Simon: Color vs Position
Color tells which button; position distracts
About this trainer
A stimulus such as a colour tells you which key to press, while its position on screen is irrelevant. You are faster when stimulus and response are on the same side — and slower when they clash.
What it develops
The ability to act on a relevant feature while ignoring an automatic spatial pull — a clean test of stimulus-response conflict and cognitive control.
History
Described in the 1960s, the Simon effect became a cornerstone of research on stimulus-response compatibility and how irrelevant location automatically biases our actions.
Who created it — and when
J. R. Simon, whose work in the 1960s (notably Simon & Rudell, 1967) defined the effect that now bears his name.
How to train
Commit to the rule — respond to the colour, not the side. Track your Simon effect (the cost of mismatched position) and keep responding by rule even when location tempts the wrong hand.
How long to practise
Brief sessions of a few minutes. The conflict cost usually drops over early practice and then settles.
Evidence base
A reliable, much-studied effect. Practice reduces your own Simon cost on the task; broad transfer to unrelated control situations is, as usual for these paradigms, modest.
Recommendations
Use it to drill rule-based responding against an automatic spatial habit. Favour accuracy; the win is overriding location, not raw speed.
FAQ
What is the Simon effect?
Responses are slower when the stimulus appears on the opposite side to the correct response key, even though position is irrelevant.
How is it different from Stroop?
Stroop conflict is between word meaning and ink colour; Simon conflict is between stimulus location and response side.
What does it train?
Resisting an automatic spatial response in favour of the rule-relevant feature.
Variants
Colour, shape or sound Simon tasks; auditory (left/right ear) versions; and combined designs mixing Simon with flanker or Stroop.