Informed Consent
You are being asked to take part in a research study.
This research is being conducted to learn about how people make decisions under uncertainty. Specifically, we are interested in learning about how our decision-making compares to that of animals and artificial intelligence (“AI”). To do so, we are studying the decisions that people, animals, and machines make when playing simple video games.
Your participation in this study is voluntary, and you may withdraw your participation at any time for any reason.
If you take part in this study, you will be asked to play one of three simple video games in which you make decisions under uncertainty. We expect that most people will spend about 20 minutes playing these games (you are welcome to participate in the game for up to an hour), after which you may fill out an optional questionnaire about your overall experience of the study to help us understand your thought process.
To participate in this study, you must
We expect minimal risks or possible discomforts from the study procedures for most participants. The possible risks of participating in this study include:
If identifiers are removed from your identifiable private information or identifiable samples that are collected during this research, that information or those samples could be published and/or used for future research studies or distributed to another investigator for future research studies without your additional informed consent.
There are no direct benefits to you from your participation in this research. We cannot promise any benefits to others from your participation in this research. However, this study aims to help better understand how we reason when faced with uncertain situations and how this is similar to or different from how animals and machines think. This will help us better understand when and how animals and machines can be used to study how we reason under uncertainty, which may help us advance research aimed at improving and treating neurological and psychiatric diseases.
There is no monetary compensation for participating in the study.
You can decline to participate in any part of this study for any reason and can end your participation at any time. The person in charge of the research study or the sponsor can remove you from the research study without your approval for any reason.
If you have any questions about this study, you can contact our study director, Allison Hamilos MD, PhD:
Harvard Medical School
Department of Neurobiology
Warren Alpert Building, Room 222
200 Longwood Avenue, 02115 Boston, MA, USA
E-mail: uncertaintystudy@hms.harvard.edu
Phone: +1-617-432-2804
Thank you again for your time and participation.
I have read the information in this consent form including risks and possible benefits. All my questions about the research have been answered to my satisfaction. I understand that I am free to withdraw at any time.
My clicking the 'Accept and Continue' button documents that