Santa Barbara Solids Test

Technical Manual

Script Author: Katja Borchert, Ph.D. (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Created: January 23, 2015

Last Modified: January 10, 2023 by K. Borchert (katjab@millisecond.com), Millisecond

Script Copyright © Millisecond Software, LLC

Background

This script runs a computerized version of the Santa Barbara Solids Test (SBST); a test of spatial reasoning.

The implemented procedure is based on:

Cohen, C. A. & Hegarty, M. (2012). Inferring cross sections of 3D objects: A new spatial thinking test. Learning and Individual Differences, 22(6), 868-874.

Additional material were published at: https://spatiallearning.org/index.php/testsainstruments (obsolete 2023)

Duration

10 minutes

Description

Participants see 29* 3-D figures cut in three cutting planes (horizonal, vertical, or oblique). 14 of the figures are cut in the oblique plane (one was dropped); 15 are cut in the vertical/horizontal plane. 10 problems represent cuts of simple figures, 10 problems represent cuts of joint figures, 9 problems represent cuts of embedded figures. The task is to select the correct cross section (viewed head-on) from amongst 4 possible choices.

•the test originally contained 30 figures but figure 3 was dropped from the test based on Dr. Cohen's recommendations.

Procedure

(1) block.sample: presents one sample problem with feedback
(2) block.SBST: presents the 29 problems in order (no feedback is provided)
• 29 figures total (one figure dropped based on recommendations:)
• 14 of the figures are cut in the oblique plane (one was dropped);
15 are cut in the vertical/horizontal plane.
• 10 problems represent cuts of simple figures, 10 problems represent cuts of joint figures,
9 problems represent cuts of embedded figures

Stimuli

This script uses the stimuli published at:
https://spatiallearning.org/resource-info/Spatial_Ability_Tests/Santa_Barbara_Solids_Test_rev_1210.pdf
The problems and answer choices were created as separate *.jpg files in Paint.net by
Millisecond.

Instructions

uses the instructions published at:
https://spatiallearning.org/resource-info/Spatial_Ability_Tests/Santa_Barbara_Solids_Test_rev_1210.pdf

The instructions are presented as htm-files that can be directly edited in any simple Text Editor such as
TextEdit (Mac) or Notepad (Win)

Summary Data

File Name: santabarbarasolidstest_summary*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
inquisit.version Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
startDate Date the session was run
startTime Time the session was run
subjectId Participant ID
groupId Group number
sessionId Session number
elapsedTime Session duration in ms
completed 0 = Test was not completed
1 = Test was completed
problemCount Tracks the number of problems presented
propCorrect Proportion correct overall (across all test problems)
meanRT Mean response time (in ms) of selecting a correct option (across all test problems)
propEgocentrical Proportion egocentrial selections
propCorrectH Proportion correct horizontal cut plane problems
propCorrectV Proportion correct vertical cut plane problems
propCorrectHv Proportion correct vertical+horizonal cut plane problems
propCorrectO Proportion correct oblique cut plance problems
propCorrectS Proportion correct responses to Simple problems
propCorrectJ Proportion correct responses to Joint problems
propCorrectE Proportion correct responses to Embedded problems
meanRTH Mean correct response time (in ms) to horizontal cut plane problems
meanRTV Mean correct response time (in ms) to vertical cut plane problems
meanRTHv Mean correct response time (in ms) to vertical+horizonal cut plane problems
meanRTO Mean correct response time (in ms) to oblique cut plance problems
meanRTS Mean correct response time (in ms) to responses to Simple problems
meanRTJ Mean correct response time (in ms) to responses to Joint problems
meanRTE Mean correct response time (in ms) to responses to Embedded problems

Raw Data

File Name: santabarbarasolidstest_raw*.iqdat

Data Fields

NameDescription
build Inquisit version number
computer.platform Device platform: win | mac |ios | android
date Date the session was run
time Time the session was run
subject, group, With the current subject/groupnumber
session Session number
blockCode Name of the current block
blockNum Number of the current block
trialCode Name of the current trial
trialNum Number of the current trial
problemCount Tracks the number of problems presented
cuttingplane 1 = vertical cut; 2 = horizontal cut; 3 = oblique cut
structure 1 = simple; 2 = joint; 3 = embedded
stimulusItem.1 The image of the current problem
stimulusItem.2-
stimulusItem.5 The images for response options A-D
egocentricalOption Stores the current egocentrical answer choice
correctOption Stores the currently correct answer choice
response The participant's response (selection of answer choice)
respCat "correct" vs. "egocentrial error" vs. "other error"
correct The correctness of the response (1 = correct; 0 = incorrect)
latency The response latency (in ms); measured from onset of problem
countCorrect Counts all correct responses
countEgocentric Counts egocentrial selections
countH Counts all horizontal cut (h) figures
countV Counts all vertical cut (v) figures
countO Counts all oblique cut (o) figures
countCorrectH Counts all correct horizontal cut (h) figures
countCorrectV Counts all correct vertical cut (v) figures
countCorrectO Counts all correct oblique cut (o) figures
countS Counts all simple (s) figures
countJ Counts all joint (j) figures
countE Counts all embedded (e) figures
countCorrectS Counts all correct simple (s) figures
countCorrectJ Counts all correct joint (j) figures
countCorrectE Counts all correct embedded (e) figures

Parameters

The procedure can be adjusted by setting the following parameters.

NameDescriptionDefault
highlightDuration Stores the duration (in ms) of the blue ring around the selected answer choice