Triangles (DLR)

What to expect

• Three rules to memorise at the start of each session, with a 20-second pie timer.
• A starting triangle held for 5 seconds.
• Triangles varying in colour, orientation (up, down, left, right) and number of dots — one characteristic at a time.
• Three response boxes around the triangle — top, right and bottom.
• Four seconds per triangle; running out counts as a miss.

What it measures

• Concentration
• Logical rule application
• Working memory under time pressure

Instructions

1. 1The top button is always the colour rule, the right button always orientation, the bottom button always the dot count.
2. 2Each rule reads either 'same as predecessor' or 'different to predecessor' — read which way round it is.
3. 3Compare against the triangle immediately before, not the starting triangle.
4. 4Only one characteristic changes from one triangle to the next — the other two hold — and exactly one rule applies, so there is always a single correct button.
5. 5Arrow keys up, right and down work as well as clicking the boxes.

Tips

• Say the three rules to yourself as 'colour-same, orientation-different, dots-same' before pressing Go — the order never changes, only the same/different.
• Check the two attributes you can rule out fastest first; the answer is whichever one is left.
• The rules reset every session, so consciously drop the old set when new rules appear.