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Mind Bender

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Stephanie
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Mind Bender, from BrainHQ’s Intelligence category, is what’s known as a “set shifting” exercise. The exercise is designed to challenge the brain’s ability to pay attention to relevant conditions, and ignore irrelevant conditions at increasing speeds.

Reacting quickly and accurately to a change in the rules is one aspect of the brain’s “executive control.” Executive control is an extremely important aspect of intelligence. It includes the ability of our brains to be flexible, to organize and plan, to strategize, to manage and manipulate many pieces of information at once. These are all “higher order” cognitive processes, meaning that they take in input from many different parts of the brain and put it together in creative and useful ways.

In Mind Bender you’ll be presented with two rules. Images will then appear on screen in pairs, and your task is to choose the correct answer based on the two rules within the time limit.

Here's how the exercise works:

  1. At the START screen, two rules are shown for the level with examples shown below. Select START to begin.
    A screenshot from the Mind Bender start screen. Two text blocks appear at the top. The left text block reads digits: choose higher number. Under the text box there are two digit, 5 and 6. The digit 5 is highlighted in green, indicating this would be the correct answer given the above rule. The right text block reads words: choose lower number. Under the text box there are two numbers, thirteen and nine. The number nine is highlighted in green, indicating this would be the correct answer given the above rule. In the middle of the screen is a large dark start button.
  2. The rules will remain on screen, and two items will appear on screen. Select an answer based on the current rule set.
    A screenshot from a trial of Mind Bender. At the top of the screen the two rules are present: digits choose higher number, and words choose lower number. Two large boxes are aligned horizontally across the middle of the window. The left box has the numeral 4, and the right box has the numeral 2.
    A screenshot from a trial of Mind Bender. At the top of the screen the two rules are present: digits choose higher number, and words choose lower number. Two large boxes are aligned horizontally across the middle of the window. The left box reads the word Zero, and the right box reads the word Ten.

Tip: If you’re training from a computer, you can use the left and right arrow keys on your keyboard to select the answer on the left or right, respectively.

If an incorrect answer is given you’ll hear a “bonk” sound, and the level may give you more time to respond in future turns. This would make it easier for you to take in all of the information. If the correct answer is given you’ll hear a “boop” sound, and the level may decrease the amount of time you’ll have to respond. This drives your brain to process information more quickly. In both cases, the level then continues, repeating from Step 2 above.

Mind Bender is what’s known as a Continuous Performance Task (CPT) exercise. This means that speed and accuracy are both important when you are selecting your answers. Because of this, there are two ways to be marked wrong:

  • Selecting the incorrect answer
  • Not answering correctly within the time limit

You can review the exercise video tutorial below:

Mind Bender from BrainHQ from Posit Science on Vimeo.

We also have a recording of a live demonstration of this exercise here:

As you progress through Mind Bender it becomes more challenging in these ways:

  • The images and rules change
  • The time to answer decreases

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