DiffrintExperimental · about 25 minutes total
A guided visuospatial task for one recurring, unwanted visual image. The underlying research concerns intrusive visual memories after trauma. Mental-rotation tasks have not been established as a treatment for OCD-generated intrusive imagery.
Visuospatial tasks can occupy visual working memory and often reduce imagery while the task is happening. Some clinical trials report fewer later trauma-related visual intrusions, while large preregistered experiments have not consistently reproduced a lasting effect. This Lab is a research-informed analogue, not a validated clinical protocol.
This is designed as a scheduled experiment, not something to perform every time an unwanted image appears. If you have OCD, repeatedly using an exercise to cancel an obsession, obtain certainty, or force anxiety down can itself become a neutralizing ritual.
The task does not upload session or follow-up data. Browser saving is optional, and the private image label is never included in saved or downloaded data. Other local fields can still be sensitive.
Choose a task
Both options are custom Lab implementations. The game-like option is closer to the rotate-and-place behavior used in recent Tetris-based clinical studies; the multiple-choice option is simpler and has a static no-JavaScript fallback.
Closer analogue
Preview an upcoming block, imagine how you want to rotate and place it, then move, rotate, and drop it into a line-clearing grid. There is no ghost-piece preview and no clinical score.
Simpler option
See a source shape briefly, hold it in mind, then identify how it must rotate to match a target. During the task, the source is removed before the target appears to reduce side-by-side visual matching.
Practice first
Complete a short practice block. You have already selected one image, but you do not need to bring it to mind during practice.
Look at the upcoming piece and board first. Decide approximately how you want to rotate and place it. Then use the controls. Clear lines when you can; there is no score to optimize.
Touch: use the four large buttons below the board. Keyboard: ← / → move, ↑ or R rotates, Space drops.
The source will appear briefly, disappear, and then the target will appear. Keep the source orientation in mind and choose the amount of clockwise rotation needed. This pre-cue practice includes a simple competency check; if the first block is difficult, you will get additional easier practice before continuing.
You now know the task. The next step briefly cues the image you already selected, then the 20-minute task begins automatically.
Before you begin
Use one specific image or visual snapshot rather than a broad worry or stream of words.
Brief image cue
Allow the visual image you chose to become identifiable for a few seconds. Do not make it maximally distressing, analyze what it means, or decide whether it is true, dangerous, or important.
Five seconds is a Lab implementation choice for a brief cue; it is not established as an optimal clinical dose. In Rotation Grid, each piece also has a 1.5-second protected planning interval before controls unlock; that interval is likewise a Lab design choice, not a validated dose.
Mental rotation
If the intrusive image appears, you do not need to fight it, inspect it, or check whether it is fading. Notice that attention wandered and return to the next spatial problem.
Touch: use the four large buttons below the board. Keyboard: ← / → move, ↑ or R rotates, Space drops. If the board fills, it resets without penalty so the spatial task can continue.
Hold the source orientation in mind. The source disappears before the target appears.
Hold the source in mind…
After the task
The intended task duration is 20 active minutes. An early-stop session should not be interpreted as equivalent to a completed session. You can skip these ratings without bringing the image back to mind.
These immediate ratings are secondary measurements. A change, or no change, does not tell you whether the image is important, dangerous, meaningful, or likely to occur.
Session complete
This session did not complete the intended 20 active minutes.
The main experimental question is whether this particular image intrudes spontaneously less often later, not whether you can make it disappear right now. Avoid repeatedly bringing the image back to test the session.
These numbers are collected for comparison, not as a “did it work?” test.
| Measure | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Vividness | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Distress | Not recorded | Not recorded |
| Neutralizing urge | Not recorded | Not recorded |
A browser-local tracker records spontaneous recurrences during days 1–7 and, optionally, days 29–35 (week 5). Future days stay unavailable until they arrive so the tracker is prospective rather than a repeated checking prompt.
The private image label is not included in saved or downloaded data. If you opted into browser storage, other session data, including timestamps, ratings, task mode, and performance, may be stored on this device and should still be treated as sensitive.
This separate local download contains trial-level timing and task-action data. It is not needed for ordinary self-use and can still be sensitive even though it excludes the private image label.