How to read your result
Your switching score is the number of right answers per minute of answering time in the mixed round, where the cue changes without warning. Faster answers raise it and mistakes lower it, so it rewards speed and accuracy together. We also show your switch cost: how much slower you were right after the cue changed. That cost is real in almost everyone, but it jumps around from one run to the next [1][4].
- Switching score: right answers per minute in the mixed round (a "rate correct score", a way of combining speed and accuracy in one number [5]).
- Right in the mixed round: the share of mixed-round shapes you answered correctly within 3 seconds.
- Switch cost: your average time on trials where the task changed, minus trials where it stayed the same (right answers after a right answer only).
- Single-task score: right answers per minute in the rounds with only one task. The gap between this and your switching score shows how much mixing the tasks costs you.
Quick facts
- What it measures: task switching, also called shifting: moving your attention between two sets of rules. It is one of the three core executive functions in a classic study of 137 students, next to updating working memory and holding back responses [3].
- Everyone pays a switch cost: people are slower and make more mistakes right after a switch, even when they know a switch is coming and have time to prepare [1][2].
- Difference scores are noisy: scores built from a difference between two conditions, like the switch cost, are much less reliable from day to day than plain speed and accuracy [4]. That's why the switching score, not the switch cost, is the main number here.
How the game works
- Each button stands for one color and one shape: left = blue and circle, right = orange and square (keys F and J, or the arrow keys).
- A cue appears first, COLOR or SHAPE, and 0.6 seconds later the shape. Answer the feature the cue names. You have 3 seconds per shape.
- Three rounds: color only, shape only, then mixed, 72 shapes in all, 48 of them in the mixed round, where about 50% of shapes switch task. Short practice rounds with feedback come first; you can skip them.
Answers faster than 150 ms count as wrong (too fast to have seen the shape). A wrong answer shows a short red flash. The game is timed, so leaving the page ends the run. Our server builds each run's sequence and computes the result.
What affects your score
- The device. Tapping a phone screen and pressing keys take different times; compare runs on the same device and input.
- Practice. People get faster over the first few runs as the button mapping becomes automatic. Compare with your own runs once your score settles.
- Tiredness, sleep and distraction slow everyone down.
- Strategy. Rushing raises speed but costs mistakes; the switching score counts both.
What this game can and can't tell you
The game shows how quickly and accurately you switched between two simple rules today, compared with your own other runs. It is not a diagnosis of anything, says nothing about attention disorders, and doesn't measure "multitasking" in daily life, where switching between real tasks depends on much more than this. The switch cost in particular is too noisy for one run to say much about you [4].
Frequently asked questions
What is a task switching test?
In a task switching test, people do two simple tasks, here judging color or judging shape, and a cue tells them which one to do. Researchers compare trials where the task changes with trials where it repeats; the extra time on changes is the switch cost [1][2]. The Helibrain task switching test is a short version of this classic color–shape design.
What is a good switching score?
The Helibrain task switching test reports right answers per minute in the mixed round. There are no published norms for this exact version, so the best comparison is your own score on the same device over several runs. Faster and more accurate answers both raise it.
Why am I slower right after the cue changes?
Is this a multitasking test?
Not really. True multitasking means doing two things at once; this game measures switching back and forth between two rules. It is the lab task researchers use to study that switching [2].
Is the Helibrain task switching test free?
Yes. The game and your full result are free: no sign-up, no email, no payment. We save results with your IP address and country to build comparisons, as our privacy policy explains. Helibrain makes money from its app, which has a free plan and paid plans; you don't need the app for this game.
Related tests
- Trail making testHow fast you connect circles in order, and switch between numbers and letters.
- Stroop testHow much a word gets in the way when you name its ink color.
- Go/no-go testWhether you can stop yourself from tapping in time.
Want to work on this daily? The Helibrain app has a free plan and paid plans.
Sources
- Rogers RD, Monsell S (1995). Costs of a predictable switch between simple cognitive tasks. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 124(2):207–231. doi.org/10.1037/0096-3445.124.2.207
- Monsell S (2003). Task switching. Trends in Cognitive Sciences 7(3):134–140. doi.org/10.1016/S1364-6613(03)00028-7
- Miyake A, Friedman NP, Emerson MJ, Witzki AH, Howerter A, Wager TD (2000). The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "frontal lobe" tasks: a latent variable analysis. Cognitive Psychology 41(1):49–100. doi.org/10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
- Hedge C, Powell G, Sumner P (2018). The reliability paradox: why robust cognitive tasks do not produce reliable individual differences. Behavior Research Methods 50(3):1166–1186. doi.org/10.3758/s13428-017-0935-1
- Woltz DJ, Was CA (2006). Availability of related long-term memory during and after attention focus in working memory. Memory & Cognition 34(3):668–684. doi.org/10.3758/BF03193587
How we made this page: written by the Helibrain team from the studies listed above, and reviewed by Robert (biophysics PhD candidate) on 4 November 2026. We update it when the sources change.