How the arrows game works
Pymetrics’ 2017 US patent names the flanker task as the research task behind its Arrows game and describes its version in detail. You see five arrows and press the left or right arrow key. When a red centre arrow sits among red arrows, you answer with the direction of the centre arrow, even if the others point the other way. When a red centre arrow sits among blue arrows, you answer with the direction of the blue arrows instead.
The patent’s worked example: five red arrows pointing right means press right. A red centre arrow pointing right among red arrows pointing left still means press right. The same red centre arrow among blue arrows pointing left means press left. Pymetrics does not publish whether the live game still uses these colours, so follow the instructions you are given on the day.
What it measures
In a flanker task the target arrow is surrounded by arrows that point the same way, the opposite way, or neither. The patent describes the task as a measure of task switching, selective attention and response inhibition, the ability to hold back a response that does not fit the context. It also notes that people do consistently worse when asked to switch rules than when they repeat one, which is what the colour change is there to test.
Because the rule depends on colour, the colour blindness setting matters here. Pymetrics offers it, along with ADHD and dyslexia settings, in a Game Configuration pop-up before you begin, and says your choice is not shared with anyone.
How to approach it
Read the colour before the direction. The rule switches on colour, and switching is what the task is built to measure, so a habit of answering with the centre arrow costs you exactly on the trials where the rule changes. Pymetrics warns that its games involve fast clicks or taps, so settle your hands before you start.
How our practice version works
Our Arrows practice shows a row of five arrows of one colour, 100 times, with 700 milliseconds to answer each. A blue or black row means answer with the middle arrow; a red row means answer with the side arrows. That makes it a colour-switching flanker task like the patent’s, but the colour meanings differ: in the patent, an all-red row means follow the centre and blue surrounding arrows mean follow them. Learn the habit of checking colour first, not our particular colour rule. Press Q or P on a keyboard, or tap on a phone; our version prints the rule on screen and reports your accuracy and switching costs at the end.