ConductScience Y-Maze Spontaneous Alternation Calculator: method and validation record
The calculation behind ConductScience's free Y-maze spontaneous alternation calculator, with four worked examples that check it.
ConductScience
- Published
- September 28, 2026
- Version
- 1.0.0
- Files
- 11 release files
About this dataset
Overview
Method and validation record for the free Y-Maze Spontaneous Alternation Calculator at conductscience.com/tools/y-maze-alternation-calculator. From each animal's sequence of arm entries, typed or read from a tracking export, the tool computes spontaneous alternation (entries into three different arms in a row, as a percentage of total entries − 2), same-arm returns and group statistics. Four hand-worked examples, on the definition in Kraeuter et al. (2019), cover a ten-entry sequence, a sequence with a same-arm return, tracking rows with a center zone, and two entries, which leave nothing to score. The record holds the calculation source files, the worked examples, a validation report with each file's SHA-256, and what changed on the tool page when the record was written.
Inspect before download
Data preview
cases.csv · first 4 rows
| id | title | source_type | expected | pass |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hand-worked-sequence | Ten arm entries with five spontaneous alternations | hand-worked | {"entries":10,"possible":8,"alternations":5,"pct":62.5,"sameArmReturns":0} | true |
| hand-worked-with-return | Six arm entries including one return to the same arm | hand-worked | {"entries":6,"possible":4,"alternations":2,"pct":50,"sameArmReturns":1} | true |
| hand-worked-tracking-rows | Tracking rows with a center zone and a return to the same arm | hand-worked | {"entries":4,"possible":2,"alternations":1,"pct":50,"sameArmReturns":1} | true |
| edge-fewer-than-three-entries | Two arm entries: no triplet to score | hand-worked | {"entries":2,"possible":0,"alternations":0,"pct":null,"sameArmReturns":0} | true |
Read the columns
Data dictionary
cases.csvOne row per worked example.7 entries
| Name | Type | Units or values | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| id | string | e.g. hand-worked-sequence | Case identifier; edge cases start with "edge-" |
| title | string | What the case checks | |
| source_type | string | hand-worked | Where the expected answer comes from: published, hand-worked, analytic or cross-check |
| citation | string | Source of the method or the expected answer | |
| locator | string | Section, formula or table of the source that the case relies on | |
| expected | JSON object | null: not computable | Expected outputs as JSON; null means not computable |
| pass | boolean | true, false | true when every expected output matched the engine within the stated tolerance |
cases.json
The worked examples in full: inputs, expected outputs, tolerances, source passage and the arithmetic behind each expected answer.
validation-report.json
The engine's output for every case, pass or fail, with the byte count and SHA-256 of each calculation and harness file.
engine/behavioral/tetragram.ts
Calculation source (MIT). Spontaneous alternation count, turn bias and four-entry pattern (tetragram) statistics for arm-entry sequences.
engine/behavioral/ymaze-metrics.ts
Calculation source (MIT). Arm-entry sequences from typed input and tracking rows, and same-arm returns.
engine/pilot-tools.ts
Harness source (MIT). Slugs of the ten tools with validation records; the check accepts only these.
engine/validation/run.ts
Harness source (MIT). Runs one case: passes its inputs to the tool's adapter and compares each output with the expected value within the tolerance.
engine/validation/tools/y-maze-alternation-calculator.ts
Harness source (MIT). Adapter from a case's inputs to this tool's calculation, returning the outputs the cases check.
engine/validation/types.ts
Harness source (MIT). Types for cases, tolerances and results.
Files
tool-y-maze-alternation-calculator-record-1.0.0.zip
14.0 kBComplete frozen release: 15 source-manifest files plus MANIFEST.json.
SHA-256 499d28574370662812456de257c5651a9043a9d867f02d3a5d1fc30f7652f917
cases.csv
1.8 kBThe worked examples, one row each: what the case checks, the source of the expected answer, the expected outputs and whether the engine matched them.
SHA-256 dbf3b4671e2956f69fba2307779c8421e4e654b9e278bec89a5f08f75b25bb43
cases.json
3.7 kBThe worked examples in full: inputs, expected outputs, tolerances, source passage and the arithmetic behind each expected answer.
SHA-256 880d9d2672f2ece53188ece46bb8b227020123727219537692b68957ccf5e19b
validation-report.json
2.3 kBThe engine's output for every case, pass or fail, with the byte count and SHA-256 of each calculation and harness file.
SHA-256 0202497359a891c1972ce63fb8e7d117f08d461103347b01601518a6429fd939
data_dictionary.csv
472 bytesColumns of cases.csv.
SHA-256 96b57ee5185ffcccc5397d98673c42bbc53ff77cc7f676fe5789ef04a7648090
README.md
1.8 kBWhat the tool computes, the files, and how to cite the record.
SHA-256 88b866589ddc51e7b941ba9dc9b2b0bda913a3c748894eaaebf6b573fb287207
METHODS.md
2.7 kBFormulas, input rules, conventions, references and what changed on the tool page.
SHA-256 9c07b74414816e09b2c67b59a87ce08032c0614244e2ec4a5ed81b24932439a3
MANIFEST.json
2.3 kBByte count and SHA-256 for every file in the source release.
SHA-256 c0058195cbe98ed76b613334f2104dd0b161275d9394701805f5a9e3b14def1a
CITATION.cff
433 bytesCitation metadata.
SHA-256 16d2b9da9c7b7fe1f021e63bb68e8a3c3c5bef19b4b557ad3bd0985b098efb5a
LICENSE
1.3 kBMIT License for the calculation source files; CC BY 4.0 for everything else.
SHA-256 d2dca2297cc985f3577b9376fbf5a72231ac88be401776098486f6d1e8a4d87a
deposit-receipt.json
3.0 kBConductScience verification and packaging receipt.
SHA-256 b82f575d1b98be98f054ec00f16ee4bf45244e1b73e5aa9b943659d8e169f30f
How it was made
Methods
- 1
Worked examples: each of the four cases gives its inputs, the expected outputs, the source and passage behind the expected answer, and the arithmetic. Expected answers are worked by hand from the published method, or from the tool's own rule where METHODS.md labels it a convention. Cases whose ids start with edge- test inputs at the limits of the method.
- 2
Check: each case was run in Node.js 24 through the tool's calculation source files, and every output was compared with its expected value, exactly or within the tolerance the case states. All four cases pass (validation-report.json), and ConductScience's test suite runs the same cases whenever the tool changes.
- 3
Fingerprint: the validation report gives the byte count and SHA-256 of each calculation file and of the files that ran the check, and engine/ holds those files, so anyone can rerun the cases and tell whether a later version of the calculation differs from this one.
Version history
Version 1.0.0 · current
Published September 28, 2026 from source tag v1.0.0 at commit ffb9baf0b148.