TEDS Data Dictionary

Activities in the 18 Year Web Studies

Contents of this page:

Introduction

In each web study, twins gained access to the web activities via the Internet and the World Wide Web, using web browsers on their home computers. The activities were hosted on the TEDS studies web server (http://studies.teds.ac.uk), which was located in the server room at the SGDP Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry but which is no longer active. Each post-18-year twin study (Perception, Bricks, Kings Challenge, Navigation, Fashion) had its own web address on the server - these links are not given here as they are no longer active.

In order to participate in each study, a twin would need access to a computer with an internet connection, a web browser and (depending on the activity) a keyboard and mouse or trackpad. Flash plug-ins were not needed, and the activities were compatible with all common current browser versions, making these activities widely accessible (although twins were advised not to use tablets, smartphones and other similar devices).

For each web study independently, each twin was provided with a login code (username) that was unique to the twin and to the study. Hence, the login code provided for one study could not be re-used for the next study. Each login code could only be used once for the complete set of activities in the study, hence no twin could repeat the activities. Access to each study was denied to any user not having a valid login code, preventing anonymous users from taking part. The login codes were treated as confidential between TEDS staff and each twin, in order to protect the confidentiality and security of twin data. The twin login code had the additional function of identifying each twin's data on the web server. At the start of each web study, each selected twin was sent a letter containing the login code and link, and an information sheet with basic instructions for accessing the web tests.

In each study, the login details entered by a twin were secured for transmission over the Internet using encryption and web server authentication. This was done by means of an encrypted Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) connection, established on the login page and authenticated using a public key certificate.

Twins were contacted directly (not via parents), and were required to complete an on line consent form (specific to the study) before proceeding with the activities. The consent form provided a way of obtaining explicit informed consent from each twin, as well as a means of gathering the twin's email address for subsequent contacts. It was not possible to proceed with the web activities until the consent form had been completed (and once completed, the consent form did not reappear on subsequent logins). See the Kings Challenge study login and consent page for a detailed description of typical login and consent pages.

The Web Activities

After logging in as described above, and after the consent form had been completed, each twin was presented with the first web activity. If a twin had previously logged in and provided consent, then the consent form would not be shown again; if a twin had previously completed one or more of the activities, then the next activity would be shown; if a twin had previously completed all the activities, then a feedback or summary page would be shown.

Some studies included cognitive tests (Face and Cars in the Perception Study, the 6 subtests of the Bricks Study, and the 10 subtests of the Kings Challenge Study, the 30 missions of the Navigation Study). Each of these tests and subtests started with its own short tutorial. Each tutorial presented brief instructions for completing the test or subtest, typically with an example item followed by a very simple practice item for the twins to try out. In the Percepion and Navigation studies (but not in Bricks or Kings Challenge), if a twin gave an incorrect response to the practice item, they were made to repeat the practice item until they gave the correct response before proceeding with the main test.

Within each web study, the activities were always presented in a fixed order as shown below, and this was the order in which twins were required to complete the activities

Perception Study Activities

  1. Consent
  2. Face Perception test
  3. Perception questionnaire
  4. Cars Perception test
  5. Comments page
  6. Feedback page

The comments page presented twins with a text box in which they were invited to give feedback or other comments on the activities. This was optional, so twins were allowed to leave the text box empty and proceed directly to the feedback page.

Bricks Study Activities

  1. Consent
  2. Spatial Abilities (SPAA) questionnaire
  3. Bricks tests (6 subtests)
  4. Feedback page

The consent and feedback pages are not reproduced here. The consent page was almost identical to that used for the Kings Challenge study (see below). The feedback page was very similar in format to that used in the Perception study (see above). Note that there was no comments page in this study.

Kings Challenge Study Activities

  1. Consent
  2. Cross-sections test
  3. 2D drawing test
  4. Pattern assembly test
  5. Elithorn mazes test
  6. Mechanical reasoning test
  7. Paper folding test
  8. 3D drawing test
  9. Shape rotation test
  10. Perspective taking test
  11. Mazes test
  12. Feedback page

Note that there was no comments page in this study. A brief demonstration video of the Kings Challenge activities is available on an external YouTube page.

