About this survey

Project title: Differentiating executive improvement in young adults induced by exposure to distinct categories of video game

You are invited to take part in a study that I am conducting as part of my Undergraduate dissertation project at Durham University.

This study has received ethical approval from the Psychology Departmental Ethics committee of Durham University.

Before you decide whether to agree to take part it is important for you to understand the purpose of the research and what is involved as a participant. Please read the following information carefully. Please get in contact if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.

What is the purpose of the study?

The aim of this study is to compare players of different gaming categories and non-gamers to conclude if consistent gaming yield positive influences to the development of the executive function, and specifically, which type of game improves which executive function (EF). EF is an umbrella term describing high-level cognitive abilities that are essential for decision making. While hot EFs are emotionally driven, cold EFs are not. Both types of EF will be investigated in the current study.

Why have I been invited to take part?

You have been invited because you fit the criteria for participating in this study: (1) ages between 18 and 25; (2) have either experience of playing video games or not.

Do I have to take part?

Your participation is voluntary, and you do not have to agree to take part. If you do agree to take part, you can withdraw at any time, without giving a reason. Your rights in relation to withdrawing any data that is identifiable to you are explained in the accompanying Privacy Notice.

What will happen to me if I take part?

If you agree to take part in the study, you will be asked to first complete a Video Game questionnaire regarding your current (within 12 months) playtime and playtime in the past 12 months about different categories of games. Then you will be asked to complete three tasks that measure your executive function holistically. Tasks include Corsi Block-tapping Test will be used to measure spatial working memory (Cold EF), the Stroop task will be used to measure inhibition (Cold EF), and the Iowa Gambling Task will be used to measure impulsivity (Hot EF). All tasks are hosted on PsytoolKit. All Tasks can be completed online in one session, however, if necessary, the offline arrangement can also be arranged if online testing is not suitable for your situation. Please note that your individual scores will not be provided to you after completion. Once all tasks are completed, you will be rewarded with 15 minutes of participant pool time.

Are there any potential risks involved?

There are no potential risks or discomfort this experiment should induce.

Will my data be kept confidential?

All information obtained during the study will be kept confidential. You will create an anonymous code, which will disguise your identity. If the data is published it will be entirely anonymous and will not be identifiable as yours. Full details are included in the accompanying Privacy Notice.

What will happen to the results of the project?

Results are not expected to be published other than to be included in the Undergraduate Dissertation. No personal data will be shared, however, anonymised (i.e. not identifiable) data may be used in publications, reports, presentations, web pages and other research outputs. All research data and records needed to validate the research findings will be stored for 10 years after the end of the project. (10 years is the standard under the University’s data management policy, but may vary e.g. if your funder stipulates a longer retention period or the data is governed by a contract which requires deletion after a set period of time.)

Durham University is committed to sharing the results of its world-class research for public benefit. As part of this commitment, the University has established an online repository for all Durham University Higher Degree theses which provides access to the full text of freely available theses. The study in which you are invited to participate will be written up as a thesis. On successful submission of the thesis, it will be deposited both in print and online in the University archives, to facilitate its use in future research. The thesis will be published open access.

Who do I contact if I have any questions or concerns about this study?

If you have any further questions or concerns about this study, please speak to the researcher or their supervisor. If you remain unhappy or wish to make a formal complaint, please submit a complaint via the University’s Complaints Process.

Thank you for reading this information and considering taking part in this study.

PART 1 – GENERIC PRIVACY NOTICE

Durham University’s responsibilities under data protection legislation include the duty to ensure that we provide individuals with information about how we process personal data. We do this in a number of ways, one of which is the publication of privacy notices. Our privacy notices comprise two parts – a generic part and a part tailored to the specific processing activity being undertaken.

Data Controller

The Data Controller is Durham University. If you would like more information about how the University uses your personal data, please see the University’s Information Governance webpages or contact:

Information Governance Unit
Telephone: (0191 33) 46246 or 46103
E-mail: info.access@durham.ac.uk

Data Protection Officer

The Data Protection Officer is responsible for advising the University on compliance with Data Protection legislation and monitoring its performance against it. If you have any concerns regarding the way in which the University is processing your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer:

Jennifer Sewel

University Secretary

Telephone: (0191 33) 46144

E-mail: jennifer.sewel@durham.ac.uk

Retention

The University keeps personal data for as long as it is needed for the purpose for which it was originally collected. Most of these time periods are set out in the University Records Retention Schedule.

Your rights in relation to your personal data

Privacy notices and/or consent

You have the right to be provided with information about how and why we process your personal data. Where you have the choice to determine how your personal data will be used, we will ask you for consent. Where you do not have a choice (for example, where we have a legal obligation to process the personal data), we will provide you with a privacy notice. A privacy notice is a verbal or written statement that explains how we use personal data.

