Battery guide
Reasoning and Spatial Battery guide
Four tests of nonverbal reasoning, mental rotation, planning and visuospatial memory span, for reasoning and spatial cognition research.
- Guide version
- 1.2.0
- Battery version
- 1.0.0
What it measures
Who it is for: Reasoning and spatial cognition research.
It measures Nonverbal reasoning, Mental rotation, Planning and Visuospatial working memory.
Executive function: Planning, switching rules, handling conflict and making decisions.
Working memory: Holding and updating information for a few seconds.
Scores describe how a person performs on these tasks. Research use only.
Tests in order
The tests run in this order. A study started from the battery keeps the order and the settings.
1. Matrix Reasoning. Measures nonverbal reasoning with 3 by 3 visual matrices generated for each session. Shapes change in number, size, rotation, fill and color by row and column rules.
2. Mental Rotation. Measures mental rotation. Participants judge whether a turned shape is the same as an upright shape or its mirror image.
3. Tower Planning. Measures planning with Tower of London puzzles. Participants move three balls between pegs to match a goal in as few moves as possible.
4. Corsi Block-Tapping Test. Measures visuospatial short-term and working memory by asking participants to reproduce sequences across a fixed nine-block layout.
| Order | Test | Domain | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matrix Reasoning | Executive function | 7 to 10 minutes |
| 2 | Mental Rotation | Working memory | 3 to 5 minutes |
| 3 | Tower Planning | Executive function | 6 to 9 minutes |
| 4 | Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Working memory | 5 to 8 minutes |
Time and devices
Allow about 32 minutes for the whole battery. The table gives each test's time.
The battery has timed tests. Participants need a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad, and the timed tests run in full screen. Tablets and phones cannot run it.
On a desktop or laptop the screen must be at least 1024 by 700 pixels.
Participants need Chrome, Edge, Firefox or Safari.
| Test | Timing | Devices |
|---|---|---|
| Matrix Reasoning | Untimed | Desktop or laptop, tablet or phone |
| Mental Rotation | Timed | Desktop or laptop |
| Tower Planning | Untimed | Desktop or laptop, tablet or phone |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Untimed | Desktop or laptop, tablet or phone |
Languages
Runs in all eight participant languages.
How to give it
Start a study from the battery in the app. The tests, their order and their settings are already set and stay fixed. If you change, reorder or customize a test, the study becomes a custom study and no longer carries the battery.
Each test opens with its instructions. Participants see these:
Matrix Reasoning: Find the rules in each grid and choose the picture that completes it. There is no time limit.
Mental Rotation: Press the left arrow key if the turned shape is the same shape. Press the right arrow key if it is a mirror image.
Tower Planning: Move one ball at a time until your board matches the goal. Plan all your moves before you start.
Corsi Block-Tapping Test: Watch the blocks light up, then click the same blocks in order. In the optional backward phase, click them in reverse order.
| Step | Before you invite participants |
|---|---|
| 1 | Use a desktop or laptop with a mouse or trackpad. |
| 2 | Allow about 35 minutes, and let participants rest between tests. |
| 3 | Pilot the battery yourself before you invite anyone. |
How each test is scored
The server scores each test when the participant finishes it. The primary score is the one the app compares with a norm. The other scores are reported with it.
Every result records its scoring version. For this battery they are Matrix Reasoning 2.0.0, Mental Rotation 2.0.0, Tower Planning 2.0.0 and Corsi Block-Tapping Test 1.0.0.
