WHAT TO EXPECT WHEN YOU PARTICIPATE
STEP ONE
Please read the instructions below thoroughly before proceeding.
STEP TWO
You will need to review and sign our consent form in order to begin. The consent form is a document outlining the purpose of our study, the methods we will use, the amount in which we will pay you, as well as the fact that this is entirely voluntary and you can stop the study at any time. By signing this form, you acknowledge that you read the terms of the study and agree to participate. The consent form must be signed in order to participate with the study. You can click here to review and sign our consent form now! However, we encourage you to continue reading below before signing the consent form so that you fully understand what to expect. Please note, you have to complete a short quiz at the end of the consent form and all questions must be answered correctly in order to be able to consent for the study.
The email address you provide must be a valid, permanent email address as we may need to contact you in the future to follow up on your responses. Please be sure to input the correct email as this is the address we will be sending survey links to to begin the study and where we send your compensation.
STEP THREE
You are going to be sent a link via email that will give you access to multi-module surveys. The link will be sent as soon as you sign the consent form and submit it. After you complete each survey, the next survey to be completed will show up in a survey queue on your page. Here is an example of what it can look like:
The available surveys to you will be listed in the queue. Please go in order from top to bottom. In addition to the surveys and task modules being listed in the queue, you will also be sent a survey link to your email for each survey and for the task module. If you decide to take a break while participating, all you have to do is click on the link that was emailed to you.
Additionally, as a back-up, always click SAVE AND RETURN LATER at the bottom of the survey page whenever you want to take a break. You will be prompted to enter your email address at that time. This is so an extra survey link can be sent to you to return to the survey.
After you have completed signing the consent form, you will be emailed a link to access the first survey in the study.
Your information will be completely de-identified as soon as possible.
TAKING THE SURVEYS
The modules you will be completing within each survey will be entirely dependent on how you answer certain questions on your perceptual experiences. Some of the modules will also include questions about thoughts, stress, life experiences, and general personality. For example, if you only have auditory experiences, you will only be presented with the auditory modules in addition to modules on thoughts, stress, and personality. If you have auditory experiences and experiences feeling things or sensing things others do not (tactile experiences), then you will be presented with both auditory and tactile modules, in addition to modules on thoughts, stress, and personality. Please answer as honestly as possible so that all necessary modules are presented to you.
Screening Survey:
(This Module will be completed by everyone):
This module will ask for demographic information, as well as questions about perceptual experiences you have had throughout your life. This module also includes an IQ test (mandatory for research purposes). You will also be asked questions about your thoughts and how distressed you might be because of them.
This module will take approximately 20 minutes to complete. Please note, if you are ineligible to participate in the study, a screen will appear at the end of this module and advise that you cannot proceed at this time. If you selected in the consent form that it is okay to contact you for future studies, we can contact you should you be eligible for additional parts of this study. Please be sure to select that you want to be contacted in the future on the consent form if you want to participate in any future studies you may be eligible for, despite eligibility currently.
Survey B:
Here is a list of the potential modules you may see:
Traumatic Life Events:
This module asks about any traumatic experiences you may have had in your life. These questions are not meant to upset you, but to see how any past experiences may or may not have impacted your life. The questions do not ask for details, but for yes or no responses and how impactful these experience may have been or continue to be for you. If you should feel uncomfortable while taking this, please feel free to take as many breaks as possible or ask for a support system to be with you while answering the questions. This is an important module for us to have because it allows us to see on a greater scale how much of an impact traumatic events have on individuals over time. This module will take anywhere between 5 and 20 minutes to complete.
Additional Demographics Module:
This module asks additional information about your history and your family history. This module allows us to see any important trends or differences across populations and how family history may effect individuals. This module will take about 5 minutes to complete.
Alcohol and Drug Use Module:
This module will ask questions on drug and alcohol use over the course of the past month. This module is important because it will allow us to see how drugs and/or alcohol use can influence perceptual experiences and thoughts. This module will take about 5-8 minutes to complete.
Perceptual Experiences Modules:
There are 3 modules that will ask about your experiences with sensing, tasting, and smelling things that others may not be. This is important because it will help us to see the varying types of perceptual experiences people have and how they are impacted by them. These modules will take between 2 and 10 minutes each to complete.
Thoughts on Voice Experiences Module:
This module looks at what your beliefs are around the auditory experiences that you have. The module will present statements about your auditory experiences, such as "My voices help me make decisions" and you will be asked to select to what level you agree or disagree with that statement. These questions are important because it helps us to see how our beliefs on auditory experiences can shape our overall wellness and life experience. This module will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
Experiences with Voices Module:
This module will be asking a series of questions on what your auditory experiences are like; mainly what they sound like and how you experience them. Statements will be presented in this survey, as well, such as "The voice I hear is female." This module requires a simple "yes," "no," or "unsure" response. The questions in this module are important for us to ask because it helps us capture the phenomenology of auditory experiences across different communities. The more we know about the differences and similarities across groups, the easier we can shape more effective therapeutic treatments that can be used for most people, despite the community they identify with. This module will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Thoughts on Voices and Experiences Module:
This module asks how often you have had certain auditory experiences. A statement will be presented to you, such as "I have heard a voice while daydreaming," and you will be asked to select how often you have had that experience.
This is important because it is the most commonly used measure of visual and auditory experience susceptibility and does a thorough job of capturing propensity to these experiences. Because this measure has been so often used, we would be able to translate our findings to what others have found throughout the world more easily. This module will take approximately 5 minutes to complete.
