<p>Go/no-go tasks are a type of cognitive task that is used to measure a person's ability to inhibit an automatic or habitual response. In a go/no-go task, the participant is presented with a series of stimuli and is asked to respond to some of them (the &quot;go&quot; stimuli) but not to others (the &quot;no-go&quot; stimuli). This type of task is often used to measure sustained attention and response control, as you mentioned in your question. Go/no-go tasks can be used to measure the inability of a subject to perform a given task in certain circumstances. For example, if you wanted to measure a person's ability to perform a task that required them to identify and respond to a specific color, you could use a go/no-go task in which the go stimuli are the target color and the no-go stimuli are other colors. In this case, the person's ability to correctly respond to the go stimuli and inhibit their response to the no-go stimuli would be a measure of their ability to perform the task. However, go/no-go tasks are only one way to measure a person's ability to perform a task. There are many other types of tasks and techniques that could also be used to measure a person's ability to perform a given task, depending on the specific characteristics of the task and the goals of the study.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-12-22T09:45:37.453Z
2022-12-22T09:45:37.453Z
Ethan
<p>I am working on various experimental protocols aiming to measure ethically the threshold between the ability and inability to perform a sequence of tasks of increasing difficulty (See <a href="https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/28799/ethical-testing-of-poor-abilities-in-animals-other-than-humans">Ethical testing of (poor) abilities in animals other than humans?</a> for more context).</p>
<p>After presenting some preliminary results and directions for future work in an Ethology laboratory, I was advised to look into the &quot;go, no go&quot; protocol as a way to demonstrate or measure ethically the inability of a subject to perform a given tasks. Searching the web for the definition of such protocol, I found</p>
<ul>
<li>the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go/no_go" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikipedia</a> definition of the protocol, which precises in particular that it is &quot;used to measure a participant's capacity for sustained attention and response control&quot;;</li>
<li>an interesting <a href="https://www.psytoolkit.org/experiment-library/go-no-go.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">demonstration</a> of a &quot;go, no go&quot; protocol and</li>
<li>an indirect description of such a protocol (but which helped me more than the Wikipedia definition) in a <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263708014_Neuromagnetic_Vistas_into_Typical_and_Atypical_Development_of_Frontal_Lobe_Functions/figures?lo=1" rel="nofollow noreferrer">figure</a> of a neuropsychological article (&quot;Subjects were instructed to respond as quickly as possible to the variously shaped stimuli, but to withhold this pre-potent response on trials where an “X” was superimposed on the stimulus.&quot;)</li>
</ul>
<p>None of these definition seem relevant for proving or measuring the inability of a subject to perform a given task (e.g. reading a text in green on a red background for a subject who is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_red%E2%80%93green_color_blindness" rel="nofollow noreferrer">totally green colorblind</a>). Am I misunderstanding the applications of &quot;go/no go&quot; protocols? Can it be used to prove or measure the inability of a subject to perform a given task?</p>

<experimental-psychology>
Go/No go protocol to measure inabilities
J.y B.y
# Go/No go protocol to measure inabilities

(Asked by: username_0 on 2022-12-22)

I am working on various experimental protocols aiming to measure ethically the threshold between the ability and inability to perform a sequence of tasks of increasing difficulty (See [Ethical testing of (poor) abilities in animals other than humans?](https://psychology.stackexchange.com/questions/28799/ethical-testing-of-poor-abilities-in-animals-other-than-humans) for more context).

After presenting some preliminary results and directions for future work in an Ethology laboratory, I was advised to look into the "go, no go" protocol as a way to demonstrate or measure ethically the inability of a subject to perform a given tasks. Searching the web for the definition of such protocol, I found

* the [wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go/no_go) definition of the protocol, which precises in particular that it is "used to measure a participant's capacity for sustained attention and response control";
* an interesting [demonstration](https://www.psytoolkit.org/experiment-library/go-no-go.html) of a "go, no go" protocol and
* an indirect description of such a protocol (but which helped me more than the Wikipedia definition) in a [figure](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/263708014_Neuromagnetic_Vistas_into_Typical_and_Atypical_Development_of_Frontal_Lobe_Functions/figures?lo=1) of a neuropsychological article ("Subjects were instructed to respond as quickly as possible to the variously shaped stimuli, but to withhold this pre-potent response on trials where an “X” was superimposed on the stimulus.")

None of these definition seem relevant for proving or measuring the inability of a subject to perform a given task (e.g. reading a text in green on a red background for a subject who is [totally green colorblind](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congenital_red%E2%80%93green_color_blindness)). Am I misunderstanding the applications of "go/no go" protocols? Can it be used to prove or measure the inability of a subject to perform a given task?

**Tags:** experimental-psychology


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2022-12-22. Score: 0 | Accepted answer

Go/no-go tasks are a type of cognitive task that is used to measure a person's ability to inhibit an automatic or habitual response. In a go/no-go task, the participant is presented with a series of stimuli and is asked to respond to some of them (the "go" stimuli) but not to others (the "no-go" stimuli). This type of task is often used to measure sustained attention and response control, as you mentioned in your question. Go/no-go tasks can be used to measure the inability of a subject to perform a given task in certain circumstances. For example, if you wanted to measure a person's ability to perform a task that required them to identify and respond to a specific color, you could use a go/no-go task in which the go stimuli are the target color and the no-go stimuli are other colors. In this case, the person's ability to correctly respond to the go stimuli and inhibit their response to the no-go stimuli would be a measure of their ability to perform the task. However, go/no-go tasks are only one way to measure a person's ability to perform a task. There are many other types of tasks and techniques that could also be used to measure a person's ability to perform a given task, depending on the specific characteristics of the task and the goals of the study.


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