What is this document? This document explains what kind of study we are doing, what your rights are, and what will be done with your data. You should print this page for your records.

Nature of the study. You are invited to participate in a study in which you will carefully observe multiple grids with randomly placed black squares. You will then be asked to replicate these grids to the best of your ability. The experiment will take approximately 10 minutes to complete. You will receive full instructions shortly.

Compensation. You will be paid a flat rate of £1.90 for your participation in this study.

Risks and benefits. There are no known risks to participation in this study. Other than the payment mentioned, there no tangible benefits to you, however you will be contributing to our knowledge about language.

Confidentiality and use of data. All the information we collect during the course of the research will be processed in accordance with Data Protection Law. In order to safeguard your privacy, we will never share personal information (like your name) with anyone outside the research team. Your data will be referred to by a unique participant number rather than by name). Please note that we will temporarily collect your worker ID to prevent repeat participation, however we will never share this information with anyone outside the research team. We will store any personal data (i.e., worker ID) using the University of Edinburgh’s secure encrypted storage service. The anonymised data collected during this study will be used for research purposes.

What are my data protection rights? The University of Edinburgh is a Data Controller for the information you provide. You have the right to access information held about you. Your right of access can be exercised in accordance Data Protection Law. You also have other rights including rights of correction, erasure and objection. For more details, including the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office, please visit www.ico.org.uk. Questions, comments and requests about your personal data can also be sent to the University Data Protection Officer at dpo@ed.ac.uk.

Voluntary participation and right to withdraw. Your participation is voluntary, and you may stop at any time and for any reason. If you withdraw from the study during or after data gathering, we will delete your data and there is no penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled. Please note that after August 9th, 2022 you will no longer be able to withdraw from the study. If you wish to withdraw after the specified date, we may not be able to delete your anonymised data from e.g. public repositories of research data, but we will be able to delete all of your personal data from our records.

If you have any questions about what you’ve just read, please feel free to ask, or contact us later. You can contact us by email at either: Giulia Bonfiglioli - G.Bonfiglioli@sms.ed.ac.uk or Olivia Dalessandro - O.A.Dalessandro@sms.ed.ac.uk. This project has been approved by PPLS Ethics committee. If you have questions or comments regarding your rights as a participant, they can be contacted at 0131 650 4020 or ppls.ethics@ed.ac.uk.

By continuing with this task, you consent to the following:

1. I agree to participate in this study.
2. I confirm that I have read and understood how my data will be stored and used.
3. I understand that I have the right to terminate this session at any point. If I choose to withdraw after completing the study, my data will be deleted at that time.