Switcher Task

Executive Function Duration: ~5 minutes

System Requirements

🖥️

Screen Size:
Minimum: 1024×768
Recommended: 1280×800

⌨️

Keyboard required

🖱️

Mouse required (touchpad OK)

⚠️

Color discrimination required
May be challenging for colorblind participants

Description

The PEBL Switcher task: A novel task to measure cognitive flexibility and rule switching.

About This Test

A cognitive flexibility task where participants match colored letters displayed in different shapes based on shifting rules. Ten target stimuli appear on screen, each combining one of five colors (orange, skyblue, bluegreen, yellow, red), one of five letters (A-E), and one of five shapes (circle, square, plus, ellipse, star). On each trial, participants must click the target that matches the current stimulus according to the active rule (color, letter, or shape). The task includes practice followed by three test types: (1) consistent 2-rule switching (alternating between two rules), (2) consistent 3-rule switching (cycling through three rules in fixed order), and (3) random 3-rule switching (rules change unpredictably). Measures cognitive flexibility, rule learning, and switching costs.

Test Details

Test ID:

switcher

Main File:

switcher.pbl

Parameters:

3 configurable parameters

Languages:

Chinese German English Spanish French Italian Dutch Portuguese

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Data Output

Output File:

switch-{subnum}.csv

Format:

CSV

Data Columns

Column Name	Description
gSubNum	Participant ID
block	Block number
type	Test type: 0=practice, 1=consistent 2-rule, 2=consistent 3-rule, 3=random 3-rule
try	Attempt number within block
successes	Cumulative successes in block
rule	Current matching rule (color, letter, shape, or NA)
lastrule	Previous matching rule
curid	Current stimulus ID
currentval	Current value
correct	Trial accuracy: 1=correct, 0=incorrect
matchColor	Clicked color matched current stimulus (1/0)
matchLetter	Clicked letter matched current stimulus (1/0)
matchShape	Clicked shape matched current stimulus (1/0)
matchLast	Error matched previous rule dimension (1/0)
curcolor	Current stimulus color
curletter	Current stimulus letter
curshape	Current stimulus shape
targcolor	Correct target color
targletter	Correct target letter
targshape	Correct target shape
clickcolor	Clicked target color
clickletter	Clicked target letter
clickshape	Clicked target shape
targx	Target X position
targy	Target Y position
targid	Target ID
corsum	Cumulative correct count
incsum	Cumulative incorrect count
time	Absolute time in milliseconds
rt	Response time in milliseconds

Scoring and Interpretation

Primary measures:

Accuracy: Error rate (numerr / numcues) for each test type.

Switch cost: Compare median RT between consistent and random 3-rule conditions - higher RT in random indicates switching cost.

Perseveration: matchlast errors indicate difficulty inhibiting previous rule.

Efficiency: Lower median RT with maintained accuracy indicates better cognitive flexibility.

Compare performance across test types (1-3) to assess rule learning and switching ability.

Example Data

example-data.csv Primary

Trial-by-trial data with detailed response information

gSubNum	block	type	try	successes	rule	lastrule	curid	currentval	correct	matchColor	matchLetter	matchShape	matchLast	curcolor	curletter	curshape	targcolor	targletter	targshape	clickcolor	clickletter	clickshapetargx	targx	targy	targid	corsum	incsum	time	rt
999	0	0	1	0	color	NA	1	1	0	1	1	1	NA	orange	C	circle	orange	C	circle	orange	C	circle	1144.72	804.717	1	0	1	15499	-1
999	0	0	2	0	color	NA	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	orange	C	circle	orange	V	square	orange	V	square	783.602	634.419	2	1	1	16296	1842
999	0	0	3	1	letter	color	2	2	1	0	0	0	0	orange	V	square	yellow	V	plus	yellow	V	plus	834.226	1073.31	7	2	1	19837	3541
999	0	0	4	2	shape	letter	7	3	1	0	0	0	0	yellow	V	plus	skyblue	Q	plus	skyblue	Q	plus	1268.66	880.858	4	3	1	21848	2011
999	0	0	5	3	color	shape	4	2	1	0	0	0	0	skyblue	Q	plus	skyblue	T	circle	skyblue	T	circle	935.096	420.736	3	4	1	23573	1725
999	0	0	6	4	letter	color	3	3	1	0	0	0	0	skyblue	T	circle	yellow	T	star	yellow	T	star	1067.72	879.026	8	5	1	25663	2090
999	0	0	7	5	shape	letter	8	5	1	0	0	0	0	yellow	T	star	red	G	star	red	G	star	997.633	796.096	10	6	1	26866	1203
999	1	1	1	0	letter	NA	1	3	1	0	0	0	0	skyblue	X	star	bluegreen	X	circle	bluegreen	X	circle	825.107	717.995	2	1	0	46623	4171
999	1	1	2	1	shape	letter	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	bluegreen	X	circle	red	L	circle	red	L	circle	1200.48	816.166	9	2	0	48726	2103

View full file (180 rows) →

example-data-summary.csv Summary

Block-level summary statistics

subNum	timestamp	testtype	numcues	numerr	matchlast	matchany	tooslow	waittime	perftime	medtime
999	Wed May 16 12:27:05 2018	1	15	0	0	0	6	7430	29526	1733
999	Wed May 16 12:27:29 2018	1	15	0	0	0	2	1867	22642	1512
999	Wed May 16 12:27:52 2018	1	15	0	0	0	1	5461	17264	927
999	Wed May 16 12:28:22 2018	2	15	0	0	0	1	5340	21214	1520
999	Wed May 16 12:28:52 2018	2	15	2	0	1	3	1879	27942	1233
999	Wed May 16 12:29:32 2018	3	15	2	0NA0	2	7	5506	31735	1946
999	Wed May 16 12:30:00 2018	3	15	63	63	63	5	1514	25890	1922

Sample data showing typical output format. Actual values will vary by participant.

About This Test

The PEBL Switcher task: A novel task to measure cognitive flexibility and rule switching.

Category: Executive Function
Estimated Duration: 5 minutes
Available Translations: 8 languages

Documentation Sources:
Test description file, Test implementation, Parameter schema

Documentation Status: Complete