ba creative labs
TREN
Volunteer

42 open experiments

Experiments.

Each one is based on published research and takes a few rounds; most last two or three minutes. At the end you compare your answer with the crowd and read the science behind the finding. Play again as often as you like.

EXP. 002 · Number

The first number that comes to mind

Over four short rounds you pick numbers, hunt for the least-chosen one and guess the crowd's favorite. How unpredictable do you think you are?

1 min11 responses
Done in a minute
EXP. 005 · Sound and shape

Bouba or kiki?

Can a made-up word have a shape, or even a size? Match sounds to shapes over four short rounds; the crowd's answer may be surprising for Turkish.

1 min7 responses
Done in a minute
EXP. 004 · Time perception

Feel 10 seconds

How precise is your inner clock? Try to hit 10, 3 and 20 seconds without counting, then keep a one-per-second beat, and see whether your error grows with the duration.

2 min8 responses
EXP. 006 · Estimation

How many candies are in the jar?

On its own, your guess is probably off; but what happens when hundreds of guesses come together? And does changing your mind after seeing the crowd actually help?

2 min7 responses
EXP. 011 · Probability

The Linda problem

Linda, Bill, and a health survey: across four short scenarios, will your intuition win, or the simplest rule of probability?

2 min6 responses
EXP. 003 · Color perception

Mavi or lacivert?

In Turkish, where does 'mavi' (blue) end and 'lacivert' (navy) begin? Find your own boundary with nine shades, and see how the same shade changes against different backgrounds.

2 min5 responses
EXP. 007 · Attention

Name the color, not the word

Stopping yourself from reading is harder than you think: your brain has already read the word, whether you want it to or not. What changes when you flip the task, and when you race the clock?

2 min5 responses
EXP. 008 · Reaction

How fast are you?

There is a gap between the moment your eye sees something and the moment your finger moves, and it grows as the options multiply. But can you stop yourself when you need to?

2 min5 responses
EXP. 010 · Visual illusion

Which line is longer?

Matching two lines looks easy, until arrowheads, rails, and surrounding circles get involved. We measure how much your eyes are fooled in four illusions.

2 min5 responses
EXP. 012 · Decision

Two frames, one decision

Same numbers, different words. Are the numbers making your decision, or the way they are told?

2 min4 responses
EXP. 015 · Fairness

Would you share?

If the other person refuses, you both walk away empty-handed. How generous, and how stubborn, are you?

2 min3 responses
EXP. 017 · Strategy

Two-thirds of the average

Everyone picks a number, and the winner is whoever comes closest to two-thirds of the average. The real question: how many steps ahead is everyone else thinking?

2 min1 response
EXP. 020 · Gamble

The coin-flip bet

Tails, you lose 100 TL; heads, you win more. How much does the gain have to outweigh the loss before you take a bet?

2 min1 response
EXP. 023 · Attention

Spot the change

The scene flickers back and forth; the difference is right in front of you, yet seeing it can sometimes take half a minute. Try change blindness for yourself.

2 min1 response
EXP. 028 · Decision

The wheel and the guess

First the wheel spins, then you estimate. The wheel's number has nothing to do with the answer; but is your estimate really unaware of it?

2 min1 response
EXP. 029 · Social perception

How many people are like you?

Tea or coffee, sea or mountains? Six choices and one question: are there as many people who think like you as you assume? Try the false consensus effect on yourself.

2 min1 response
EXP. 016 · Spatial thinking

Mirror or not?

The more a letter tilts, the more your mind seems to actually turn it. How fast do you rotate letters, shapes, and images under time pressure?

2 min2 responses
EXP. 024 · Attention

Find the target

Some targets pop out of the crowd; others have to be searched for one by one. Measure the speed and limits of your visual search.

2 min0 responses
EXP. 025 · Number sense

How many dots?

We see three dots at a glance, but we estimate thirty. Measure how many you can count at a glance and how far off your estimates are.

2 min0 responses
EXP. 033 · Group game

Volunteer's dilemma

If someone says 'I'll do it', everyone wins and the volunteer loses a little; if no one does, everyone drops to zero. Who will step forward in 20 seconds?

