Key Information for Episodic Future Thinking and Self-Regulation

What Are You Being Asked To Do?

You are being asked to be a volunteer in a research study that involves two sessions. First session will take place online. After 3-5 days, you will be invited for an in-person session to complete some thinking exercises and questionnaires. Your participation is completely voluntary. This page will give you key information to help you decide if you would like to participate.

What Is This Study About?
This study investigates how people connect their life experiences and self-understanding. You will first complete an online survey via Qualtrics. The online survey will ask you to answer questions related to self-understanding and some demographic questions. You will also be asked to take a selfie (headshot) and send it to us along with 6 photos of your birthday celebration (e.g., photos you took at your 13th, 8th, 21st, 30th birthdays). Your photos will be used to facilitate activities in the second session. We will edit your photos using this photo-editing application: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/youcam-makeup-face-editor/id863844475

After about 3-5 days, you will sign up a time to complete the second part. You may be asked to share some of your life experiences and the way you think about your future with us. You will complete experience sharing in a virtual reality environment, through a computer, or via interviews. You will be asked to complete a battery of questionnaires related to your thoughts on the thinking exercises and cognitive tests assessing memory and attention.

Exclusion/Inclusion Criteria: To participate, you need to be aged 18 or older, fluent in English, and currently reside in the USA.

Are There Any Risks or Discomforts you Might Experience by Being in this Study?
The risk is no greater than what is to be expected in everyday life. Things that we will ask you to share are common topics that you may have talked about with your friends. Your photos will not be shared to anyone. They will be discarded immediately after your session is complete. They are used to facilitate our discussion. There is a possibility that you may feel dizzy if you are assigned to a condition that involves virtual reality and the headset is not properly adjusted. If you feel uncomfortable participating in this study, you are free to stop at any point.

What Are the Reasons You Might Want to Volunteer for This Study?
We cannot guarantee that you will directly benefit from this study. Some participants in our past research on similar topics indicated that they liked the component of experience sharing component. Your participation assists researchers to explore thinking processes and tangible means for improving well-being and self-understanding. You will receive $20 for full participation of both the online and in-person sessions. Georgia Tech students can elect to receive 2 credits for full participation; 0.5 credits will be given for completing the online session of the study. The online survey takes for about 20-30 minutes. The in-person session will be about 1.5 hours or less (as there are individual differences in how fast people complete tasks and the VR experience will take a bit longer).

Do You Have to Take Part in the This Study?
Your participation in this research study is completely voluntary. You may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty by closing your web browser.
 
You are being asked to be a volunteer in a research study. Before we start, we would want to give you an overview of this study to help you decide to participate in this study or not.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate how thinking about personal life experiences may be related to self-processes and well-being. We are also comparing whether an interactive virtual reality environment may facilitate engagement in thinking exercises related to recollection and future projection. We expect to enroll 265 participants in this study.

Exclusion/Inclusion Criteria: To participate, you need to be aged 18 and older, fluent in English, and currently reside in the USA.

Procedures: This study has 2 sessions. You will first complete an online survey via Qualtrics at home. The online survey will ask you to answer questions related to self-understanding and some demographic questions. You will also be asked to take a selfie (headshot) and send it to us along with 6 photos of your birthday celebration (e.g., photos you took at your 13th, 8th, 21st, 30th birthdays). Your photos will be used to facilitate activities in the second session. We will edit your photos using this photo-editing application: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/youcam-makeup-face-editor/id863844475

The online survey session will take about 20-30 minutes. After 3-5 days, you will sign up a time to complete an in-person session. It will take place in the Psychology Building (JS Coon) at Georgia Tech. You may be asked to share some of your life experiences and the way you think about your future with us. You will complete experience sharing in a virtual reality environment, through a computer, or via interviews. You will complete a battery of questionnaires related to your thoughts on the thinking exercises and cognitive tests assessing memory and attention.

Note that you will be assigned to one of the research conditions. Some conditions involve a VR experience; other conditions will ask you to perform exercises through PCs or interviews. VR and PC conditions will be counterbalanced. The no media condition will enquire your experience via interviews. You will be informed of the condition you are assigned into when you arrive.

Your participation in the in-person session is expected to last for about 1-1.5 hours.

Benefits of Participation: We cannot guarantee that you will directly benefit from this study. Some participants in our past research on similar topics indicated that they enjoyed sharing their experience with us. Your participation assists researchers to explore thinking processes and tangible means for improving well-being and self-understanding and regulation.

Risks or Discomforts: The risk is no greater than what is to be expected in everyday life. Things that we will ask you to share are common topics that you may have talked about with your friends. Your photos will not be shared to anyone. Photos will be discarded immediately after your session is complete. They are used to facilitate our discussion. There is a possibility that you may feel dizzy if you are assigned to a condition that involves virtual reality and the headset is not properly adjusted. If you feel uncomfortable participating in this study, you are free to stop at any point. If experience discomfort, please let the researchers know.

Do You Have to Take Part in the This Study? Your participation in this research study is completely voluntary. You may withdraw from the study at any time without penalty by closing your web browser.

Compensation to You: You will receive $20 for full participation of both the online and in-person sessions. Georgia Tech students can elect to receive 2 credits for full participation. 0.5 credits will be given for completing the online session of the study.

U.S. Tax Law requires that a 1099-misc be issued if U.S. tax residents receive $600 or more per calendar year. If non-U.S. tax residents receive more than $75, mandatory 30% withholding is required. Your address and Tax I.D. may be collected for compensation purposes only. This information will be shared only with the Georgia Tech department that issues compensation, if any, for your participation.

Use of Photographs or Audio: We will take audio recordings of your in-person session. If you are assigned to a VR condition, your eye movement in VR will also be recorded. Participant ID numbers will be used to replace your name. Any identifiable information about you will not be used in our future presentations or publications.

Costs to You: There are no costs to you, other than your time, for being in this study.

Confidentiality: We will comply with any applicable laws and regulations regarding confidentiality. Identifiable information will not be kept. Although we will have your name, GTID, and email, they will not be added to the data file after data collection is complete and compensation is awarded. No identifiable information will be connected to responses that we collected from you. The photos that you submitted will be deleted from our files after you complete the session. We will not keep them.
To make sure that this research is being carried out in the proper way, the Georgia Institute of Technology IRB may review study records. The Office of Human Research Protections may also look at study records.

Contact: If you have any questions about this research, you may contact the Principal Investigator Dr. Hsiao-Wen Liao at Georgia Tech, School of Psychology J.S. Coon Bldg Georgia Institute of Technology, 654 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA 30332-0170. She can be reached via email at liao@gatech.edu, or at (404) 894-3979. If you have any questions about your rights as a research subject, you may contact Georgia Institute of Technology Office of Research Integrity Assurance at IRB@gatech.edu.

Agreement:  If you agree that the nature and purpose of this research have been sufficiently explained and you agree to participate in this study, click Continue to give your consent, and start the study! You understand that you are free to withdraw at any time without incurring any penalty.