INFORMED CONSENT

Research Project Title: Human Learning and Memory

Researchers: Chelsey Finney and Dr. Evan Curtis

Email: evan_curtis@boothuc.ca

Phone Number: 1-204-924-4881

This consent form, which you can copy and save directly to your computer, is only part of the informed consent process. It should give you the basic idea of what the research is about and what your participation will involve. If you would like more detail about something mentioned here, or information not included here, you should contact Dr. Evan Curtis. Please take the time to read this carefully and to understand any accompanying information.

Purpose: This experiment examines human learning and memory

Procedure: In this experiment, you will view either a set of letter strings or visual patterns, one at a time. We will then ask you questions about those items.

Risk: There are no serious risks associated with this experiment. However, you are free to discontinue participation at any time and with no consequences

Data collection devices: All stimuli will be presented on the computer monitor and all responses will be collected using your computer keyboard and mouse.

Anonymity and confidentiality: No identifying information will be attached to your response file and so it will be impossible for anyone (including the experimenter) to link your name to your response file.

Storage of data: Your response file will be kept indefinitely on a password protected computer in a folder protected by another unique password. If the research is published we will be obliged to provide your data file to researchers who request them. In that case we would provide a copy of your data file. However, we will not provide any information that could identify you as a participant.

Feedback: A written description of the study and the hypotheses that it is designed to address will be provided to you following the experiment. We hope that you are interested in the resaerch and we will be happy to answer any further questions you might have about it. You may choose to received a summary of the results of the experiment by providing an email address following the experiment. If you provide an email address, we will email you the results and conclusions of the experiment by September, 2020.

Your acceptance of the terms on this form indicates that you have understood to your satisfaction the information regarding participation in the research project and agree to participate as a participant. In no way does this waive your legal rights nor release the researchers, sponsors, or involved institutions from their legal and professional responsibilities. You are free to withdraw from the study at any time, and / or refrain from answering any questions you prefer to omit, without prejudice or consequence.

This research has been approved by the Research Ethics Board (REB) at Booth University College in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

THANK YOU FOR TAKING TIME TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS EXPERIMENT

I have read and understood the above material. I consent to participate and permit my responses to be used for research purposes. I understand that I may withdraw, without penality, at any time.

I consent to participate in this experiment.

In the first part of this experiment, we will show you a set of letter strings one at a time. Each string will appear for 5 seconds. Please do your best to memorize the strings. Please do not write the strings down or copy them in any way.

Click on the button below to proceed.

Continue

Each of the letter strings you just saw belonged to the same category.

Next, we will show you some new letter strings one at a time. Some of them belong to the same category as before and some of them do not.

For each string, please indicate whether you think the string belongs to the category. If you think the string belongs to the category, please press the "A" key on your keyboard. If you do not think the string belongs to the category, please press the "L" key.

Click on the button below to proceed.

Continue

First, thank you very much for taking part in our study.

Categorization is the ability to learn and use information about an object's membership in a group (e.g., knowing that a cat is an animal). Psychologists disagree about how the brain is able to learn information about new categories. Many theories claim that we learn about categories using specialized, unconscious learning systems in the brain. We disagree with this claim. Instead, we argue that categorization is simply a function of memory retrieval; "this new object reminds me of these things I have seen before", or more concretely, "this small furry thing reminds me of all the other cats I have seen, therefore it is probably a cat". Importantly, we naturally learn very little about the actual rules that govern category membership, at least without intentional effort.

You either viewed and then categorized strings of letters or artificial patterns. Both types of item represent common experimental materials in categorization research. Typically, researchers use strings of letters to examine learning of category rules, while image-based batterns are more commonly used to examine learning compared to an "ideal" category member. We see no good reason that you would be able to determine the structure of the category simply on the basis of the item characteristics (e.g., "if there are strings of letters, search for rules, if not, figure out the best example of the category"). To test this claim, half of you participated in the two standard tasks. The other half were given items that reversed the category structures. In other words, letters strings were based on an ideal member and images were constructed according to rules. We expect that performance did not differ among any of those conditions.

If you have any questions about the research, please contact Dr. Evan Curtis at evan_curtis@boothuc.ca or 1-204-924-4881.

If you would like to receive a summary of the results, please provide your email in the space below. If you would like to withdraw your data, please select the option below.

Email address (optional)

I want to withdraw my data from analysis.

Click on the button below to complete the experiment and submit your HIT.