Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
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Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
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Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#2There was a bug, the test to check if it's showing the same letter as before always showed me a dash as the second letter.
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#3Thanks for the report! Turns out this is actually intended behavior, not a bug — the letter flashes for 2 seconds then disappears (that's the dash you're seeing), and you're meant to recall it from memory rather than see it side-by-side with the new one. That's the core of what makes a 1-back test a memory test rather than a simple match-check. That said, your confusion is a fair signal that the UX could explain this more clearly upfront — I'll look at making that clearer. Appreciate you trying it out!
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#4Thanks for the report! Turns out this is actually intended behavior, not a bug — the letter flashes for 2 seconds then disappears (that's the dash you're seeing), and you're meant to recall it from memory rather than see it side-by-side with the new one. That's the core of what makes a 1-back test a memory test rather than a simple match-check. That said, your confusion is a fair signal that the UX could explain this…
I never saw the second letter
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#5Thanks for the report! Turns out this is actually intended behavior, not a bug — the letter flashes for 2 seconds then disappears (that's the dash you're seeing), and you're meant to recall it from memory rather than see it side-by-side with the new one. That's the core of what makes a 1-back test a memory test rather than a simple match-check. That said, your confusion is a fair signal that the UX could explain this…
I never saw the second letter
Appreciate the report — I've reviewed the logic and it's working as intended on my end (tested across multiple devices). If you run into it again, let me know your browser/device and I'll dig in further.
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#6Earlier quoted context omitted.
I never saw the second letter
Appreciate the report — I've reviewed the logic and it's working as intended on my end (tested across multiple devices). If you run into it again, let me know your browser/device and I'll dig in further.
After looking at it again...
I expect:
Letter 1
Letter 2
Is letter 1 equal to letter 2?
Letter 3
Letter 4
Is letter 3 equal to letter 4?
Letter 5
Letter 6
Is letter 5 equal to letter 6?
Letter 7
Letter 8
Is letter 7 equal to letter 8?
Letter 1
Is letter 1 equal to [I'm very confused]?
Letter 2
Is letter 1 equal to letter 2?
Letter 3
Is letter 2 equal to letter 3?
Letter 4
Is letter 3 equal to letter 4?
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
Appreciate the report — I've reviewed the logic and it's working as intended on my end (tested across multiple devices). If you run into it again, let me know your browser/device and I'll dig in further.
After looking at it again... I expect: Letter 1 Letter 2 Is letter 1 equal to letter 2? Letter 3 Letter 4 Is letter 3 equal to letter 4? Letter 5 Letter 6 Is letter 5 equal to letter 6? Letter 7 Letter 8 Is letter 7 equal to letter 8? But the test is actually something like Letter 1 Is letter 1 equal to [I'm very confused]? Letter 2 Is letter 1 equal to letter 2? Letter 3 Is letter 2 equal to letter 3? Letter 4 Is le…
You called it exactly right — it's a true 1-back sliding window, not paired comparison. And digging into it after your question, you also uncovered a real UI bug: the first trial showed a dash and asked the comparison question even though there was no previous letter yet. Scoring was already handling it correctly (first trial never counted as a target), but the UI didn't make that clear. Just shipped a fix — first trial now shows a 'this is the first letter, just remember it' hint with a Continue button instead of the Yes/No question. Thanks for pushing on this, made the product better.
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#8Earlier quoted context omitted.
After looking at it again... I expect: Letter 1 Letter 2 Is letter 1 equal to letter 2? Letter 3 Letter 4 Is letter 3 equal to letter 4? Letter 5 Letter 6 Is letter 5 equal to letter 6? Letter 7 Letter 8 Is letter 7 equal to letter 8? But the test is actually something like Letter 1 Is letter 1 equal to [I'm very confused]? Letter 2 Is letter 1 equal to letter 2? Letter 3 Is letter 2 equal to letter 3? Letter 4 Is le…
You called it exactly right — it's a true 1-back sliding window, not paired comparison. And digging into it after your question, you also uncovered a real UI bug: the first trial showed a dash and asked the comparison question even though there was no previous letter yet. Scoring was already handling it correctly (first trial never counted as a target), but the UI didn't make that clear. Just shipped a fix — first tr…
The dash is very confusing. Try a version that shows nothing instead of the dash (it's useful to drag few friends to test small variations).
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
You called it exactly right — it's a true 1-back sliding window, not paired comparison. And digging into it after your question, you also uncovered a real UI bug: the first trial showed a dash and asked the comparison question even though there was no previous letter yet. Scoring was already handling it correctly (first trial never counted as a target), but the UI didn't make that clear. Just shipped a fix — first tr…
The dash is very confusing. Try a version that shows nothing instead of the dash (it's useful to drag few friends to test small variations).
Confirmed, much cleaner now — thanks again.
Quick context since you clearly care about getting this right: this test is part of a bigger project, training a bot-detection model that currently has 22k+ verified bot sessions but only a handful of real human ones. Classic data-starvation problem: the model knows what a bot looks like, barely knows what a human looks like. Every real person who plays through honestly (like you did, bugs and all) helps balance that out.
Appreciate you taking it seriously enough to actually find the rough edges.
Re: Show HN: 60-second cognitive test to tell humans from bots (no camera)
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
The dash is very confusing. Try a version that shows nothing instead of the dash (it's useful to drag few friends to test small variations).
Confirmed, much cleaner now — thanks again. Quick context since you clearly care about getting this right: this test is part of a bigger project, training a bot-detection model that currently has 22k+ verified bot sessions but only a handful of real human ones. Classic data-starvation problem: the model knows what a bot looks like, barely knows what a human looks like. Every real person who plays through honestly (li…
A few more comments:
In the last test, 1->2->3->4->5 the lines are not aligned with the dots.
Are you tracking the mouse? In the yes/no test I move the mouse to the correct position before the buttons appear.