You are being invited to take part in a research study. Before you decide, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take time to read the following information carefully. Please ask if anything is unclear, and do not feel rushed into making a decision.  
 

Aims of the Study: 

This research study is investigating performance on a decision-making task that requires statistical learning and how it relates to certain personality types.  
 

Eligibility Requirements: 

You should have normal/corrected-to-normal vision (e.g. normal with glasses or contact lenses). 

No neurological or psychiatric diagnoses.  

Aged between 18-80 

What you will need to do and time commitment: 

The study will take place online and will involve completing one computerised task consisting of predicting whether a small or big bird will appear next.  You will also be asked how confident you are in your decision. You will also be required to fill out questionnaires relevant to your personality.  

The complete experiment will take approximately 30-45 minutes and short break times will be given throughout. All instructions will be provided using the online programme.  

Participation in the study is completely voluntary. You may withdraw from the study at any time using your unique participant code (you will be asked to generate one at the beginning of the experiment), without giving any reason and if you decide to withdraw, you will not suffer any penalty or loss of rights. If you do choose to withdraw or are no longer able to participate, then unless verbally directed otherwise the study investigators will keep the data collected up to that point. Your participation can also be withdrawn by the study investigators. 

Risks/Discomforts involved in participating: 

There are limited risks associated with this study. You may experience minor fatigue associated with completing the cognitive task. The mental health questionnaires may ask you to reflect on personal issues you may find uncomfortable. These will include potentially uncomfortable questions about suicide and reduced sexual interest. If the questionnaires raise any concerns we will provide you with a number of services that will be able to assist.     

Confidentiality of your data: 

Any responses you provide will be treated confidentially.  Any publication resulting from this work will report only aggregated findings or fully anonymised examples that will not identify you.  

To enable this study, we need to collect some personally identifiable information from you. To safeguard your rights, we will use the minimum personally identifiable information possible, and act according to the principles of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as outlined in the University Privacy Notice (https://research.kent.ac.uk/researchservices/wp-content/uploads/sites/51/2018/12/GDPR-Privacy-Notice-Research-updated.pdf). Only members of the research team will have access to any personal information that may identify you, which will be stored separately from your other responses and securely. Any such identifying information will be removed and destroyed as soon as possible after necessary data processing has been completed – for example, records from separate files merged, or audio recordings transcribed. Once fully anonymised, the responses you provide may be used by the research team, shared with other researchers, or made available in an online data repository.  

Details of any payments: 

Upon completion, you will be awarded with monetary compensation as advertised on Prolific.

Remember that participation in this research study is completely voluntary. Even after you agree to participate and begin the study, you are still free to withdraw at any time and for any reason. Please note that once your data have been included in published analysis or data repositories, it cannot be withdrawn. 

If you would like a copy of this information sheet to keep, please ask the researcher; Dr. Andrew Martin a.k.martin@kent.ac.uk. If you have any complaints or concerns about this research, you can direct these, in writing, to the Chair of the Psychology Research Ethics Committee by email at: psychethics@kent.ac.uk. Alternatively, you can contact us by post at: Ethics Committee Chair, School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, CT2 7NP.