Sustained Attention (CPT)
Measure your ability to maintain focus over time using the Continuous Performance Task paradigm.
Estimated duration: 3–5 minutes
About This Experiment
The Continuous Performance Task (CPT) is one of the most widely used measures of sustained attention and vigilance in clinical and research settings. A stream of single letters is presented rapidly, and you must respond only when you see the target letter (X) while withholding responses to all other letters. Because targets are infrequent, maintaining accurate detection over the full task requires continuous attention. The CPT captures both your ability to detect rare targets (hit rate) and your tendency to respond impulsively to non-targets (false alarm rate), making it a sensitive measure of attention deficit and impulse control.
How It Works
- Letters appear one at a time in the center of the screen.
- Press the spacebar only when you see the target letter X.
- Do not respond to any other letter — they are non-targets.
- The task lasts several minutes; try to stay focused throughout.
Key Metrics
Hit Rate
Percentage of target letters correctly detected
False Alarm Rate
Percentage of non-targets incorrectly responded to
Mean Target RT
Average response time for correctly detected targets
Overall Accuracy
Combined accuracy across both target and non-target trials
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