diff --git a/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/metric.py b/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/metric.py
index fb31a7280..eb47e3bba 100644
--- a/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/metric.py
+++ b/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/metric.py
@@ -10,17 +10,52 @@
 
 class AccuracyDistance(Metric):
     """
-    Computes the accuracy distance using the relative distance between the source and target accuracies, adjusted
-    for the maximum possible difference between the two accuracies.
+    Computes the accuracy distance using the relative distance between the
+    source and target accuracies, adjusted for the maximum possible
+    difference between the two accuracies. By default, the distance is computed
+    from a single accuracy score on the entire BehavioralAssembly. However,
+    the distance can also be computed on a condition-wise basis using the
+    'variables' argument. The advantage of the condition-wise approach is that
+    it can separate two models with identical overall accuracy if one exhibits a
+    more target-like pattern of performance across conditions.
     """
-    def __call__(self, source: BehavioralAssembly, target: BehavioralAssembly) -> Score:
+    def __call__(self, source: BehavioralAssembly, target:
+            BehavioralAssembly, variables: tuple=()) -> Score:
         """Target should be the entire BehavioralAssembly, containing truth values."""
 
         subjects = self.extract_subjects(target)
         subject_scores = []
         for subject in subjects:
             subject_assembly = target.sel(subject=subject)
-            subject_score = self.compare_single_subject(source, subject_assembly)
+
+            # compute single score across the entire dataset
+            if len(variables) == 0:
+                subject_score = self.compare_single_subject(source, subject_assembly)
+
+            # compute scores for each condition, then average
+            else:
+                cond_scores = []
+
+                # get iterator across all combinations of variables
+                if len(variables) == 1:
+                    conditions = set(subject_assembly[variables[0]].values)
+                    conditions = [[c] for c in conditions]  # to mimic itertools.product
+                else:
+                    conditions = itertools.product(
+                        *[set(subject_assembly[v].values) for v in variables])
+
+                # loop over conditions and compute scores
+                for cond in conditions:
+                    indexers = {v: cond[i] for i, v in enumerate(variables)}
+                    subject_cond_assembly = subject_assembly.sel(**indexers)
+                    source_cond_assembly = source.sel(**indexers)
+                    # to accomodate unbalanced designs, skip combinations of
+                    # variables that don't exist in both assemblies
+                    if len(subject_cond_assembly) and len(source_cond_assembly):
+                        cond_scores.append(self.compare_single_subject(
+                            source_cond_assembly, subject_cond_assembly))
+                subject_score = Score(np.mean(cond_scores))
+
             subject_score = subject_score.expand_dims('subject')
             subject_score['subject'] = 'subject', [subject]
             subject_scores.append(subject_score)
diff --git a/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/test.py b/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/test.py
index 2fc15b792..d6414b790 100644
--- a/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/test.py
+++ b/brainscore_vision/metrics/accuracy_distance/test.py
@@ -12,6 +12,20 @@ def test_score():
     assert score == approx(0.74074074)
 
 
+def test_score_single_variable():
+    assembly = _make_data()
+    metric = load_metric('accuracy_distance')
+    score = metric(assembly.sel(subject='C'), assembly, ('condition',))
+    assert score == approx(0.55555556)
+
+
+def test_score_multi_variable():
+    assembly = _make_data()
+    metric = load_metric('accuracy_distance')
+    score = metric(assembly.sel(subject='C'), assembly, ('condition','animacy'))
+    assert score == approx(0.55555556)
+
+
 def test_has_error():
     assembly = _make_data()
     metric = load_metric('accuracy_distance')
@@ -38,5 +52,6 @@ def _make_data():
                               coords={'stimulus_id': ('presentation', np.resize(np.arange(9), 9 * 3)),
                                       'truth': ('presentation', np.resize(['dog', 'cat', 'chair'], 9 * 3)),
                                       'condition': ('presentation', np.resize([1, 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3], 9 * 3)),
+                                      'animacy': ('presentation', np.resize(['animate', 'animate', 'inanimate'], 9 * 3)),
                                       'subject': ('presentation', ['A'] * 9 + ['B'] * 9 + ['C'] * 9)},
                               dims=['presentation'])