# ConductScience Morris Water Maze Analyzer: method and validation record

This record fixes the calculation behind the free Morris Water Maze Analyzer at https://conductscience.com/tools/morris-water-maze-analyzer, and the worked examples that check it.

## What the tool computes

From tracked swim paths, or from typed latencies:

- escape latency, path length and swim speed per trial, and group learning curves;
- for probe trials, time in each quadrant, platform crossings and the Gallagher proximity measure;
- a search strategy label (direct, focal, scanning or random) from fixed rules.

## Files

| File | Contents |
| --- | --- |
| `METHODS.md` | Formulas, coordinate conventions, strategy rules, references, and changes from the page before this record |
| `cases.json`, `cases.csv` | The worked examples: inputs, expected outputs and where each expected answer comes from |
| `validation-report.json` | The engine's output for every case, pass or fail, and the SHA-256 of each engine file |
| `engine/` | The calculation source files the report fingerprints (when included) |
| `data_dictionary.csv` | Columns of `cases.csv` |
| `CITATION.cff`, `LICENSE`, `MANIFEST.json` | Citation metadata, licence, and byte count and SHA-256 of every file |

## How to cite

ConductScience. ConductScience Morris Water Maze Analyzer [software]. 2026. https://doi.org/10.55157/csd.tool.mwm.2026.001

In a methods section: "Escape latency, path length, swim speed, quadrant time, platform crossings and mean proximity to the platform (Gallagher et al., 1993) were calculated from tracked swim paths with the ConductScience Morris Water Maze Analyzer (https://doi.org/10.55157/csd.tool.mwm.2026.001)."