Changes from Navigation to Spatial Spy
The TEDS 18 Year Navigation battery was quite lengthy, taking around 45 minutes or longer to complete. In order to shorten the battery for Spatial Spy at age 26, to a length of no more than 15 minutes, a number of adaptations were made:
- The number of mission types was decreased from 6 to 3.
- For each mission type, the number of missions was decreased from 5 to 3.
- Hence the total number of missions was decreased from 30 to 9.
- In orientation (direction and landmark) mission types, the number of tasks per mission was reduced from 4, 5 or 6 to 3.
- In map reading missions, the number of allowed attempts per mission was reduced from 2 to 1.
- In orientation direction missions, the number of allowed attempts per task was reduced from 3 to 1.
In the 18 Year Navigation study, for each mission type the missions were numbered 1 to 5. For Spatial Spy, missions 1, 3 and 5 were retained, dropping missions 2 and 4 of each mission type. The mission numbering 1, 3, 5 was retained in Spatial Spy to help in making comparisons between the two studies.
Detailed descriptions of the 18 Year Navigation versions can be found in the Orientation Direction, Orientation Landmarks and Map Reading pages.
A more detailed comparison of the two studies is given in this table:
| Changes made | Retained from Navigation to Spatial Spy | Dropped or changed from Navigation to Spatial Spy |
|---|---|---|
| Mission Types |
|
|
| Missions of each type | Missions 1, 3 and 5 retained | Missions 2 and 4 dropped |
| Tasks per mission: Orientation Direction, Orientation Landmarks |
Tasks 1, 2 and 3 retained | Tasks 4, 5, 6 dropped (in Navigation, the number of tasks per mission varied between 4 and 6) |
| Attempts per task: Orientation Direction |
One attempt only | Attempts 2, 3 dropped |
| Attempts per mission: Map Reading No Memory |
One attempt only | Attempt 2 dropped |
| Attempts per task: Orientation Landmarks |
One attempt only | - |
| Mission time limit: Orientation Direction |
Missions 3, 5: mission time limit 180 seconds (no time limit on individual tasks within a mission) |
Mission 1: mission time limit decreased from 180 to 60 seconds |
| Task time limit: Orientation Landmark |
60 seconds per task | - |
| Mission time limit: Map Reading No Memory |
60 seconds per mission | (in Navigation, the 60 second time limit was applied to each attempt within a mission) |
| Discontinue rule: Orientation Direction |
Within each mission, failure due to mission timeout during task 1 or task 2 effectively caused any remaining task(s) to be discontinued. | - |
| Discontinue rule: Orientation Landmarks |
(there was no such rule in Navigation) | Failure in task 1 or task 2, caused by failure to reach the target within the 60 second task time limit, caused any remaining task(s) to be discontinued. |
| On-screen map: Map Reading No Memory |
Mission 5: the yellow dot showing current position disappeared after 8 seconds, leaving just the red dot showing target position. | Missions 1, 3: in Navigation, the behaviour was as for mission 5. In Spatial Spy, the yellow dot showing current position remained visible on screen for the entire mission. |
| On-screen compass: Orientation Direction |
Mission 1: the compass remains on screen throughout the mission | Missions 3, 5: in Navigation, the compass did not appear on screen. In Spatial Spy, the compass remained on screen throughout both missions. |
In Spatial Spy, closing the browser in mid-mission caused the twin to log out, with variable results after logging in and resuming. In a Map Reading No Memory mission, it was possible to resume and complete the mission. In an Orientation Landmarks mission, it was possible to resume if the browser was closed during task 1, but the mission was terminated if the browser was closed during task 2 or 3. In an Orientation Direction mission, the results were more variable. Any terminated missions could be detected due to missing data, and excluded (as being invalid) in the dataset.
In Navigation, the behaviour of missions after closing the browser was not recorded.
Test Rules
The main test (mission) rules are summarised in this table.
| Rule | Orientation Direction | Orientation Landmarks | Map Reading No Memory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tasks | 3 tasks per mission (one attempt per task) | 3 tasks per mission (one attempt per task) | 1 task per mission (one attempt) |
| Timeout rule | Mission time limit: 60 seconds for mission 1, 180 seconds for missions 2, 3 (no time limit for individual tasks within each mission) |
Task time limit: 60 seconds for each task in each mission |
Mission time limit: 60 seconds for each mission |
| Outcomes | Per task in each Orientation Direction mission:
|
Per task in each Orientation Landmark mission:
|
Per Map Reading mission:
|
| Widgets | Compass remained on screen throughout. No map. | No compass, no map. | Map and compass remained on screen throughout,
with red dot marking the target position on the map. Moving yellow dot, indicating current position, remained on the map throughout missions 1 and 3; in mission 5, this dot disappeared after 8 seconds. |
| Pausing | Any mission could be paused at any time by pressing P on the keyboard. The image of the virtual world was then replaced on screen by text explaining that the mission was paused, and that pressing P again would resume. Each mission could be paused indefinitely in this way, as often as a twin wished. | ||
| Auto-pausing | If a twin left a mission unattended for its entire duration, no input would be recorded and it would eventually time out. In these circumstances, in order to prevent a sequence of missions from timing out without input, an "auto-pause" would come into effect: the entire game was paused at the end of the mission, and the image of the virtual world on screen was replaced by explanatory text. A twin could then resume (at the start of the next mission) by clicking on a button. | ||
Test items
Test items (missions and tasks) were the same as in the corresponding numbered missions and tasks in the 18 Year Navigation study, subject to the changes outlined above. Therefore, full descriptions with screen shots are not repeated here.
