Title of study: Listening to English sentences
This is a study conducted by Ghent University in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. The researchers responsible are: Irene Elisabeth Winther, University of Edinburgh (irene.winther@ed.ac.uk) and Prof. Rob Hartsuiker, Department of Experimental Psychology, Ghent University (Robert.Hartsuiker@ugent.be).
You are invited to participate in a study at Ghent University. The study is conducted by Irene Winther (University of Edinburgh) under the supervision of Professor Robert Hartsuiker (Ghent University). Please take enough time to read this information letter carefully before you decide to
participate. Please do not hesitate to ask if something is unclear, or if you would like additional information. Make sure you understand everything. Once you have decided to participate in the study, you will be asked to indicate consent by clicking on a check box.
What is the purpose of the research?
In this research, we are interested in how people understand language in everyday life, and specifically what happens when people are listening to sentences in English. Therefore, we will record your eye movements while you listen to sentences.
Ethical approval
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of Ghent University on 11/01/2024. Under no circumstances should you consider the approval by the Ethics Committee as an incentive to participate in this study.
The study is conducted according to the guidelines set out in the General Ethical Protocol of the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences (Ghent University). The researchers conduct this study in accordance with accepted standards of scientific and ethical conduct.
In doing so, they apply good research practices and adhere to the principles of research ethics as described in "Ethics in Social Science and Humanities" (EU, 2018).
What does taking part in this study involve?
You will be asked to participate in an eye-tracking experiment. Your participation will be once-off and will last up to X minutes. You will listen to sentences whilst viewing objects on a screen. Your task will be to listen to the sentences and to click on the object that you hear last in the sentence.
For the quality of the data it is important that you sit as long as possible in a position that is comfortable for you and that you move as little as possible. We also ask you to turn off the sound on your phone to minimize disruptions. Breaks are provided during the experiment.
Once you finish, we may also have some questions about your experience (e.g., age, gender and language background/proficiency) and we may ask you to complete a vocabulary test, in which you will see a series of individual words and do a task indicating whether the words displayed are valid words in English.
What are the risks and benefits of participating in this study?
There are no significant risks associated with participation in this study. There are no direct benefits from taking part in this study other than the knowledge that you have helped us gather data that may help us better understand how humans understand language.
Is any compensation or reward provided for participation in this study?
The compensation for participating in this study is €5.
The legal framework for the processing of personal data and confidential information in the context of this study is determined by:
Researchers must comply with the Ghent University generic code of conduct for processing personal data.
What personal data are collected?
The following personal data will be processed:
Personal data will be collected using an eye-tracker, as well as computer-based tasks and questionnaires.
Why are these personal data collected?
We collect this personal data to estimate the representativeness of our sample for the general population and to investigate the effect of various factors on language understanding.
On what legal ground will the data be processed?
To process your personal data, your explicit consent will be requested. This is done by signing a 'consent form'. This consent can be withdrawn by notifying the researcher Irene Winther
Who has access to my (personal) data?
The researchers undertake to protect your identity and the nature of your contribution. To ensure your confidentiality, your eye-tracking data will not contain information that may personally identify you;
data will be stored on password-protected and encrypted hard-drives for up to 6 months. Experimental data and information from the questionnaires collected in this experiment will be stored under a randomly
assigned participant number with no ability to link it back to you. Your e-mail address is only used through the SONA system to arrange for participation in the study, and it will not be linked to the experimental data.
This anonymized data will be analyzed together with the data of all participants and published for scientific purposes only (e.g., articles in scientific journals, conference presentations). The aggregated and fully anonymised data is transferred onto a secure, encrypted server hosted by the University of Edinburgh, which is outside the EU, where the data will be stored for at least 2 years. Ghent University and the University of Edinburgh are the data controllers and the researchers are Irene Winther and Robert Hartsuiker.
All potentially identifiable data (i.e., your e-mail address and name) is stored separately to the experimental data. Therefore, it will not be possible to link the results back to the participants identities through the collected data.
Reuse of data
The research data collected here may also still be useful in answering other research questions. Therefore, the possibility exists that the research data may be reused at a later date for other research purposes.
The reuse of the research data can be done both within the own research team and by external researchers within and outside the European Union. To this end, research data will be made available in a controlled manner via a dedicated research data sharing platform.
In doing so, all necessary measures will be taken to guarantee the confidentiality of your personal data as prescribed in the Ghent University Generic Code of Conduct for handling personal data and confidential information.
What rights do you have as a participant regarding your personal data?
In accordance with European and Belgian privacy legislation , your privacy is respected. As already indicated, you can withdraw your consent at any given moment and without giving any reason. This means that your data will not be further processed from the moment of withdrawal.
You have the right to inspect the data collected about you and you may also request a copy, provided this does not infringe the rights and freedoms of others, including those of Ghent University. Any inaccurate data about you can be corrected at your request. Furthermore, you have the right to be forgotten. This means that, after withdrawing your consent, you may ask for your personal data to be deleted. Please note that experimental data and information will be stored under a randomly assigned participant number with no ability to link it back to you. Therefore, it is not possible to withdraw your consent upon completion of the experiment.
Please note any data that have been anonymised or aggregated with other data and results prior to any request of withdrawal will be maintained as the data anonymisation and processing procedure cannot be reversed.
To exercise any of the above rights, please contact the researchers concerned at irene.winther@ed.ac.uk
If you have a complaint
If you would like to file a complaint about the way your personal data is handled or if you have any questions regarding your personal data in the context of this study, you may contact Ghent University's Data Protection Officer at privacy@ugent.be or T 09 264 95 17.
You may also file a complaint with the Data Protection Authority, Drukpersstraat 35, 1000 Brussels (e-mail: contact@apd-gba.be) and/or the Vlaamse Toezichtcommissie (e-mail: contact@toezichtscommissie.be).