  1. Consent
  2. Introduction and practice activities
  3. Orientation direction mission 1
  4. Scanning mission 1
  5. Orientation landmarks mission 1
  6. Perspective mission 1
  7. Map reading no memory mission 1
  8. Orientation landmarks mission 2
  9. Orientation direction mission 2
  10. Map reading no memory mission 3
  11. Perspective mission 2
  12. Orientation direction mission 3
  13. Map reading with memory mission 1
  14. Scanning mission 2
  15. Orientation landmarks mission 3
  16. Perspective mission 3
  17. Map reading with memory mission 2
  18. Orientation direction mission 4
  19. Map reading no memory mission 2
  20. Scanning mission 3
  21. Map reading no memory mission 4
  22. Perspective mission 4
  23. Orientation landmarks mission 4
  24. Map reading no memory mission 5
  25. Scanning mission 4
  26. Map reading with memory mission 5
  27. Orientation landmarks mission 5
  28. Perspective mission 5
  29. Map reading with memory mission 3
  30. Scanning mission 5
  31. Map reading with memory mission 4
  32. Orientation direction mission 5
  33. Feedback page

The numbering of missions is not always in sequence order, due to changes made in the ordering of mssions during piloting. Note that there was no comments page in this study. A brief demonstration video of the Navigation activities is available on an external YouTube page.

Fashion, Food and Music Preferences Study Activities

  1. Consent
  2. Questionnaire:
    1. Fashion preferences questionnaire
    2. Food preferences questionnaire (divided into 3 sections)
    3. Music preferences questionnaire

The consent page is not reproduced here, but it was very similar in format to that used in the Kings Challenge study (see above). Note that there was no comments page and no feedback page in this study.

General Test Rules

Most web activities had simple rules. There was no branching. Some tests had item time limits, and others did not. Some tests had discontinue rules, and others did not. All test rules were programmed into the web activities, and were enforced automatically. The following list describes in general terms the broad rules that applied across most or all tests; follow the links above for more detailed descriptions of test-specific rules. Note that Navigation activities often followed a different pattern from more conventional web tests.

  • No halting and returning in mid-test
    Having started but not finished an activity, it was generally not possible for a twin to halt (by logging out or closing the browser) then return at the same point at a later time. Generally, if a twin stopped in this way in mid-activity, then all the data for that activity would be lost; on logging in at a later time, the twin would then have to re-start the same activity. In Navigation, this rule applied at the level of each mission (if not completed, the mission would be re-started at the first task/attempt). The exception to this general rule were the Kings Challenge subtests, where an interrupted item would be forfeited, but on logging in again at a later time, the twin would resume the same test at the next item.
  • One attempt at each activity
    Each activity within each web study could be attempted once and only once by each twin (except as described above, after halting in mid-test then re-starting). There was no mechanism for re-setting the activities once completed, even if twins were aware of problems and asked for tests to be repeated.
  • One attempt at each item
    Every page (containing one test item or several questionnaire items) in each of the web activities could be attempted once and only once by each twin (except as described above, after halting in mid-test then re-starting). If a twin attempted to repeat a test item, or a page of questionnaire items, for example by clicking the "Back" button in the browser, then the activity would be halted and the twin would be presented with a message explaining the problem. The twin would then have to re-start the activity (except in Kings Challenge, where the twin would re-start at the next item in the same test). In Navigation, the rules of some missions deliberately allowed twins to make more than one attempt at completing each mission; however, clicking "Back" would result in an entire mission being re-started.
  • Timeout rules
    Some but not all of the cognitive tests had their own specific timeout rules. For example, the Bricks, Kings Challenge and Navigation subtests all had timeout rules, but the Perception Study tests did not. Generally (except for Navigation missions), in items of a test with a timeout rule, if a twin did not select a response within the programmed time limit, the item would be forfeited with zero score. The item would then be replaced on screen with a "next item" button, and the twin could resume the test at the next item by clicking on this. (No timeout rule applied to the "next item" page itself.) Navigation missions had more complex behaviour. See the descriptions of individual tests for details of the rules used. In activities without timeout rules (Perception activities, Bricks questionnaire, FFMP questionnaires), a twin could pause almost indefinitely on any given item.
  • Discontinue rules
    Some but not all of the cognitive tests had discontinue rules. These rules were designed to shorten the duration of each test, and to avoid presenting items of inappropriate levels of difficulties, to twins who had reached a ceiling of difficulty level in the test. See the descriptions of individual tests for details of the rules used. Where no discontinue rule was present in a test, twins were obliged to complete every item in the test.
  • Limited feedback
    With the exception of Navigation tasks, cognitive tests did not provide feedback to inform twins whether they had answered each item correctly or incorrectly. However, feedback relating to performance in the battery as a whole was given in the Perception, Bricks, Kings Challenge and Navigation studies: on completion of the entire battery of activities a twin was presented with a feedback page summarising overall performance (the nature of the feedback varied between studies). This arrangement was designed to hide the correct item responses in cognitive tests (except in Navigation), in order to prevent cheating or collaboration between twins, while providing general feedback in an attempt to make the test outcomes more interesting to twins.