Thank you for your interest in the Developmental Neuroscience Lab!
We are currently recruiting adolescents and adults between 11-35 years for a study investigating how learning and decision making change as we get older. Please use the links below to find out more about the study and to participate.

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If you are a parent and would like more information on the study please click here. 

Please find the participant information 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. If you are under 18 years old please feel free to talk to your family, friends, or the researchers about it if you want. If anything isn’t clear or you have more questions you can ask your parents/carer to give us a call and we can discuss it with you and your parents/carer.

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.

Why have I been invited to take part?
We are inviting you to take part because you are a young person, aged between 11 and 35 years. We are inviting 1500 young people to take part.

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 contact MaryAnn Noonan (contact details at the bottom of this letter). 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?
Before the game starts consent will be obtained by asking you to read through some statements and 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 decisions about them. For some choices you will win points and for others you won't (or you might lose points). The game will take no more than 10 minutes. Following this, you will complete two short questionnaires, aimed at assessing risk-taking behaviour and impulsivity.

What happens to the results of the study?
Results for each young person 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 try to publish our findings in scientific journals but this may be a year or two 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 children learn to make decisions and how these skills develop with age, potentially benefiting other children in the future.

What if I don’t want to take part in the research anymore?
Just tell your parents/carer and the people carrying out the research that you don’t want to take part. You don’t have to give a reason and no one will be annoyed with you. It is YOUR choice.

Who is organising and funding the research?
The research is organised by 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?
Before any research involving people can start, it has to be checked by a Research Ethics Committee to make sure that it is OK for the research to go ahead. This study has been approved by the University of Oxford Central University Research Ethics Committee (Project Number: R59372/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 researcher (maryann.noonan@psy.ox.ac.uk). If under 18 you may also talk to your parent(s)/carer(s) who will let the researcher know. If you are still unhappy or wish to make a complaint, either you or your teacher/parent(s)/carer(s) 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).

What should I do next?
If you would like to discuss the research with someone beforehand (or if you have questions afterwards), please contact:

MaryAnn Noonan
Department of Experimental Psychology
First Floor, New Radcliffe House, Radcliffe Observatory Quarter, Woodstock Road
Oxford OX2 6GG
Tel: 01865 277490
Email: maryann.noonan@psy.ox.ac.uk

Thank you for reading this – please ask any questions if you need to.

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