Control Scale Module:
This is our control over perceptual experiences scale! The one that we created and need your help to validate. You will be presented with a series of questions on your experiences both in the past and present. This helps us capture any changes in how you have viewed your auditory experiences over time and how you developed influence over them over time. This is important information for us to collect because this information is not only showing that individuals do/can have influence over their life experiences and have positive methods to help navigate their experiences, but it will also shape the therapeutic treatment we develop in the future. This module will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Auditory Experiences Follow Up Module:
This module will be asking you follow up questions about your auditory experiences. We will ask you about the experience such as when you have them, how often, and what they are like. This is so we can get a full picture of what your experiences are like in order to understand as best we can. This will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Visual Experiences Follow Up Module:
This module will be asking you follow up questions about your visual experiences. We will ask you about the experience such as when you have them, how often, and what they are like. This is so we can get a full picture of what your experiences are like in order to understand as best we can. This will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Mental/Emotional Status Module:
This module will ask questions about different feelings you've had recently to look at everyone's mental/emotional state in general. This is important because we can correlate any impact this has on performance of the tasks you'll be taking, as well as if it has any impact on experiences in general. This will take less than 5 minutes to complete.
Tasks Module:
Hearing and Visual Tests/Tasks - This part of the project must be completed on a device with a keyboard. You can NOT use a phone/mobile device for this part of the project. You will need a pair of headphones/earbuds in order to play the games.
Hearing Test: We are interested in how well you're able to hear the world around you. We'll be able to measure this by having you listen for certain tones while listening to white noise. This task will take approximately 25 minutes.
Visual Test: Similar to the hearing test, we want to see how well your visual system works. We will ask you whether or not you're able to detect faint stripes in visual noise (like snow on a TV screen). This task will take approximately 25 minutes.
Perceptual Tests: These tests try to determine how much you're able to change the things you see or hear. There are 2 of these tests.
These tests will take between 30 and 40 minutes in total to complete.
What if you don't have headphones/earbuds? While headphones are required in order to play the games and complete the study, we can help if you don't own or don't have access to a pair of headphones or earbuds. If you need a pair of headphones, we will happily loan you a pair! We will send you a pair through the mail, along with a return envelope. When you finish the study, you can mail us back the headphones free of charge. If you decide to keep the headphones and don't send them back, then $5 will be deducted from your payment compensation for the study. If you need a pair sent to you, just send us an email at spirit.alliance@yale.edu and we will get them out to you!
Survey C:
You may choose to participate in the additional surveys, including the Story Share, in Survey C for additional payment. If you choose not to participating in the additional surveys, you will still be paid for completion of the study (pending eligibility).
Here is a list of the modules you may see in Survey C:
Story Share Module:
Here is your opportunity to share your story! You will have the option to do so either via a video recording, an audio recording, or a typed response.
Everyone with perceptual experiences will have the opportunity to participate in the story share.
Olfactory (Smelling) Experiences Follow Up Module:
This module will be asking you follow up questions about your olfactory experiences (smelling things) if you have them. We will ask you about the experience such as when you have them, how often, and what they are like. This is so we can get a full picture of what your experiences are like in order to understand as best we can. This will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Gustatory (Tasting) Experiences Follow Up Module:
This module will be asking you follow up questions about your gustatory experiences (tasting things) if you have them. We will ask you about the experience such as when you have them, how often, and what they are like. This is so we can get a full picture of what your experiences are like in order to understand as best we can. This will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Tactile (Feeling/Sensing) Experiences Follow Up Module:
This module will be asking you follow up questions about your tactile experiences (feeling things) if you have them. We will ask you about the experience such as when you have them, how often, and what they are like. This is so we can get a full picture of what your experiences are like in order to understand as best we can. This will take approximately 15 minutes to complete.
Daily Stress Module:
This module will ask questions about your daily stress. Specifically, what stressful experiences you have had over the last 24 hours. This is important for us to know because stress can actually have a great impact on our perception and our perceptual experiences.
Spiritual and religious beliefs Module:
This module will ask about your spiritual and religious beliefs and practices. This is helpful information for us to gather because we can report on whether or not spiritual or religious beliefs have any impact on our perceptual experiences and how we cope with or view our perceptual experiences.
Sleep Module:
This module will be asking questions about your sleep habits. This is important information because sleep is crucial to our wellness. It's great for us to see if sleep has any impact on our perceptual experiences as we develop better therapeutic treatments.
Attitudes and Experiences Module:
This module will ask questions about your attitude toward certain life experiences.
Personality Module:
This module will be asking further questions on your beliefs in general on relationships and questions about your personality.
Ideas of Control Module:
This module will present two statements in each question, asking you to choose which statement you align with most.
RECEIVING PAYMENT
A message will appear on the screen when you have completed all of the required surveys to receive payment.
Once completed, the answers will be reviewed and you will receive payment within five business days. Payment will come in the form of an Amazon gift card emailed to you.
Payment will be in the amount of $35 if you are eligible for and complete the required links (the Screening Survey, Survey B, and the Tasks Module). Payment will be in the amount of $50 if you are eligible for and complete all of the above plus Survey C.
Once we have reached our target number of participants who have completed the study, everyone who has completed the study will be entered into a raffle to WIN one of twenty Amazon gift cards for an additional $100!
Please note if you have endorsed having perceptual experiences, but you do not actually have them, you will not be paid.