What's Your IQ

YOUR FOUR GRIDS

Letters and digits are fastest

Years of reading turn letters and digits into near-automatic names. Colours and objects take a beat longer, because the brain has to look up a word for them.

automatic

Letters

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Play this grid above

automatic

Digits

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Play this grid above

look-up

Colours

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Play this grid above

look-up

Objects

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Play this grid above

Play at least one automatic grid (letters or digits) and one look-up grid (colours or objects) to compare them.

Four jobs in under half a second

Naming looks simple, but every item runs through the same chain. And while you say one, your eyes are already on the next — the real skill is overlapping the steps.

See it

The visual cortex recognises the shape or colour.

Find the word

Language areas look up its name from memory.

Say it

Speech areas plan and send the word to your mouth.

Move on

Your eyes jump to the next item — ideally while you’re still speaking.

WHY SCHOOLS USE IT

A five-year-old's naming speed predicts their reading

Rapid automatised naming — RAN — is one of the strongest early signs of how easily a child will learn to read, alongside knowing letter sounds. Slow naming is common in dyslexia, even in adults.

1974

Martha Denckla and Rita Rudel publish the first rapid naming tests for children.

2×

The "double deficit": readers slow at both naming and sound skills tend to struggle most.

This game is for practice and curiosity. It isn't a screening test for dyslexia — that needs a qualified assessor.

Name faster

Look one ahead

While you say the current item, let your eyes already land on the next.

Keep a rhythm

A steady beat is faster than bursts and pauses.

Don’t fix mistakes

Say the wrong name? Keep going. Going back costs more than the slip.

Short names help

In real RAN tests, items have one-syllable names for a reason. Stick to "red", not "crimson".

INSIDE YOUR BRAIN

From picture to spoken word

Naming links the visual system to the language network. Pick a region.

Based on Gray's Anatomy, fig. 728 (public domain)

SourcesDenckla & Rudel (1974), CortexWolf & Bowers (1999), J. Educational PsychologyNorton & Wolf (2012), Annual Review of PsychologyAraújo et al. (2015), J. Educational Psychology

WHAT THIS GAME TRAINS