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Odd One Out
Cognitive Flexibility, Reasoning and Problem Solving
The Odd One Out task is a cognitive task based on rule discovery and pattern recognition. In this task, the client must identify the common pattern among stimuli without being given a predefined rule. In each stage, features such as color, size, quantity, categorization, visual angle, orientation, or movement can serve as the basis for the rule.
Introduction video
Gameplay
The Odd One Out Task presents several cubes containing various stimuli—such as color, shape, size, quantity, orientation, or movement—without explicitly stating the governing rule. The client must examine and compare the stimuli to discover the hidden rule and identify the distinct cube. The rule may shift between trials, forcing the client to adapt their cognitive strategy accordingly. As levels progress, the number of stimuli increases, the ‘odd’ item becomes more visually similar to the others, and factors such as complex arrangements and visual distractors are introduced. These design elements progressively challenge the client’s inductive reasoning, cognitive flexibility, and visual attention.
Therapeutic purpose
This task is suitable for individuals experiencing difficulties with attention, spatial reasoning, 3D visualization, pattern recognition, and cognitive flexibility, including:
Individuals with attention disorders and ADHD.
Individuals with learning disabilities.
Individuals with deficits in reasoning and problem-solving.
Individuals with poor visual working memory.
Individuals with cognitive impairments following brain injury or stroke.
Elderly individuals with cognitive decline.
Individuals requiring rehabilitation and enhancement of executive functions.
Suitable Centers:
This task is suitable for implementation in hospitals, cognitive rehabilitation centers, occupational therapy and rehabilitation clinics, neurotherapy and neurofeedback centers, psychology clinics, and geriatric cognitive assessment and rehabilitation centers.
Clinician guide
Place the headset on the client’s head and prepare the Virtual Reality (VR) environment via the laptop. The task begins with simplified stages and progressively increases in complexity by introducing more subtle rules (such as orientation, perspective, or color-shape combinations). In advanced stages, the system transitions into ‘Automatic Rule Switching’ mode. The difficulty level of each stage is determined by key variables, including the number of boxes, the number of rows, the type of rule, and the degree of similarity between the target and the odd item.
Recorded metrics
- Accuracy in finding the odd one
- Decision speed
- How fast the patient adapts after a silent rule change
- Performance under distraction
Science & evidence
Odd One Out targets conceptual reasoning, visual classification and — above all — set-shifting: the ability to abandon one response rule and discover a new one, one of the three pillars of executive function.
Scientific basis
The exercise follows the logic of the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST): the person must infer a hidden sorting rule from feedback and, when the rule silently changes, switch strategy (Grant & Berg, 1948; Heaton et al., 1993). Mental flexibility (shifting) is one of three core executive functions alongside updating and inhibition (Miyake et al., 2000).
Use in the cognitive treatment pathway
Mental rigidity and difficulty changing strategy appear after frontal-lobe injury, stroke and in ageing. Therapy starts with overt rules (colour) and progresses to subtler rules and then to silent rule reversals; the "shift cost" — the drop in speed/accuracy after a rule change — is the key progress metric.
VR & digital evidence
A systematic review of VR-based executive-function tools supports the validity and acceptability of such measures (Borgnis et al., 2022), and gamified WCST versions show convergent validity with the classic test (Hommel et al., 2022).
This exercise is a rehabilitation aid, not a substitute for clinical assessment or therapy; program selection and interpretation of results remain with the care team.
References
- Grant DA, Berg EA. A behavioral analysis of degree of reinforcement and ease of shifting to new responses in a Weigl-type card-sorting problem. Journal of Experimental Psychology. 1948;38(4):404–411. doi:10.1037/h0059831
- Heaton RK, Chelune GJ, Talley JL, Kay GG, Curtiss G. Wisconsin Card Sorting Test Manual: Revised and Expanded. Psychological Assessment Resources; 1993.
- Miyake A, Friedman NP, Emerson MJ, Witzki AH, Howerter A, Wager TD. The unity and diversity of executive functions and their contributions to complex "frontal lobe" tasks. Cognitive Psychology. 2000;41(1):49–100. doi:10.1006/cogp.1999.0734
- Borgnis F, Baglio F, Pedroli E, et al. Available virtual reality-based tools for executive functions: a systematic review. Frontiers in Psychology. 2022;13:833136. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2022.833136
Gallery
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