How does the letter cancellation test work?
A grid of 63 letters appears, and one target letter is named above it. Tap every copy of the target, as fast as you can. A tapped letter is crossed out; tap it again to take the mark back. When you think you have found them all, press Done. There are always 14 targets, and the other letters are chosen to look like the target: an E among F, B and H, an O among Q, C and D.
How is your result calculated?
The clock starts in the frame the grid first appears and stops when you press Done. Your result is that time, with the targets you missed and the letters you marked by mistake shown beside it. A fast time with misses is a different result from a slower clean one, so look at all three.
What is a letter cancellation test?
A cancellation test asks you to find and cross out every target in a dense field. It measures sustained, careful visual search: scanning in order, telling the target from look-alikes, and not giving up before the end. Pencil-and-paper versions are used by clinicians, for example to check whether someone consistently misses one side of the page after a stroke. This page is a recreational version with its own layouts and no norms.
How to do better
- Scan in a fixed order. Row by row, like reading, so no area gets skipped and none gets checked twice.
- Know the difference. An E has a bottom bar that an F lacks. Pick the one detail that separates the target from its look-alikes and look for that.
- Count before Done. There are 14 targets every time. If you have marked fewer, keep looking.
For a search for one shape among many, try the Visual Search Test; for numbers in order, the Schulte Table.