Open Lab
Back to library

Go/No-Go Task

Executive Function

Classic response-inhibition paradigm measuring the ability to withhold a prepotent motor response.

The Go/No-Go task is one of the most widely used paradigms for assessing response inhibition — the ability to suppress an already-initiated action. Participants repeatedly prepare to respond to a frequent Go stimulus (letter X, 75% of trials) but must withhold their response when the less frequent No-Go stimulus appears (letter O, 25% of trials).

The task produces two key inhibitory control measures: commission errors (false alarms — pressing for No-Go stimuli), which reflect impulsive or poorly controlled responding, and omission errors (misses — failing to press for Go stimuli), which reflect inattention or over-inhibition. Mean reaction time on correct Go trials indexes processing speed.

This implementation uses 8 shuffled practice trials followed by 40 shuffled main trials. Timing parameters (fixation duration, stimulus duration, inter-trial interval) are exposed as re-usable parameters so researchers can adjust them in the Open Lab study builder without editing individual screens.

inhibitionresponse inhibitionexecutive functionimpulsivityattentioncognitive control
Duration~10 min
InputKeyboard required
Complexity

Configuration complexity

Simple — few parameters, works out of the box with no changes required.
Moderate — multiple options across several groups; some parameters must be updated together. No code required.
Flexible — involves custom scripts or task logic; requires programming knowledge or deep familiarity with the paradigm structure.
Moderate
Versionv1.1
Try demo

Create an account to use paradigms for free browsing and demos.

Need it with your own stimuli or language? We can adapt it for you.