Free inhibition games: the Stroop effect and traps
Inhibition and flexibility · 6 games
Inhibition is the ability to resist an automatic response to give the right one; flexibility is switching rules or points of view. The classic example is the Stroop effect: naming the ink colour of a word that names another colour.
How these games use it
These games set traps for your first reflex: the word “RED” written in blue, a mirrored letter that looks like a rotation, a clock with misleading hands. You have to slow down just enough not to fall for them.
Play nowThe games
- Color Trap
- The word says one color, the ink shows another: tap the color of the ink.
- Mirror
- A “b” is hiding among the “d”s. Find it, round after round.
- Reflex
- Wait for the zone to turn green, then tap as fast as you can. Beware of false starts!
- Lightning Reflex
- Lightning rounds: green comes fast and without warning. A false start costs you.
- Mirror or Turn
- Is the letter on the right just turned, or flipped like in a mirror?
- What Time Is It?
- Read the clock and pick the right time. Watch out for traps!
Getting the most out of it
Play a few minutes regularly rather than one long session; start on easy, then move up a level once your time settles; compare yourself with yourself from one day to the next. These games are first and foremost entertainment: they draw on these abilities, but they are not a medical device, and progress in a game does not guarantee progress elsewhere. What they offer: a few minutes of active focus, measured, that you can compare from one day to the next and with your friends.