California State University, Fullerton
Research Study Consent Form
Study Title: Studies in Judgment and Decision Making
Protocol Number: HSR-24-25-499
Researchers: Michael H. Birnbaum (Principal Investigator) and Chase Haney (Co-PI)
You are being asked to take part in a research study carried out by Michael H. Birnbaum and
Chase Haney. Prof. Birnbaum is Professor Emeritus in the Psychology Department and a member of the Decision Research Center at California State University, and Chase Haney is a graduate student in Psychology Department of California State University, Fullerton. This consent form explains the research study and your part in it if you decide to join the study. Please read the form carefully, taking as much time as you need. You can decide not to join the study. If you join the study, you can change your mind later and leave the study at any time. There will be no penalty or loss of services or benefits if you decide not to take part in the study.
What is this study about?
The purpose of these research studies is to investigate how people make judgments and
decisions and to evaluate mathematical theories that describe how people do these tasks.
You are being asked to participate in this study because you are studying Psychology. You
cannot take part in this study if you are not yet 18 years of age or older.
There are a series of Online questionnaires, and you can read each questionnaire before you
decide whether or not you want to participate. If you want to participate, answer all of the
questions and push the button at the end of the survey to submit your answers. If you don’t want
to answer questions—don’t want to participate--don’t push the button to submit any responses
to the questions. If you decide not to push the button at the end of the questionnaire, no record
or trace will be saved.
Each of the questionnaires takes a different amount of time to complete; some might require
only a few minutes and others are longer. You can read each questionnaire and estimate how
long it would take to fill it out before you decide whether to participate.
What will I be asked to do if I am in this study?
If you take part in the research study, you will be asked to read the questionnaire, think about
the topic, and answer questions. You can read the details yourself before you decide whether or
not to participate, but examples of the kinds of questions are as follows: “how much would you
like a person who is “blunt and informal”,“how many dots do you see in this box”,
“would you prefer to play a 50-50 gamble to win either $100 or $5 over a sure cash payment of $40?”
Are there any benefits to me if I am in this study?
The potential benefits to you for participating in the study are: you will be helping us learn about
the psychology of judgment and decision making, and you will experience some of the tasks
that mathematical psychologists use to learn about judgment and decision making.
Are there any risks to me if I am in this study?
This protocol contains no foreseeable risks. The conceivable risks from taking part in the study are the same as being a college student. You will be asked to read, to think, and to use a computer to respond to questions. Your answers will be sent via the Internet to a secure server.
As you will see, our questionnaires have questions mostly about harmless, hypothetical
situations, and most people consider them non-sensitive. But you can judge for yourself by
reading the questionnaire before you decide to push the submit button.
Will my information be kept anonymous or confidential?
The data for this study will be kept confidential to the extent allowed by law. No published
results will identify you, and your name will not be associated with the findings. Under certain
circumstances, information that identifies you may be released for internal and external reviews
of this project. The confidential data will be saved on a password-protected server maintained by a professional institution. We collect identifying information only for the purpose of assigning SONA credits to those who request it.
Before data are shared with others or made public, all identifiers will be removed from the data set, which otherwise consists almost entirely of numbers. That is, the data will only be published or shared in anonymous form, because all identifiers will by then have been removed. After all credits have been assigned and the data have been cleaned of personal identifiers, the data without personal identifiers will be made available to academics via the
Internet. Before the data has been cleaned, the data will be available only to the researchers
who will have the task of assigning credits for participation. The data for this study will be kept indefinitely, once the personal identifiers have been removed. Other researchers from other universities or other institutions may wish to re-analyze the data to
evaluate other mathematical formulas.
Are there any costs or payments for being in this study?
There are no costs or payments for participating.
Students Participating for SONA Credit in Psychology
Students can participate and receive SONA credits as one of the options for the assignment in
Psychology courses. There are other studies and other options, including non-research options,
for the assignment available to you, which your instructor has explained to you in your course
syllabus. Credit amounts for SONA are ¼, ½, ¾, 1. The amount of credit you will
receive is explained in the next Web pages, and it will depend on how many questionnaires you decide to complete and your time on the tasks. The maximum amount of credit you can earn is one full credit for one hour participation.
IMPORTANT: We cannot give credit for attempts to “cheat” your course assignment by
pushing the same button or quickly pushing random buttons in order to get credit quickly without
actually doing the assignment. If you decide to participate, we expect you to take the task
seriously, to read the instructions carefully, and to do the task at a time and place where there
are no distractions. You should not have to take a “break” in the middle of a questionnaire, but
you can take breaks between questionnaires. We assign credit in proportion to what you actually do. If you spend 15 minutes doing tasks worth 15 minutes, you will receive ¼ credit; if
you do 30 minutes worth of tasks, you will receive ½ credit, etc.
IMPORTANT: If you forget to push the submit button, or if you do not provide any identifiers
When you fill in the form, we have no record of your participation, so we have no way to give
you credit.
When will SONA credit appear in my account?
IMPORTANT: A human (not a computer) will check your data. The human will check your data
to make sure that you followed instructions, check how many of the questionnaires you
completed and your time at the task. This check will occur within 48 hours of the LAST DATE
and TIME for the session for which you signed up. For example, if you signed up for a session
with a deadline for participation of Friday at 11:59 pm, and if you completed the questionnaires
early by Wednesday, credit will be assigned and appear in your account by the following Sunday at 11:59 pm.
Whom can I contact if I have questions?
If you have questions about this study or the information in this form, please contact the
researchers: Email for Michael Birnbaum: mbirnbaum@fullerton.edu, or Chase Haney:
chaney@csu.fullerton.edu. If you have questions about your rights as a research participant or would like to report a
concern or complaint about this study, please contact the Institutional
Review Board at (657) 278-7719 or e-mail irb@fullerton.edu.
Questions regarding SONA credits should be sent to Chase Haney: chaney@csu.fullerton.edu.
What are my rights as a research study volunteer?
Your participation in this research study is completely voluntary. You may choose not to be a
part of this study. There will be no penalty for you if you choose not to take part. Once you read
the questionnaires, if you don’t want to answer the questions or don’t want to do it, you do not
have to push the button that signifies your participation and which sends your responses to the
Server.
I have carefully read and understand this consent form. By clicking below, I agree that I am at
least 18 years of age and I agree to read each questionnaire and before I decide whether to
participate in each one. Only if I agree to participate in each questionnaire, I will complete the
questionnaire and click the button to send the responses. You may print this page for your
Records.
AGREE--click here to begin the study
DISAGREE