A note from Professor Brady: Usually we require participants to come into our lab to do a study like this. Obviously this takes time -- both for us and for you -- and it is not super pleasant to be in a small, unfamiliar room for an hour. We do this because this work is very important to us, and we really need the participants -- you! -- to try their very best. Obviously, due to the present circumstances, we now have to conduct this work online. There are clear benefits to this, since now you get to do it from your own home, but of course we are worried that people may not take it as seriously as they would in the lab. So we hope that you are willing to help us in this difficult time by taking this experiment very seriously, even though it may be somewhat repetitive and we know there are many distractions around you. We'd love if you made the experiment full screen, to reduce your temptation to look at other things, and gave it your full attention. Thank you so much, and good luck with the adaptation to online classes and online everything. We hope you stay safe and both mentally and physically well during these difficult times.


This experiment is called Becker Replication.

In this experiment, you will perform a simple attention task. You will need to do 5 blocks of this task, each of which takes about 4 minutes. It should take about 25 minutes total.


The Task

In this task, you will be looking for a target that will be presented in the middle of the screen. This target will be an an orange letter. Your job is very simple: to report the identity of the target at the end of each trial You will make this report by pressing the corresponding key when prompted at the end of each trial. Here is an example of a target:

X

In order to make this task challenging, this target will be presented amongst distractors. These distractors will be presented in the same location as the target, and will be letters and symbols of similar colors. You will simply ignore these distractors and look for the target, which is the only relevant stimulus that you'll see. Each of the letters will be presented very quickly, so you'll want to pay close attention! Here are a couple trials examples, with the first one slowed down and second one full speed:


Feel free to watch that video a couple times if you need to! As you can see from the example trials, you will also be asked to rate how vividly you experienced the target after reporting which direction you think the target was turned. You will do this by pressing one of the number keys at the top of your keyboard. Here is the scale that you'll be using:

How vivid was your experience of the target?
Press the "1" key if no impression of the stimulus is experienced. .
Press the "2" key if you had a feeling that something was present, even though content cannot be specified any further.
Press the "3" key if you had a feeling of having seen the target but being only somewhat sure about it.
Press the "4" key if you had a nonambiguous (clear) experience of the target.

You will perform 5 blocks. At the end of the experiment, you will be asked to answer a couple short questionnaires and then a few demographic questions. You will get the opportunity to give some feedback. Thank you for participating!

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO CONSENT TO ACT AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT

Viola Störmer, Ph.D., is conducting a research study to find out more about attention, memory and vision. You have been asked to participate because you are a healthy young adult. There will be approximately 1500 participants in this study this year. The expected duration of the study is 10 years, though your participation will last only between 3 minutes and 90 minutes, with the exact expected timing listed in the task description.

PROCEDURES. If you agree to participate in this study by accepting this agreement and continuing in the task, the following will happen to you:
1. You will be shown displays of letters, words, or pictures, right here in your web browser.
2. You will try to perceive and remember these stimuli, and respond by pressing keys or moving and clicking the mouse in a manner that we will describe to you.

RISKS. You will be required only to continue to interact with your web browser and make responses for a short duration. Thus, no potential risks or discomforts are anticipated except for the possibility that some tasks may be slightly boring. However, there may be risks that are currently unforeseeable.

PAYMENT/REMUNERATION. In consideration of your time, you will receive payment at the rate described through the recruitment system, in either course credit or monetary renumeration. Compensation will range from $0.60 (for a 3 min task) up to as much as $20 (for a task that takes 90 min), with rates between $8/hr and $12/hr. The exact payment rate for this task is provided in the task description.

RIGHTS. You may call the UCSD Human Research Protection Program at 858-246-HRPP to ask about your rights as a research subject or to report research-related problems.

BENEFITS. There will be no direct benefit to you from these procedures. However, the investigator may learn more about basic questions pertaining to attention, memory and vision. This knowledge may have benefits to society in fields ranging from improving education to visual design, but these benefits will be indirect.

EXPLANATION. The researcher has explained this study to you and answered your questions. If you have questions about the research or research-related problems, including any adverse events, you may reach Dr. Viola Stoermer at vstoermer@ucsd.edu or 858-822-4530.

VOLUNTARY NATURE OF PARTICIPATION. Participation in research is entirely voluntary. You may refuse to participate or withdraw at any time without penalty. The alternative to participation is to choose not to participate.

CONFIDENTIALITY. Research records will be kept confidential to the extent allowed by law. As with all research, there is also the possibility of loss of confidentiality. Information from participants such as yourself will be identified by a subject number, which is not associated with your identity, by the researchers, to minimize the potential loss of confidentiality.

By clicking the button below, you are indicating that you are at least 18 years old, have read this consent form and agree to participate in this research study. Please print a copy of this page for your records.

You will now perform the attention task.
In this task, you will see one target: an orange letter. At the end of each trial, you will report what letter the target was using the keyboard and then rate how vividly you experienced the target using the 1-4 keys at the top of the keyboard. Here is the color of the target that you will be searching for:


X

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

A

Which the identity of the orange target on this trial?

Press the key on the keyboard!

How vivid was your experience of the target?
Press the "1" key if you had no experience of the target.
Press the "2" key if you felt that a target was present, but can't say anything about it.
Press the "3" key if you felt that you saw the target, but are only somewhat sure about it.
Press the "4" key if you had a clear experience of the target.

Please take a short break in between blocks to rest your eyes!
When you click the button to proceed, you will begin the next block.

Almost done! Just enter your demographics information here:

Age:

Gender:
Male
Female

Any feedback about the experiment or any strategies that you used?

Thanks for doing a great job!