---
key: mechanic/shared-family-08
type: mechanic
id: shared-family-08
lang: en
title: 'Attention, switching and inhibition'
summary: >-
  The player identifies a target signal and acts only when the required
  condition is met, withholding premature or habitual responses.
updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
status: active
url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-08/'
jsonUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/api/v1/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-08.json'
markdownUrl: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/content/knowledge/en/mechanic/shared-family-08.md'
aliases:
  - Attention and response inhibition
tags:
  - Children’s games
  - 'Perception, attention and information'
  - Educational games
sourceIds:
  - source-24f9d145885e7fad
sources:
  - id: source-24f9d145885e7fad
    title: Human Benchmark
    url: 'https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime'
    verifiedAt: null
relations: []
placements:
  - catalogId: children
    id: family-08
    title: Children’s games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/children/#family-08'
    categoryIds:
      - perception
  - catalogId: education
    id: family-08
    title: Educational games
    url: 'https://gamemechanics.pro/en/mechanics/education/#family-08'
    categoryIds:
      - perception
supersededBy: []
attributes:
  preview:
    updatedAt: '2026-10-22'
    title: Attention and response inhibition
    description: >-
      The player identifies a target signal and acts only when the required
      condition is met, withholding premature or habitual responses.
    image:
      src: images/mechanics/learning-human-benchmark-reaction.webp
      width: 1280
      height: 464
      game: Human Benchmark
      sourceUrl: 'https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime'
      originalUrl: 'https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime'
      credit: 'Human Benchmark; public test capture, 2026-10-22'
      rights: >-
        © Human Benchmark. Actual unsigned test session captured 2026-10-22.
        Cropped to the application header and task area; advertising outside the
        task omitted. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.
      caption: 'Human Benchmark: the red state requires waiting for the green signal'
      alt: 'Human Benchmark: the red state requires waiting for the green signal'
      markers:
        - x: 50
          'y': 51
          label: Wait for green requires withholding the click
    tips:
      - Do not encode the target signal through color alone.
    examples:
      - title: Human Benchmark
        url: 'https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime'
endsAt: null
provenance: >-
  Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy,
  with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support
  specific examples, not the entire classification.
license: CC-BY-4.0
codeLicense: MIT
attribution: gamemechanics.pro contributors
catalogKey: catalog/children
---
# Attention, switching and inhibition

id: shared-family-08
type: mechanic
key: mechanic/shared-family-08
lang: en
status: active
url: https://gamemechanics.pro/en/knowledge/mechanic/shared-family-08/

The player identifies a target signal and acts only when the required condition is met, withholding premature or habitual responses.

## At a glance

![Human Benchmark: the red state requires waiting for the green signal](https://gamemechanics.pro/images/mechanics/learning-human-benchmark-reaction.webp)

[Human Benchmark](https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime) · © Human Benchmark. Actual unsigned test session captured 2026-10-22. Cropped to the application header and task area; advertising outside the task omitted. All rights reserved; excluded from MIT and CC BY 4.0.

1. Wait for green requires withholding the click

- Do not encode the target signal through color alone.

- [Human Benchmark](https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime)

## How it works

Respond only to a target cue

## Variants

### Variants

<a id="family-08-branch-1"></a>

- Respond only to a target cue <a id="family-08-variant-1"></a>
- Ignore forbidden cues <a id="family-08-variant-2"></a>
- Stop an action on cue <a id="family-08-variant-3"></a>
- Play with reversed rules <a id="family-08-variant-4"></a>
- Track a moving object <a id="family-08-variant-5"></a>
- Notice rare events <a id="family-08-variant-6"></a>
- Switch between rules <a id="family-08-variant-7"></a>
- Ignore distracting properties <a id="family-08-variant-8"></a>
- Divide attention across channels <a id="family-08-variant-9"></a>
- Pause before choosing <a id="family-08-variant-10"></a>

## Design example

Select green fish while ignoring green fish with stripes.

## Context and limits

An action map for children’s digital, board, active and mixed games. An instructional goal is optional: children can invent stories, explore toys, compete or enjoy play itself. Select age suitability, reading demands, controls and pace separately; different implementations can suit different ages. Learning tasks and instructional support have their own reference.

## Context: Educational games

A mechanic map for games with explicit learning goals, from first encounters with a topic to professional practice. It covers children, teenagers and adults; choose subject, difficulty, context and controls for the learner. Player actions, subject content, instructional support and assessment are distinct layers. Scores and game completion alone do not establish mastery or skill transfer.

## Connected materials


## Sources and provenance

Play-focused selection adapted from the original children-education taxonomy, with original editorial additions dated 2026-10-20. Developer sources support specific examples, not the entire classification.

- [Human Benchmark](https://humanbenchmark.com/tests/reactiontime) (id: source-24f9d145885e7fad)

CC-BY-4.0 · gamemechanics.pro contributors