Whenever you give your consent for the processing of your personal data, you receive the right to withdraw that consent at any time. Where withdrawal of consent will have an impact on the services we are able to provide, this will be explained to you, so that you can determine whether it is the right decision for you.

Accessing your personal data

You have the right to be told whether we are processing your personal data and, if so, to be given a copy of it. This is known as the right of subject access. You can find out more about this right on the University’s Subject Access Requests webpage.

Right to rectification

If you believe that personal data we hold about you is inaccurate, please contact us and we will investigate. You can also request that we complete any incomplete data.

Once we have determined what we are going to do, we will contact you to let you know.

Right to erasure

You can ask us to erase your personal data in any of the following circumstances:

We no longer need the personal data for the purpose it was originally collected
You withdraw your consent and there is no other legal basis for the processing
You object to the processing and there are no overriding legitimate grounds for the processing
The personal data have been unlawfully processed
The personal data have to be erased for compliance with a legal obligation
The personal data have been collected in relation to the offer of information society services (information society services are online services such as banking or social media sites).

Once we have determined whether we will erase the personal data, we will contact you to let you know.

Right to restriction of processing

You can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data in the following circumstances:

You believe that the data is inaccurate and you want us to restrict processing until we determine whether it is indeed inaccurate
The processing is unlawful and you want us to restrict processing rather than erase it
We no longer need the data for the purpose we originally collected it but you need it in order to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim and
You have objected to the processing and you want us to restrict processing until we determine whether our legitimate interests in processing the data override your objection.

Once we have determined how we propose to restrict processing of the data, we will contact you to discuss and, where possible, agree this with you.

Making a complaint

If you are unsatisfied with the way in which we process your personal data, we ask that you let us know so that we can try and put things right. If we are not able to resolve issues to your satisfaction, you can refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website: Information Commissioner’s Office

PART 2 – TAILORED PRIVACY NOTICE

This section of the Privacy Notice provides you with the privacy information that you need to know before you provide personal data to the University for the particular purpose(s) stated below.

Type(s) of personal data collected and method of collection:

We will ask you to sign a consent form to confirm your willingness to take part in this study. You will be allocated an anonymous number for data collection which will not be connected to your name or identity. All the research data you provide will therefore be fully anonymous and not identifiable to you.

How personal data is stored:

Your signed consent form will be kept in locked storage. It will not be available to anyone outside the research team. If data is included in any publication it will be entirely anonymous and will not be identifiable as yours. All research data and records needed to validate the research findings will be stored for 10 years after the publication of the results. (10 years is the standard under the University’s Data Management Policy but may vary e.g. if your funder stipulates a longer retention period, or the data is governed by contract which requires deletion after a set period of time.)

How personal data is processed:

The signed consent form provides evidence of your consent to take part in this study which is an ethical requirement.

Who personal data is shared with:

No personal data will be shared with anyone, however anonymised (i.e. not identifiable) data may be used in publications, reports, presentations, web pages and other research outputs. At the end of the project, anonymised data may be archived and shared with others for legitimate research purposes.

How long personal data is held:

Your consent form and all personal data will be stored anonymously immediately after the completion of the tasks and questionnaires. The anonymised data will be stored for 10 years from the date of publication or end of the project if there are no publications, after this point it will be destroyed.

How to object to the processing your personal data:

If you have any concerns regarding the processing of your personal data, or you wish to withdraw your personal data from the project, contact Dr.Ulrik Beierholm: ulrik.beierholm@durham.ac.uk or Haoran Shi: Haoran.shi@durham.ac.uk.

Contact information

Information about this study:

University: University of Durham

Department: Psychology

Researcher(s): Haoran Shi

Supervisor name: Dr. Ulrik Beierholm

Contact email: haoran.shi@durham.ac.uk; ulrik.beierholm@durham.ac.uk

Important technical requirements for your computer

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Confirm you want to do this survey

This form is to confirm that you understand what the purposes of the project, what is involved and that you are happy to take part. Please read the information below and tick the box to indicate your agreement:

I confirm that I have read and understand the information sheet and the privacy notice for the above project.
I have had sufficient time to consider the information and ask any questions I might have, and I am satisfied with the answers I have been given.
I understand who will have access to personal data provided, how the data will be stored and what will happen to the data at the end of the project.
I agree to take part in the above project.
I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw at any time without giving a reason.

Please tick this box to indicate your agreement:

Important data protection information

When you start, this survey will store your answers, your internet address, and browser information on the PsyToolkit server.The responsibility for this survey rests entirely with the researcher(s) listed above. Click here if you do not want to participate now.