Word-Recognition Validity Test
A short two-choice recognition task, ~4 minutes. It checks whether a set of memory results looks credible — not how strong your memory is. Free with a registered account.
How it works
Learning
You study a short list of common, concrete words shown one at a time. They are easy to remember, so genuine effort — even alongside real memory difficulty — recognises them well above chance.
Recognition
Each learned word is shown next to an unrelated, length-matched distractor. You choose the word you saw. With two options per item, pure guessing averages 50%.
Reading
Scoring significantly below chance is strong evidence of non-credible responding. A separate 45/50 cutoff is a published forced-choice convention, provided as provisional context. Indicative, not diagnostic.
Common questions
What does this test actually measure?
Performance validity, not memory ability. It asks a narrower question than a memory test: do these results reflect real effort? Because the target words are easy and each item has only two options, honest responders score very high — so a genuinely low or below-chance score is informative about effort, not memory strength.
What does "below chance" mean?
On a two-choice test, guessing alone averages 50% correct. Scoring far enough below 50% that it is statistically unlikely by chance (an exact one-tailed binomial test) is difficult to explain by any known memory disorder — it usually means the correct answer was recognised and deliberately avoided. That is the strongest single signal this task provides.
Is the 45/50 cutoff validated?
Not on this item bank. 45/50 (90%) is a published convention borrowed from commercial forced-choice validity tests. We report it as provisional context, clearly labelled, and it should be weighed alongside other indicators — never used in isolation to reach a conclusion.
Is it free?
Yes — no payment is required. Taking the test needs a free registered account. Once you have one you can run the task and read your recognition accuracy, the below-chance test result, and an overall credibility classification. This is a screening-style check, not a clinical evaluation.
Can I retake it?
You can, but recognition is easy to relearn, so the first administration is the most informative. As with any single self-administered task, treat one run as descriptive of that session rather than a fixed conclusion.