10 Minute Online Study

We are currently recruiting adolescents and adults aged 11-35 years for a study investigating how learning and decision making change as we get older. Please read the details below to find out more about the study and how to participate.
Please note the following BEFORE participating:
  • We are seeking volunteers aged 11-35 years
  • The study duration is approximately 10 minutes
  • You will not be compensated for your participation: your time is voluntary
  • The link to run the study will only work on a laptop or computer
  • The link to run the study will not work with the Internet Explorer browser
  • Ad blockers must be disabled to run the study
  • If the link to run the study does not work the first time you try it, try closing the tab and clicking 'START' again
Please find the participant information and consent questions below:

Ethics Approval Reference: R59371/RE001
 We are inviting you to join in a research study. Before you decide if you would like to join in, it's important to understand what the study is about, why we're doing it and what it would involve for you.
Please read and think about this information carefully.

Why are we doing this research?
We study how learning and decision-making change as we get older. Learning to choose the best option is sometimes not easy, particularly when there are lots of good options to choose between and the value of these options changes over time. How children and adolescents learn in these situations and how that differs from adults is still unknown. We wish to find out more about how decision strategies develop during childhood, adolescence, and adulthood.

Why have I been invited to take part?
You have been invited because you aged between 11 and 35 years.

Do I have to take part?
No - It is up to you. If you DO NOT want to take part, simply do not press the “START” button on this website. If you would like to talk about the research with someone beforehand (or if you have any questions afterwards) please speak with Sophie, the researcher supporting this study. You are free to stop taking part at any time during the research without giving a reason, and this can be done by simply exiting the webpage.

What will happen to me if I take part in the research?
Before the game starts, your consent to complete the study will be obtained by asking you to read through some statements, please only click “START” if you agree with them. You will also be asked to provide your age and gender. In the game you will see pictures on a computer screen and make a simple decision about them. For some choices you will win points and for others you won’t. The game will take no more than 10 minutes. Following this, you will complete three short questionnaires, aimed at assessing anxiety, depression, and stress measures.

What happens to the results of the study?
Results for each individual taking part are kept strictly confidential and anonymous. Only a number will be used to identify you, and all information and results are kept in password protected computers and servers in the University. No IP addresses are collected. We will write a summary of what we find and put it on our website in the future.
We also aim to publish our findings in scientific journals, but this may be two to three years from the end of the study. At that time the data may be deposited on a public data depository so that other researchers can use them but again no one will be able to tell that it was you who played the game.
All research data and records will be stored for a minimum retention period of 3 years after publication or public release of the work of the research. Third parties may be given access to research data for monitoring and/or audit of the study, or for data storage purposes.

Data Protection
JATOS is the data controller with respect to your personal data and, as such, will determine how your personal data is used. Please see their privacy notice here: https://www.jatos.org/Data-Privacy-and-Ethics.html. JATOS will share only fully anonymised data with the University of Oxford, for the purposes of research.

What are the advantages / disadvantages of taking part?
There are no disadvantages in taking part in this study. The knowledge we gain from the study will help us understand how adults learn to make decisions and how these skills develop with age, potentially benefiting other children, adolescents, and adults in the future.

What if I don’t want to take part in the research anymore?
Please let the researching staff know. You don’t have to provide a reason.

Who is organising and funding the research?
The research is organised by Dr. MaryAnn Noonan of Oxford University, who is a Supernumerary Teaching Fellow. The study is being paid for by the St John’s College.

Who has reviewed the study?
This study has been approved by the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee (Project Number: R59371/RE001).

What if there is a problem or something goes wrong?
Please tell us if you are worried about any part of this study, by contacting the principle investigator of the research (maryann.noonan@psy.ox.ac.uk). If you are still unhappy or wish to make a complaint you can contact the chair of the Research Ethics Committee at the University of Oxford (Chair, Medical Sciences Inter-Divisional Research Ethics Committee; Email: ethics@medsci.ox.ac.uk; Address: Research Services, University of Oxford, Wellington Square, Oxford OX1 2JD).

Thank you for reading this far – please now read through the following consent questions, and make sure that you fully understand them:

- Has somebody explained this project to you?
- Do you understand what this project is about?
- Have you asked all the questions you want?
- Have you had your questions answered in a way you understand?
- Do you understand it’s OK to stop taking part at any time?
- Are you happy to take part?

If any answers are “no” or you don’t want to take part, that’s OK! Simply close the webpage or click the ‘exit study’ button to stop the study at any time during the study.

If you can answer “yes” to all of the above questions, then please press the 'START' button below.

Thank you for taking part in the study!

​Please email us at development_neuroscience@psy.ox.ac.uk if you have any questions after reading the participant information above.

If having read the participant information above you are happy to begin the online task, please click 'START' below.