reading the word, and keep a steady pace instead of rushing.

The Flanker test: blocking out neighbours

The Flanker test shows a row of arrows and asks which way the middle one points. When the arrows around it point the other way, your answer slows down. It comes from work by Barbara and Charles Eriksen in the 1970s and measures selective attention: concentrating on one thing while ignoring what's next to it.

Fixing your eyes on the centre before each row appears is the most useful habit.

Go/No-Go: knowing when not to act

In a Go/No-Go test you respond to one kind of signal and hold back on another. Most signals are "go", so pressing becomes a habit, and stopping for the rare "no-go" takes real control. It measures response inhibition, the same skill as not jumping a start in a race.

Speed and accuracy pull against each other here. The best scores come from staying quick on the go signals while treating every new signal as a decision.

Trail Making: switching between tasks

The Trail Making Test was first used in the 1940s in a battery of tests for the US Army and later became one of the most widely used tests in neuropsychology. Part A connects numbers in order. Part B, the version here, alternates numbers and letters: 1, A, 2, B, 3, C. Keeping two sequences going at once measures task switching and working memory as well as speed.

Say the sequence quietly as you go ("3, C, 4, D") and look for the next target while your finger is still moving.

Schulte tables: fast, wide scanning

A Schulte table is a grid of numbers in random order that you find from lowest to highest as fast as you can. Named after the German psychiatrist Walter Schulte, the tables have long been used to train attention and as speed-reading exercises, since they reward taking in a wide area at once instead of searching square by square.

Keep your eyes near the centre of the grid and let your side vision find the next number. It feels slower at first but is much faster with practice.

Getting the most from focus tests

• Play in a quiet place, with full screen on and notifications off.
• Do one or two practice rounds; first scores are usually the slowest.
• Compare your own scores over time rather than chasing one fast run.
• These tests are for practice and curiosity. They can't diagnose attention problems; that needs a professional assessment.