Orientation Direction missions, numbered 1, 3 and 5, each comprising 3 tasks. Refer to the 18 Year Navigation Orientation Direction page. Task instructions are summarised here:
| Mission | Task | Text instruction |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Congratulations, Secret Agent, your training is complete. Now on to your first mission! Follow the instructions to retrieve a folder containing information about an enemy spy. Now go north. |
| 2 | Turn east as soon as you can | |
| 3 | Keep going east | |
| 3 | 1 | Someone is following you. Follow our instructions in order to lose them. You are now facing west. Go south, then southwest. |
| 2 | You are facing southwest. Go north and immediately turn west. | |
| 3 | You are travelling west. Go straight ahead, and take the second north. | |
| 5 | 1 | The cake's in the oven but it's not done yet, and neither are you. Our base is being kept under surveillance by enemy agents, so we must keep our communications to a minimum. Recover the documents showing the hidden camera locations. Your are facing north right now. Go east, then turn north, then take the first road going northeast. You are on your own, now. Good luck. |
| 2 | Now go south, then turn east, then south again. | |
| 3 | Keep going south. Turn west at the fourth intersection. |
Orientation Landmark missions, numbered 1, 3 and 5, each comprising 3 tasks. Refer to the 18 Year Navigation Orientation Landmark page. Task instructions are summarised here:
| Mission | Task | Text instruction (landmark target in bold font) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | The briefcase contained instructions to check the security of several buildings around the city. Reach the road between the black and white pyramid and the tall building with balconies. |
| 2 | Ok! Now walk to the obelisk (tall grey column) in front of the cathedral. | |
| 3 | Everything is fine! Now reach the tall white pyramid skyscraper. | |
| 3 | 1 | We need updated intelligence for some of the buildings you previously checked for security. Reach the blue round glass skyscraper to observe the activity of the drone you saw flying there. Check all round the building! |
| 2 | It seems the drone has crashed here. Bring it to the big orange building with a parking lot. And be quick, we have more missions for you! | |
| 3 | Our pickup truck will recover the drone, thank you! We'll take it from here. Go to the old clock tower. | |
| 5 | 1 | You should know this city quite well by now. A film festival will begin tomorrow, so let's check if the tourist attractions are safe. Reach the cathedral. |
| 2 | What a beautiful building! Now go to the circus tent - we have to make sure the amusement park is ready for opening. Hurry up! | |
| 3 | The ringmaster of the circus gave you two tickets for the show! If you hurry and finish your missions, maybe we can attend together. But first reach the bright green structure with a news stand near the water tower. |
Map Reading No Memory missions, numbered 1, 3 and 5 (one task per mission). Refer to the 18 Year Map Reading page. The missions were exactly as pictured on this page for Map Reading No Memory missions 1, 3 and 5.
Dataset variables
This section briefly describes the Spatial Spy dataset variables, including both item and derived variables (few are raw items; most have at least been modified in some way from the raw data). See also the derived variables page for derivation details.
The 26 Year CATSLife Study Spatial Spy variables are all named with prefix zcss (z=age 26, c=CATSLife, ss=Spatial Spy). This prefix is followed by the mission type (od=Orientation Direction, ol=Orientation Landmarks, or mn=Map Reading No Memory) and the mission number (1, 3 or 5). For orientation missions, the task is then specified (t1, t2 or t3). The final part of the variable name indicates the type of data, as shown below. The dataset is double entered in the conventional TEDS way, so all variable names end in "1" or "2" to indicate twin and cotwin respectively - this suffix is omitted in the summary below.