2 min0 responses
EXP. 038 · Color memory

Remember the color

Hold a full-screen color in mind for three seconds, then rebuild it with hue, saturation and brightness sliders. Where does memory shift the color?

2 min0 responses
EXP. 039 · Time perception

Hold the time

The screen fills with color from the bottom up; then it is your turn: lift your finger the moment you think the same time has passed. Across five durations, do you stretch the short ones and shorten the long ones?

2 min0 responses
EXP. 040 · Visual memory

Rebuild the shape

A shape appears on the screen for 2.5 seconds and disappears; you rebuild it in the same place, at the same angle and the same size. Where does memory pull angles, sizes and positions?

2 min0 responses
EXP. 041 · Location memory

Remember the spot

Three colored dots appear and disappear one by one; then you tap where each one was. Where does your memory shift the dots: toward the middle of the circle's quadrants, toward the center, or toward the edge?

2 min0 responses
EXP. 043 · Crowd perception

The color of the crowd

Eight colored circles arranged in a ring appear for one second and disappear. Sometimes we ask for the average color of the set, sometimes for the color of a single circle. How does your visual system summarize a crowd?

2 min0 responses
EXP. 009 · Randomness

Heads or tails: can you be random?

Being random looks easy, but whether people are imitating coin flips or predicting them, they almost always leave the same fingerprint.

3 min3 responses
EXP. 013 · Thinking

The bat and the ball

Seven questions that look easy. The real trap is that they look easy.

3 min3 responses
EXP. 014 · Probability

Three doors

Three doors, one car, two goats. First a single game, then 10 quick games and 100 doors: test for yourself the question that has infuriated even mathematicians.

3 min3 responses
EXP. 030 · Patience

Now or later?

Compare 1000 TL today with larger amounts a week, a month and a year from now; measure the price of your patience and your present bias.

3 min1 response
EXP. 036 · Color perception

Find the odd shade

First measure your hue and lightness thresholds in ΔE, then in level mode the grid grows while the difference shrinks: how many levels can you clear?

3 min1 response
EXP. 018 · Trust

The trust game

The money you send is tripled, but whether any of it comes back is up to the other person's conscience. In this game, you are both the one who trusts and the one who is trusted.

3 min0 responses
EXP. 021 · Memory

Visual memory

Nine squares, one flashing sequence. When you memorize places instead of digits, how many steps can your memory carry?

3 min0 responses
EXP. 022 · Memory

Digit memory

The digits flash by one at a time. How many can you type back without mixing up the order, and how many are left when you type them in reverse?

3 min0 responses
EXP. 027 · Logic

Four cards

Four cards, one rule. In psychology's most famous logic puzzle, most people turn over the wrong cards; but move the same logic into a bar scene and things change.

3 min0 responses
EXP. 031 · Group game

The minority game

The minority wins; but where is the minority when everyone is trying to be in it? Stay one step ahead of the crowd over 10 rounds in a live room.

3 min0 responses
EXP. 032 · Group game

Meeting point

First pick whatever you like, then try to give the same answer as everyone else to the same questions. How well does a silent crowd meet?

3 min0 responses
EXP. 035 · Group game

Live crowd

Three questions, two rounds: first guess on your own, then see the room's guesses and update. Is a crowd that can see itself any wiser?

3 min0 responses
EXP. 037 · Hearing

Match the pitch

First measure the smallest pitch difference you can hear between two tones, then match five tones by ear after a short silence. Headphones recommended.

3 min0 responses
EXP. 042 · Visual memory

Fix the pattern

Study the grid, then after a brief blank screen find the tiles that moved and put them back. No color disappears, only what is where changes; how well can your memory keep track of it?

3 min0 responses
EXP. 019 · Cooperation

The common pot

Every token in the pot grows, but it is split equally among everyone. If everyone contributes, everyone wins; whoever contributes alone loses. What will your group do over eight rounds?

4 min0 responses
EXP. 026 · Confidence

How sure are you?

Ten questions, and for each one a lower and upper bound you are 90 percent sure about. We measure not what you know, but how well you know what you don't know.

4 min0 responses
EXP. 034 · Group game

The big counter

One button, one counter. If two people press in the same second, the counter resets. Can a crowd that cannot talk learn to take turns on its own?

4 min0 responses