Emotional Go‑No‑Go
Respond to target emotion, withhold to neutral
Frequently Asked Questions
Have another question? Let us know.
Overview
An inhibitory control task with emotional content. Respond to target emotion words and withhold to neutral words. The task assesses affective inhibition (the ability to suppress responses under emotional context).
Design
About 90% of trials are emotion words (Go) and about 10% are neutral words (No‑Go), shuffled in a fixed order. Targets are emotion words; non‑targets are neutral. You should respond only to targets. Reaction times shorter than a minimal threshold are excluded as anticipations.
Measures
Reported metrics include hits (correct responses to emotion words), misses (emotion words without a response within 1000 ms), false alarms (responses to neutral words), and mean reaction time for correct emotion trials. Full per-trial records are also saved. Disclosed adaptations: stimuli are single emotion/neutral words rather than pictures, only one block is run, and d′ is not computed.
Export
You can export results as CSV or JSON for further analysis, including the summary metrics and the detailed trial log.
What does this have to do with everyday phone use?
Your ability to hold back shifts with your mood. When you are bored, anxious or tired, 'press' wins more often. Asking yourself which feeling is driving the scroll — before you reach for the phone — uses exactly that moment of pause.
Show Details
About this experiment
This task measures inhibitory control in an emotional context. You must respond quickly to words of a specific emotional valence (e.g., Positive) and withhold response to neutral words.
How to Play
- Words will appear one by one.
- Press SPACE if the word matches the target emotion (Go).
- Do NOT press anything if the word is neutral (No-Go).
References
- Hare, T. A., Tottenham, N., Davidson, M. C., Glover, G. H., & Casey, B. J. (2005). Contributions of amygdala and striatal activity in emotion regulation. Biological Psychiatry, 57(6), 624-632.
- Sochat, V. V., Eisenberg, I. W., Enkavi, A. Z., Li, J., Bissett, P. G., & Poldrack, R. A. (2016). The Experiment Factory: Standardizing behavioral experiments. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 610.
- Schulz, K. P., Fan, J., Magidina, O., Marks, D. J., Hahn, B., & Halperin, J. M. (2007). Does the emotional go/no-go task really measure behavioral inhibition? Convergence with measures on a non-emotional analog. Archives of Clinical Neuropsychology, 22(2), 151-160.
Related Experiments
Hick's Law Experiment
FeaturedInvestigates how the number of choices affects decision-making time, a classic study in cognitive psychology.
Stroop Effect Experiment
FeaturedExamines cognitive control by testing interference between naming colors and reading words.
Negative Priming Experiment
FeaturedExplores how ignored stimuli affect subsequent responses, revealing attentional suppression mechanisms.
Learn More
APM Test - Actions Per Minute
FeaturedMeasure your clicking speed and visual reaction time. Click numbers from 50 to 1 as fast as possible!
Free IQ Test
FeaturedTest your intelligence quotient with this free IQ test covering pattern recognition, logical reasoning, and spatial skills.
Cognitive Processing and Performance Mindset Scale
FeaturedAssess cognitive processing and performance mindset across standard dimensions.
About This Experiment
This experiment is an educational adaptation for demonstration purposes. It is not a clinical diagnostic tool. Results reflect your performance in this specific session and should not be interpreted as an assessment of your cognitive abilities.
Data Privacy
Your experiment data is processed and stored locally in your browser. No data is uploaded to any server unless you explicitly export it.
