SwitchSort
A dimensional card-sorting task built on the Berg (1948) sorting paradigm — the same paradigm underlying the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test. It measures the ability to shift cognitive set and, critically, the tendency to perseverate: continuing to apply a rule after feedback shows it no longer works.
Participant instructions
You will see four key cards at the top of the screen and one card at a time below them. Match each new card to one of the key cards by clicking it (or pressing 1–4). You won't be told the matching rule — but after every sort you'll be told whether you were correct or incorrect. Use that feedback to figure out the rule. The rule may change during the task without warning. There is no time limit, but respond as accurately as you can.
Examiner notes
- Do not tell the participant the sorting dimensions or that the rule will shift; discovering and relinquishing rules is the construct being measured.
- The rule sequence is Color → Shape → Number (repeating). It shifts silently after 10 consecutive correct sorts; the task ends after 6 completed categories or 96 cards.
- Perseverative error here = an error that matches the just-abandoned rule. The deck contains only unambiguous cards, so every sort cleanly reveals which rule was applied.
- Stimuli rely on color discrimination; screen for color-vision differences before interpreting results.
- This is a research/teaching analogue, not the clinical WCST — scores are not normed and should not be used diagnostically.
Results
Perseverative errors are the signature index here: sorts that followed the previous, now-incorrect rule despite negative feedback.
Trial ribbon
Trial log
| # | Card | Pile | Matched | Rule | Result | RT (ms) |
|---|
Copy-and-paste report
Everything below is plain text — select it (or use the button) and paste it into notes, email, or a document. The CSV download includes the same trial-by-trial data for spreadsheets.
