2. Task naming rules

Each task has a canonical_name (the standard reference name) and zero or more aliases (alternative names used in the literature).

2.1 Canonical task name rules

  • Use the most widely recognized name in the literature

  • Include “Task” as a suffix (e.g., “Stroop Color-Word Task”, not just “Stroop”)

  • Pseudo tasks keep the suffix too (“Rest Task”, “Fixate Task”, “Take Questionnaire Task”), so that every catalog entry is named the same way

  • For named paradigms, the standard abbreviation goes in the aliases array, not in the canonical name (e.g., canonical name “Cambridge Face Memory Task”, alias “CFMT”)

  • Prefer the specific paradigm name over the generic process name when both exist (e.g., “Eriksen Flanker Task” not “Response Conflict Task”)

2.2 Task alias rules

An alias is an alternative name for the same task. Aliases are:

  • Abbreviations (e.g., “AGL” for Artificial Grammar Learning Task)

  • Eponymous names (e.g., “Galton-Crovitz Task” for the cue-word variant of Autobiographical Memory Task)

  • Common shortened forms (e.g., “Antisaccade” for Anti-Saccade Task)

  • Instrument-specific names (e.g., “IAPS Viewing” for Affective Picture Viewing Task)

Aliases are not variations. An alias refers to the same procedure with a different name. A variation refers to a different procedure under the same task umbrella.

2.3 Identifier formats

Every term in the catalog is typed by its identifier prefix, so any ID encountered anywhere in the documents is unambiguously classifiable:

  • Task IDs have the form hedtsk_<slug> (e.g., hedtsk_eriksen_flanker, hedtsk_change_detection, hedtsk_balloon_analog_risk). The slug is mechanically derived from the canonical_name by stripping the trailing word “Task” or “Test”, lowercasing, removing apostrophes, replacing /, -, and spaces with _, collapsing runs of _, and prepending hedtsk_. It is therefore a stable, deterministic identifier once the canonical name is fixed. The hedtsk_ prefix is mandatory.

  • Process IDs have the form hed_<slug> (e.g., hed_response_inhibition, hed_visual_working_memory). The hed_ prefix is mandatory. The hed_ prefix is this catalog’s working prefix and is not a claim about HED-schema membership (see section 2.5).

  • Canonical names for tasks always end in the word Task or Test. Task is the default. The canonical name contains no parenthetical abbreviations and no spaced slashes - abbreviations and alternative names go in aliases. Examples: “Balloon Analog Risk Task” with alias “BART”; “False Belief Task” with alias “Theory of Mind Task”.

  • Process names are sentence case (first word capitalized, remainder lowercase except proper nouns).

A reader who sees hedtsk_balloon_analog_risk knows it is a task; hed_response_inhibition is a process; BART is a human-readable abbreviation not an ID. Any cross-reference between the two axes (task-to-process, or process-to-task) must preserve these prefixes verbatim.