Please read the following information carefully before deciding whether to participate in this experiment.

Why are you doing this research?

We want to understand the way the human brain helps us understand the world. More specifically, we want to know how the way we process things might change as we mature or get older. We also want to learn about how the brain processes information about other people in a social context. All measures on this website are for research purposes only and not for clinical diagnoses.

What will I have to do?

We will be asking you to pay attention to words or pictures on your computer screen. We will also ask you to make responses using your keyboard, mouse, or touchscreen. During these tasks, we will record your keypresses, mouse movements, clicks, and/or interactions with your touchscreen and use that information to understand more about your cognitive functions. You will receive more specific instructions shortly.

How long will this experiment take?

This experiment will take about 18 minutes.

Are there any risks?

We do not expect there to be any risks. For questions of a very private nature that might make you feel uncomfortable, you have the option to skip that question or decline to respond. You are also free to end the experiment at any time by closing your browser window.

Who is allowed to participate?

Anyone can participate, except for individuals residing in the EU or EEA who are excluded from participation.

What do I get out of it?

We will give you feedback on how you did when you finish the experiment. We will also tell you how you compare with other people who did this experiment. We will also explain what we hope to learn from this research. The final results from this experiment will be posted on the Results page.

Will I get paid?

We do not provide compensation for participation in this experiment.

Will you share my information with other people?

All of your information is stored in a secure database. All of our databases are password-protected and secure. For some experiments, we will ask you to share your email address with us so that we may recontact you in the future. Sharing your email address is optional. If you give us your email address, this information will be stored in a secure, encrypted form in our database. Your email address will not be shared with anyone outside of the research team. We will remove your email address from our database once we have compiled your data and that information is no longer needed. De-identified data from your participation may be shared with other researchers, software developers, or submitted to a repository as part of a dataset that is publicly availably and can be used to answer further research questions. This dataset will not include your email address, or any other information that can be used to uniquely identify you.

What if I change my mind and don't want to do the experiment anymore?

Your participation in this study is completely voluntary, and you may exit the experiment at any point. Your decision not to participate or to withdraw does not involve any penalty or loss of benefits to which you are otherwise entitled.

What if I have questions or something to tell you?

If you have any questions or comments about this experiment, please contact Laura Germine at testmybrain@gmail.com. Also, please feel free to browse the FAQ or ABOUT page to find out more about this website and the people involved in this research.

What if I have questions about my rights in this research, have a complaint, or want to report a problem to someone besides the researcher?

If you have questions about your rights in this research or for questions, concerns, suggestions, or complaints that are not being addressed by the researcher, or in the case of research-related harm, please contact the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects in Research at Harvard University. They can be reached at 617-496-2847, 1350 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 935, Cambridge, MA 02138 or cuhs@harvard.edu

How do I agree to participate?

By ticking the box next to "I agree to participate..." at the bottom of this page, you are saying that: