Participant Information
Investigating how Motion influences the way we perceive Visual Information
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences Department of Psychology, Health and Professional Development Oxford Brookes University, Headington, OXFORD OX3 0BP.
Researcher: Heather Bailey, Undergraduate, Email: 19009346@brookes.ac.uk
Supervisor: Michael Pilling, Email: mpilling@brookes.ac.uk, Tel: 01865 483788
Please take time to read the following information carefully.
What is the purpose of the study?
The purpose of this study is to understand how motion can bias the way we perceive visual information. The study will involve you entering words that you have seen on the screen for a brief period of time. In all displays the words will be partially obstructed therefore, if you do not know what word you saw you will be asked to enter something else. In some of the displays a line of dots will move across the screen and this should influence how you perceive the word. By doing this experiment we will be able to analyse how the moving dots affected your perception of the words, which will further our understanding of the visual processing system.
Why have I been invited to participate?
This study is on adults in the Uk between 18 and 90 who can read English fluently either as a first or second language. A total of 40-50 people will be asked to participate via online invitations posted on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Individuals sensitive towards flickering light are not eligible to take part in this study and should not proceed any further.
Do I have to take part?
No. It is up to you to decide whether or not to take part. If you do decide to take part you are still free to withdraw unprocessed data at any time by closing the browser before pressing the 'submit' button or by contacting the researcher anonymously via a Withdraw Consent button that will be displayed on screen after you submit.
What will happen to me if I take part?
If you choose to take part in the study, you will be presented with an online experiment, which should take between 30-40 minutes to complete. As the experiment requires your time it is advised you are sitting comfortably. The study will ask questions about your gender, age, student status and English fluency. During this experiment you will be asked to enter words that you have seen on the screen. The words will be partially obstructed, so it is important you are focused and in a non-disturbing environment.
What are the possible benefits or disadvantages of taking part?
There are no direct benefits of taking part in this study. However, we hope that you will find the experiment interesting and that outcomes of this study will help to further develop research on this topic area. Other than the time you spend completing the experiment, there are no disadvantages of taking part in this study. However, if you are sensitive to flickering light the researcher kindly asks that you do not continue the experiment as it may trigger the onset of migraines or epileptic fits.
Will what I say in this study be kept confidential?
Yes. You will not be asked to give any information that could be used to identify you personally (e.g., your name, date of birth, IP address). Confidentiality, privacy and anonymity will be ensured in the collection, storage and publication of research material (subject to legal limitations). Research data will be stored in Google Drive, for which the University has security agreements, and Pavlovia (for which the privacy policies can be found here: https://pavlovia.org/docs/home/ethics), or uploaded to a repository so that it can be shared for teaching and research purposes.
There is always a certain element of risk of data loss when data is collected and processed in an internet environment. This risk cannot be eliminated entirely and participants consenting to take part in the survey need to be aware of this risk. However, personal data will be minimised to the extent possible for the experiment and the University believes that Google offer sufficient guarantees to keep the data secure while it is being processed.
What should I do if I want to take part?
If you would like to take part, please click on the Continue to Experiment button at the bottom of this page before proceeding.
What will happen to the results of the research study?
The results of this study will be written up for a dissertation, and may be published in an academic journal, or presented at a conference. They may also be used for future research on the topic. All data collected from this research will be kept in keeping with the University’s policy of Academic Integrity. This means that all data will be securely stored in paper or electronic form for a period of 10 years when the project is finished. If no publication is proposed the data will be deleted in 5 years.
Who has reviewed the study?
This research is being conducted by a Psychology student at Oxford Brookes University as part of the requirement for their course. The study procedures have been reviewed and approved by the Psychology Research Ethics Committee, Oxford Brookes University. If you have any concerns about how the study has been conducted, please contact the Psychology Research Ethics Officer, Dr Emma Davies, on edavies@brookes.ac.uk
Contact for Further Information
Please contact the researcher or their supervisor (contact details above) if you would like any further information about this study.
If you wish to obtain a summary of the findings when they have been written up please e-mail Heather Bailey at 19009346@brookes.ac.uk after June 16th 2022.
Thank you for taking time to read the information sheet.
21/10/2021
