You are invited to participate in a project involving simple categorization tasks and several short surveys concerning your attitudes towards different methods of thinking and your interest in different types of cognitive activities. The study is being conducted by Julie Phelan and Laurie Rudman of Rutgers University, and it has been approved by the Rutgers University Institutional Review Board. The only restriction to participating in this research is fluency in English. If you decide to participate, you will be asked to complete a computer task that involves assigning words to categories. In addition, participation involves several short surveys, also administered on the computer. The total session time will be approximately 20 minutes. Approximately 500 participants will participate in the study. If you are interested in participating please read the remainder of this consent form and click on the "I Agree" button if you understand the statements and freely consent to participate in the study.
Participation in the study is completely voluntary and anonymous. You may withdraw at any time. There are no foreseeable risks to participation in the study. To protect the integrity of the research, the hypotheses cannot be fully revealed to you at this time. However, they will be revealed following your participation in the study. Although we cannot guarantee that you will personally benefit from your participation, we believe that this experience may be an interesting opportunity for you to think about your attitudes and beliefs. Furthermore, your participation will benefit social scientific research.
If you agree to participate in the study, you will be assigned a random subject number. Any information obtained in connection with the study will be strictly anonymous and the researcher will not be able to identify the source of any information supplied by you in the course of the study. In any written reports or publications, no one will be identified or identifiable and only aggregate data will be presented. Following your participation, you will be asked if you wish to receive a copy of this research. If you have any questions about the research, please ask them now. If you have questions later, please email Julie Phelan.
The study described above has been explained to me. I voluntarily consent to participate in this activity. I have had an opportunity to email the principal investigator with questions. I understand that future questions I may have about the research will be answered promptly by the investigator listed above. I understand that I may withdraw from the study at any time. If I have any questions about my rights as a research participant, I may contact the Rutgers University Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at (732) 932-0150, ext. 2104. Address: 3 Rutgers Plaza, New Brunswick, NJ.