This table summarises the Spatial Spy item variables, flag variables, scores and durations. In all mission or task variable names, X indicates the mission number (1, 3 or 5) and Y indicates the task number (1, 2 or 3).
| Variable type | Meaning | Coding or values | Orientation Direction | Orientation Landmarks | Map Reading No Memory | Entire battery |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item response | Coded outcome for mission/task | Integer values. Coding varies between mission types: see below |
zcssodXtYr (task) |
zcssolXtYr (task) |
zcssmnXr (mission) |
- |
| Item reaction time | Time taken for twin to react, from initial display of the mission/task to the first mouse movement | Seconds (decimal) | zcssodXtYrt (task) |
zcssolXtYrt (task) |
zcssmnXrt (mission) |
- |
| Item completion time | Time taken for twin to complete the mission/task | Seconds (decimal) | zcssodXtYct (task) |
zcssolXtYct (task) |
zcssmnXct (mission) |
- |
| Mission accuracy score | Score to indicate accuracy or correctness of responses within each mission | Varies between mission types | zcssodXas 0 to 3 (integer) |
zcssolXas 0 to 3 (integer) |
zcssmnXas 0 to 2 (integer) |
- |
| Overall accuracy score | Score to indicate accuracy or correctness of responses combined over missions | 0 to 1 (decimal) | zcssodas | zcssolas | zcssmnas | zcssas |
| Mission speed score | Score to indicate speed of response in each mission | 0 to 1 (decimal), 0 if response was incorrect |
zcssodXss | zcssolXss | zcssmnXss | - |
| Overall speed score | Score to indicate speed of responses combined over missions | 0 to 1 (decimal) | zcssodss | zcssolss | zcssmnss | zcssss |
| Mission total score | Total score combining accuracy and speed, in each mission | 0 to 1 (decimal) | zcssodXts | zcssolXts | zcssmnXts | - |
| Overall total score | Total score combining accuracy and speed, combined over missions | 0 to 1 (decimal) | zcssodts | zcssolts | zcssmnts | zcssts |
| Duration | Time interval between start and end, per mission and for battery | Seconds (decimal) for missions or minutes (decimal) for entire battery | zcssodXdurn | zcssolXdurn | zcssmnXdurn | zcssdurn |
| Data flag | Flag to show presence or absence of data in the dataset, per mission and for battery | 1=yes, 0=no | zcssodXdata | zcssolXdata | zcssmnXdata | zcssdata |
| Status flag | Integer codes to show overall outcome, per mission and for battery | 0=not started, 1=started but not finished, 2=successfully completed, 3=compromised by loss of data |
zcssodXstat | zcssolXstat | zcssmnXstat | zcssstat |
| Activities completed | Count of missions completed, for entire battery | 0 to 9 | - | - | - | zcssnact |
Orientation Direction task response (zcssodXtYr) value codes:
- -4: invalid: termination caused by closing browser or by software crash
- -2: discontinued: task 2 or 3 discontinued after mission timed out in task 1 or task 2
- -1: timeout: task failed because mission timeout occurred during this task
- 0: incorrect response: task failed because participant chose wrong direction
- 1: correct: target reached
Orientation Landmarks task response (zcssolXtYr) value codes:
- -4: invalid: termination caused by closing browser or by software crash
- -2: discontinued: task 2 or 3 discontinued after task 1 or task 2 timed out
- -1: timeout: task failed because of task timeout
- 1: correct: target reached
Map Reading No Memory mission response (zcssmnXr) value codes:
- -4: invalid: termination caused by software crash
- -1: timeout: mission failed because of timeout
- 1: correct with error: target reached by indirect route
- 2: correct without error: target reached by most direct route
The dataset includes platform variables, recorded just before the start of Spatial Spy activities, as follows:
| Variable | Meaning | Values |
|---|---|---|
| zcssdevmob | Participant was probably using a mobile device (phone or tablet), deduced from raw user-agent data | 1=yes, 0=no |
| zcssdevwdth | Categorised size of device screen | 1=small (less than 768 pixels), 2=medium (768-1199), 3=large (1200-1679), 4=very large (1680 or more) |
| zcssbrows | Web browser used by participant | 0=unknown, 1=Chrome, 2=Safari, 4=Firefox |
| zcssos | Operating system of device used by participant | 0=unknown, 1=iPhone, 3=Windows, 4=Mac, 5=Linux |
The dataset also contains variables for the two feedback questions that were presented immediately after the end of Spatial Spy. Note that this feedback was designed to encompass the entire CATSLife battery, including the TestMyBrain activities in addition to Spatial Spy. The feedback variables are as follows.
| Feedback question | Variable | Values |
|---|---|---|
| I was distracted by something in my environment while playing the games | zcssfdbk1 | 1=strongly agree, 2=agree, 3=neutral, 4=disagree, 5=strongly disagree |
| Please identify anything that distracted you. (Select all that apply.) | Distracting sound: zcssfdbk2a |
1=yes, 0=no |
| Distracting lights: zcssfdbk2b |
1=yes, 0=no | |
| Distracting temperature: zcssfdbk2c |
1=yes, 0=no | |
| Social distractions: zcssfdbk2d |
1=yes, 0=no | |
| Other distractions: zcssfdbk2e |
1=yes, 0=no |
In the second question, a raw response of "no distractions" is coded as 0=no in the five variables above, while a raw response of "would rather not answer" results in missing data in the five variables above.