Plain language statement

PROJECT TITLE:
How does semantic richness impact the processing of word meaning across different languages?

Responsible researcher: Dr Simon De Deyne [email protected]
Peshala Dissanayake Graduate Diploma in Psychology (Advanced) [email protected]

Introduction

Thank you for your interest in participating in this experiment. Please read this Plain Language Statement carefully to decide whether you would like to take part in this research project. If you have any questions regarding the experiment, please feel free to contact Peshala Dissanayake ([email protected]).
Your participation is completely voluntary. It is your choice whether to take part, and if you wish to withdraw midway, you are free to do so without facing any consequences.

What is this research about?

The goal of this study is to investigate whether semantic meaning can be considered constant across languages, or rather that differences in semantic richness (e.g. how many things/features we know about a particular word) between languages affects semantic meaning.

What will I be asked to do?

You will first be asked to answer demographic questions. This is followed by a task that judges your semantic understanding of words, in which you will be asked to choose whether a word is more “concrete” or “abstract” in meaning. Finally, you will then complete a task in which you will judge the relatedness of words. In this task, you will be presented with three words, one cue word and two word prompts. You will be asked to choose which of the two word prompts is more strongly related to the cue word. The survey data will be collected online, with the estimated time commitment for both tasks being 30 minutes in total.

What are the possible benefits?

The research will expand the existing knowledge surrounding variability in semantic richness across languages. Specifically, it will provide data on how native speakers in different languages respond to semantic judgements tasks, and whether this is linked to the level of semantic complexity and richness of their linguistic group. As part of the University of Melbourne Research Experience Program (REP), you, as the participant, will receive 0.5 course credits

What are the possible risks?

There are minimal risks involved in this study. The words presented will all be common and non-sensitive words. There are no advantages or disadvantages in participating in this project other than to accrue hours of credit and the inherent benefits of experiencing the research project.

There are minimal risks involved in this study. The words presented will all be common and non-sensitive words.

What will happen to information about me?

We will endeavour to protect your confidentiality as best we can, subject to limits of the law. Your consent form will be kept separate from your data. The data will be identified by participant ID only and will not contain your name. Only the researchers involved in this study will be able to link your data to your name. Data from this study will be stored in a password protected system (OneDrive) owned by the research team and made available only to the researchers listed at the top of the Plain Language Statement. The raw data will be stored for 5 years. The summary data will also later be made available online for research related and/or unrelated to the current study, again in de-identified form. As a result, consenting to this study entails also consenting to collected information being shared and potentially used in further, unrelated research. In any publication of the information, privacy and confidentiality will be protected through the use of de-identified data.

Do I have to take part?

No, participation is entirely voluntary. If you wish to withdraw at any point in the experiment, you will not be penalised. The data for incomplete studies will not be stored, and therefore will not be used for analysis. However, please note that REP points will not be awarded for any incomplete participations.

Will I hear about the results of this project?

The results of this research may be published in conference presentations and research papers which will be made available through the lab webpage (https://psychologicalsciences.unimelb.edu.au/chdh/about). Following completion, you will be provided with a debriefing form summarising the aims of the project.

Where can I get further information?

If you would like more information about the project, please contact the researchers: Dr Simon De Deyne ([email protected]), or Peshala Dissanayake ([email protected]).

Who can I contact if I have any concerns about the project?

This project has human research ethics approval from The University of Melbourne (Project ID: 29592) If you have any concerns or complaints about the conduct of this research project, which you do not wish to discuss with the research team, you should contact the Research Integrity Administrator, Office of Research Ethics and Integrity, University of Melbourne, VIC 3010. Tel: +61 3 8344 1376 or Email: [email protected]. All complaints will be treated confidentially. In any correspondence, please provide the name of the research team and/or the name or ethics ID number of the research project.

Consent to participate in study

I consent to participate in this project, the details of which have been explained to me, and I have been provided with a written Plain Language Statement to keep. I understand that the purpose of this research is to investigate how differences in semantic richness across different languages affect meaning.

I understand that my participation in this project is for research purposes only.
In this project, I will be required to answer some demographic questions, and then complete two online tasks, with the first being a semantic categorisation task that involves determining whether a cue word is more concrete or abstract in meaning, and the second a semantic relatedness task that involves determining whether a cue word is most closely related to one of two prompt words.
I acknowledge that the possible effects of participating in this research project have been explained to my satisfaction.
I understand that my participation is voluntary and that I am free to withdraw from this project anytime without explanation or prejudice, and to withdraw any unprocessed data that I have provided.
I understand that my raw data will be stored in de-identified form at the University of Melbourne for 5 years, with the summary data being made available to other researchers upon publication for use in research related and/or unrelated to the current study for an indefinite time.
I have been informed that the confidentiality of the information I provide will be safeguarded; my data will be password protected and accessible only to the named researchers.

Click "Proceed" to voluntarily consent to the above and participate in this study.

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