A still of the Eriksen Flanker Task this video shows. The screen reads: Which way does the middle arrow point?.
The flanker test: ignore the arrows around it
Your channel hereTest demo · 30 seconds
Make the middle arrow point the other way from its neighbors, and show the slowdown.
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What to do and say
A sample script of about 55 words. Say it your own way. Fill in the highlighted parts from your own run of the test, such as the numbers on your results screen.
- 0:00
DoAsk viewers which way the middle arrow points.
SayWhich way does the middle arrow point? Only the middle one.
- 0:05
DoRun trials where the outer arrows agree, then trials where they disagree.
SayWhen all the arrows agree, it's easy. When the outer ones point the other way, I'm [Flanker Effect] milliseconds slower.
- 0:20
DoSay why the trials that disagree are slower.
SayYou can't fully ignore the arrows around it, so they pull you the wrong way. That's the flanker effect. Try it at conductcognition.com.
Posting it yourself? Say that ConductScience paid you, in the video or the caption, and use the platform's paid partnership label if it has one.
What viewers should learn
People answer more slowly, and make more mistakes, when the arrows around the middle one point the other way.
Classic paper: Eriksen and Eriksen, 1974.
Try the test before you film
Take it yourself first: Eriksen Flanker Task on conductcognition.com. On the test's page, choose Preview it free. It asks you to sign in, or to create a free account.
Film yourself taking the test, or use sample data. Never show real participants, children, patients, private records or unpublished results. Get permission before you film at your school or workplace, or name it. The handbook has the rest.
Image credits
- A person in an EEG cap at a computer, during an experiment. Flexagoon, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0, cropped.