| Test | Score | What it is | Better |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matrix Reasoning | Accuracy (proportion, primary) | Share of scored puzzles answered correctly. | Higher is better |
| Matrix Reasoning | Difficulty-Weighted Score (proportion) | Correct puzzles weighted by the number of rules each needs (1 to 3), divided by the total weight. | Higher is better |
| Matrix Reasoning | Total Correct | Number of scored puzzles answered correctly. | Higher is better |
| Matrix Reasoning | Three-Rule Accuracy (proportion) | Accuracy on puzzles that need three rules. One- and two-rule accuracy are also reported. | Higher is better |
| Matrix Reasoning | Median Correct RT (ms) | Median response time on correctly answered puzzles. | Informational |
| Matrix Reasoning | Most-Chosen Position (proportion) | Share of answers given at the most frequently chosen option position. A high value can mean a fixed answering pattern. | Informational |
| Mental Rotation | Rotation Slope (ms/degree, primary) | Increase in mean correct response time per degree of angular difference on same-shape trials. | Lower means faster rotation |
| Mental Rotation | Rotation Intercept (ms) | Fitted response time at 0 degrees, which covers seeing, comparing and responding. | Informational |
| Mental Rotation | Accuracy (proportion) | Share of scored trials answered correctly. Unanswered trials count as errors. | Higher is better |
| Mental Rotation | Mean Correct RT (ms) | Mean response time on correct trials. The median is also reported. | Lower is faster |
| Mental Rotation | Mirror Error Rate (proportion) | Share of answered mirror-image trials judged to be the same shape. | Lower is better |
| Mental Rotation | Same-Shape Accuracy (proportion) | Accuracy on trials that show the same shape. | Higher is better |
| Mental Rotation | Mirror-Image Accuracy (proportion) | Accuracy on trials that show a mirror image. | Higher is better |
| Tower Planning | Excess Moves (moves, primary) | Moves above the minimum, summed over puzzles. An unsolved puzzle counts as using the full move limit. | Lower is better |
| Tower Planning | Puzzles Solved | Puzzles brought to the goal within the move and time limits. | Higher is better |
| Tower Planning | Solved in Minimum Moves | Puzzles solved with no extra moves. | Higher is better |
| Tower Planning | Planning Time (ms) | Mean time from the puzzle appearing to picking up the first ball. | Informational |
| Tower Planning | Mean Puzzle Time (ms) | Mean time from the puzzle appearing to its end. totalTime gives the sum over puzzles. | Informational |
| Tower Planning | Blocked Moves | Attempts to put a ball on a full peg. The interface refuses these moves. | Lower is better |
| Tower Planning | Timeouts | Puzzles ended by the 2-minute limit. | Lower is better |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Forward Span (primary) | Longest block sequence correctly recalled in presented order. | Higher is better |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Backward Span | Longest block sequence correctly recalled in reverse order. Null if backward phase is disabled. | Higher is better |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Total Score | Forward span plus backward span when both phases are enabled. | Higher is better |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Forward Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion of forward Corsi trials reproduced correctly. | Higher is better |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Backward Accuracy (proportion) | Proportion of backward Corsi trials reproduced correctly. | Higher is better |
| Corsi Block-Tapping Test | Order Errors | Trials where the entered block order did not match the expected sequence. | Lower is better |
Session quality rules
The app checks every session when it scores it and records one of four states.
An Invalid session stays in the study's results, labelled with its reason, and does not count toward norms.
A session can carry warnings and still be valid. The results list the warnings next to the scores.
| State | What it means |
|---|---|
| Norm-ready | The session passed every check and a norm exists for it, so the app can show a percentile. |
| Raw-only | The scores are usable, but the app shows no percentile. Typical reasons are no norm for the test, changed settings, or a warning that makes a comparison unfair, such as a restart or a screen too short for the display. |
| Invalid technical | The setup broke the timing or the task. Examples are leaving full screen, a browser tab that lost focus during a timed test, and long pauses. |
| Invalid behavioral | The responses suggest the task was not done as asked. Examples are a failed attention check, repeated switching away from the task, and accuracy at or below chance on a choice task. |
Published norms used
No published norm is used for any test in this battery.
ConductCognition also builds norms from its own participants. An age band of a test uses them once it holds at least 50 valid sessions on the same device and input type, run with standard settings and scored with the current scoring version. Sessions from paying customers' studies and from clinical or patient samples do not count.
A report shows a percentile only when the app has stored one for that session. Otherwise it shows the raw scores.
Every reference group covers ages 18 and over. No reference group covers a participant under 18, so their report shows raw scores only, and their sessions do not count toward norms.
How to cite
ConductScience, Inc. Reasoning and Spatial Battery guide, version 1.2.0. ConductCognition. https://conductcognition.com/batteries/reasoning-spatial/guide
Cite the guide version you used. Name the battery version (1.0.0) and the scoring versions listed in this guide.