Tower of London Task

HED Task ID: hedtsk_tower_of_london

Also known as: TOL, Shallice Tower Task

Rearrange colored beads on pegs to match a goal state in the minimum number of moves; pre-execution latency and move efficiency index planning.

Description

The Tower of London Task is a planning and problem-solving task. Participants are presented with two configurations of colored beads on pegs: a start state and a goal state. They must plan and execute a sequence of moves to transform the start state into the goal state in the minimum number of moves, following movement constraints (one bead at a time, peg capacity limits). Problem difficulty is manipulated by the minimum number of moves required (2-7). Performance is measured by moves to solution, planning time, and accuracy. The task is a key measure of prefrontal executive function, particularly planning and look-ahead.

Inclusion test

Procedure

Three pegs hold colored discs in a start configuration; participants move discs one at a time to reach a goal configuration in the minimum number of moves.

Manipulation

Problem difficulty (minimum moves: 2–7); number of discs; time constraints; one-touch (planning only) vs. execution versions.

Measurement

Number of problems solved in minimum moves; excess moves; planning time (first-move latency); total solution time.

Variations

Variation

Description

Justification

Standard Tower of London (3 pegs, 3 balls)

Classic Shallice version; problems requiring 2–7 moves.

Canonical Shallice ToL: rearrange colored balls across pegs

Tower of Hanoi

Related but distinct; uses graduated-size disks with size-ordering constraint; more moves required.

Different rule structure (disk size constraint); distinct classic puzzle

Tower of London – Drexel (TOL-DX)

Standardized version with 10 problems and psychometric norms.

Standardized 10-item version with normative data; published clinical instrument

Tower of London – Freiburg (TOL-F)

Research-optimized version with controlled problem parameters.

Computer version with different item set and constraints

Computerized vs. Physical Versions

Digital drag-and-drop vs. manual manipulation of beads.

Per §5.6: grasping 3D beads vs. drag-and-drop changes motor activity

Tower with Time Pressure

Imposing deadlines to study speed-accuracy tradeoffs in planning.

Response deadline imposed; changes planning strategy

Cognitive processes

This task engages the following cognitive processes:

Key references

  • {‘authors’: ‘Shallice, T.’, ‘year’: 1982, ‘title’: ‘Specific impairments of planning’, ‘venue’: ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. B, Biological Sciences’, ‘volume’: ‘298’, ‘issue’: ‘1089’, ‘pages’: ‘199-209’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1098/rstb.1982.0082’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Shallice, T. (1982). Specific impairments of planning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, 298(1089), 199-209.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.1982.0082’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Owen, A. M., Doyon, J., Petrides, M., & Evans, A. C.’, ‘year’: 1996, ‘title’: ‘Planning and Spatial Working Memory: a Positron Emission Tomography Study in Humans’, ‘venue’: ‘European Journal of Neuroscience’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘European Journal of Neuroscience’, ‘volume’: ‘8’, ‘issue’: ‘2’, ‘pages’: ‘353-364’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1111/j.1460-9568.1996.tb01219.x’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Owen, A. M., Doyon, J., Petrides, M., & Evans, A. C. (1996). Planning and spatial working memory: A positron emission tomography study in humans. European Journal of Neuroscience, 8(2), 353-364.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-9568.1996.tb01219.x’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Unterrainer, J. M., & Owen, A. M.’, ‘year’: 2006, ‘title’: ‘Planning and problem solving: From neuropsychology to functional neuroimaging’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Physiology-Paris’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Physiology-Paris’, ‘volume’: ‘99’, ‘issue’: ‘4-6’, ‘pages’: ‘308-317’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.jphysparis.2006.03.014’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Unterrainer, J. M., & Owen, A. M. (2006). Planning and problem solving: From neuropsychology to functional neuroimaging. Journal of Physiology-Paris, 99(4-6), 308-317.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jphysparis.2006.03.014’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

Recent references

  • {‘authors’: ‘Kaller, C. P., Heinze, K., Frenkel, A., Läppchen, C. H., Unterrainer, J. M., Weiller, C., Lange, R., & Rahm, B.’, ‘year’: 2011, ‘title’: ‘Differential impact of continuous theta‐burst stimulation over left and right DLPFC on planning’, ‘venue’: ‘Human Brain Mapping’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Human Brain Mapping’, ‘volume’: ‘34’, ‘issue’: ‘1’, ‘pages’: ‘36-51’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1002/hbm.21423’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Kaller, C. P., Rahm, B., Spreer, J., Weiller, C., & Unterrainer, J. M. (2011). Dissociable contributions of left and right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in planning. Cerebral Cortex, 21(2), 307–317.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.21423’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Andrés, P.’, ‘year’: 2003, ‘title’: ‘Frontal cortex as the central executive of working memory: Time to revise our view’, ‘venue’: ‘Cortex’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Cortex’, ‘volume’: ‘39’, ‘issue’: None, ‘pages’: None, ‘doi’: None, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Andrés, P. (2003). Frontal cortex as the central executive of working memory: Time to revise our view. Cortex, 39(4-5), 871–895. [Updated context: Newman, L. M., et al. (2021). Planning and tower tasks: A systematic review and meta-analysis of structural neuroimaging. NeuroImage: Clinical, 30, 102662.]’, ‘url’: None, ‘source’: ‘unresolved’, ‘confidence’: ‘none’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Köstering, L., Schmidt, C. S., Egger, K., Amtage, F., Peter, J., Klöppel, S., Beume, L., Hoeren, M., Weiller, C., & Kaller, C. P.’, ‘year’: 2015, ‘title’: ‘Assessment of planning performance in clinical samples: Reliability and validity of the Tower of London task (TOL-F)’, ‘venue’: ‘Neuropsychologia’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Neuropsychologia’, ‘volume’: ‘75’, ‘issue’: None, ‘pages’: ‘646-655’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.07.017’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Köstering, L., Nitschke, K., Schumacher, F. K., et al. (2015). Assessment of planning performance in clinical samples: Reliability and validity of the Tower of London task (TOL-F). Neuropsychologia, 75, 646–655.’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2015.07.017’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}

  • {‘authors’: ‘Unterrainer, J., Rahm, B., Kaller, C., Leonhart, R., Quiske, K., Hoppe-Seyler, K., Meier, C., Müller, C., & Halsband, U.’, ‘year’: 2004, ‘title’: ‘Planning Abilities and the Tower of London: Is This Task Measuring a Discrete Cognitive Function?’, ‘venue’: ‘Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology’, ‘venue_type’: ‘journal’, ‘journal’: ‘Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology’, ‘volume’: ‘26’, ‘issue’: ‘6’, ‘pages’: ‘846-856’, ‘doi’: ‘10.1080/13803390490509574’, ‘openalex_id’: None, ‘pmid’: None, ‘citation_string’: ‘Unterrainer, J. M., Rahm, B., Kaller, C. P., et al. (2004). Planning abilities and the Tower of London: Is this task measuring a discrete cognitive function? Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology, 26(6), 846–856. [Updated: Ward, G., & Morris, R. (2005). Introduction to the psychology of planning. In The Cognitive Psychology of Planning (pp. 1–34). Psychology Press.]’, ‘url’: ‘https://doi.org/10.1080/13803390490509574’, ‘source’: ‘crossref’, ‘confidence’: ‘high’, ‘verified_on’: ‘2026-04-20’}