Choice Reaction Time Test

By Murat Şahin · Updated November 11, 2026 · How we test

How the test works

Unlike the reaction time test, where you press as soon as the colour changes, here you have to decide before you press. Press Start test and keep your eyes on the box. Each of the 20 rounds begins with a + in the middle. After a random 0.8 to 1.8 seconds one of two things appears:

• An arrow pointing left or right. Press the arrow key on that side (← or →) or tap the big Left or Right button, as fast as you can.
• A red hand. Do not press anything. Wait, and after 1.5 seconds the round counts as held.

Fifteen rounds show arrows and five show the red hand, mixed in a random order. The first round is always an arrow. Each arrow stays on screen for up to 1.5 seconds; if you have not pressed by then, the round counts as Too slow. After every round a short message tells you how it went, and the counter above the box shows your round number and your running average.

If you press while the + is still showing, you see Too soon! Wait for the arrow. That press is not an error: the same round simply starts again. It is recorded separately so you can see how often you jumped the gun.

What your result means

The result card gives two kinds of information, deliberately kept apart:

• Average (correct) is the mean time of the arrow rounds you answered on the correct side. Wrong presses are left out, so a lucky fast mistake cannot improve your time.
• Errors counts three kinds of mistake out of 20 rounds: Wrong side (you pressed the opposite arrow), Pressed on stop (you reacted to the red hand) and Too slow (no press within 1.5 seconds). Too soon is shown next to them but is not part of the error total.

Your average is saved as your personal best in this browser, and the card shows a small chart of your recent results. A clean run with no errors and a slightly slower average is a better performance than a fast run full of mistakes. Watch both numbers.

The card does not compare you with a population average. Choice reaction times depend heavily on the exact task (how many options, what the stimulus looks like, how the response is made), and we did not find a published reference value for this specific setup. The best comparison is with yourself.

Simple versus choice reaction: Donders and Hick

In the 1860s the Dutch physiologist Franciscus Donders described three kinds of reaction. In the first, there is one stimulus and one response: you see a light and press. In the second, there are several stimuli, each with its own response: this is a choice reaction. In the third, you respond to one stimulus and hold back for another: today this is called a go/no-go task. Donders found that the choice and go/no-go reactions took longer than the simple one, and he used the difference to estimate how long the brain needs to decide. His paper was later translated as "On the speed of mental processes" (Acta Psychologica, 1969).

This test mixes the second and third kinds. Every arrow forces a choice between two responses, and every red hand forces you to stop a response you were ready to make. That is why your times here will normally be slower than on the simple reaction time test.

About a century later, W. E. Hick (1952, Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology) and Ray Hyman (1953, Journal of Experimental Psychology) showed that choice reaction time grows with the logarithm of the number of equally likely options. Going from two choices to four adds roughly the same extra time as going from four to eight. This rule is now known as Hick's law, or the Hick–Hyman law, and it is the reason menu designers and game designers try to keep the number of options at each step small.

Speed, accuracy and self-control

Whenever you have to choose, you can trade speed for accuracy. Rushing makes Wrong side errors more likely; being careful makes you slower. The red-hand rounds add a second skill: stopping. After several arrows in a row, your hand gets ready to press, and holding back takes effort. Pressed on stop errors show how often that readiness won. The Stroop test puts a similar kind of self-control to work: you answer the ink colour and hold back from reading the word.

Ways to improve:

1. Rest your fingers on both arrow keys (or hover your thumbs over both buttons) before each round.
2. Do not predict the side. The order is random; guessing leads to wrong-side errors.
3. Treat the + as a cue to focus, not to press. Pressing on the + only costs you a repeat.
4. Play two rounds. The first run is partly learning the rules.

Limits of this test

Your times include the delay of your screen and of your keyboard or touchscreen. Arrow keys are usually a little quicker than tapping, so compare results made the same way. Twenty rounds give a useful snapshot, not a precise measurement.

This is a game for curiosity and practice. Go/no-go tasks are also used in research on attention and impulse control, but this test cannot tell you anything about a condition such as ADHD and is not a medical or psychological assessment. For a longer go/no-go task that follows how well you keep your focus, try the attention span test. If attention or impulsivity worries you in daily life, talk to a qualified professional.

Next, try the aim test to see how accurately your hand follows your eyes. It is part of our reflex and speed tests.

Sources

• Donders, F. C. (1969). On the speed of mental processes (W. G. Koster, Trans.). Acta Psychologica, 30, 412–431. (Original work published 1868)
• Hick, W. E. (1952). On the rate of gain of information. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 4(1), 11–26.
• Hyman, R. (1953). Stimulus information as a determinant of reaction time. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 45(3), 188–196.

Frequently asked questions