In this part, you will be informed of the timeline of the task performed by future participants in an experiment.
Practice Period
During the practice period, the participants will complete a number of assignments: transcribing strings of Greek letters and symbols. There will be two types of transcription assignments: easy and hard.
For the easy assignment, the string length will be 6 Greek letters and symbols (see Figure 1A below).
Figure 1A: Easy Task-Example
For the hard assignment, the string length will be 8 Greek letters and symbols. In addition, the images provided for the hard assignment will be blurred (see Figure 1B below).
Figure 1B: Hard Task-Example
As shown in the two figures, for each transcription assignment, the participants will see an image at the top of the screen with a string of Greek letters and symbols. By clicking on the buttons in the bottom row, the participants can generate a string so that it matches what is given in the image. Note that the participant can always correct the input by clicking on the backwards button .
All participants will complete one round of the easy assignments and then one round of the hard assignments in order to familiarize themselves with the transcription task.
The Main Experiment
After completing the practice period, participants will be randomly and uniquely paired into groups of two. The groups will then work on additional transcription assignments. Within each group, there will be one role L player and one role F player. Participants will be informed of their role before they make any decisions.
Part I
The F players will work on easy transcription assignments for 5 rounds and each round will last 60 seconds. After the time has expired in each round, the L players will rate the difficulty (on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 = Extremely easy and 5 = Extremely difficult) of each assignment their player F partners worked on (as shown in Figure 2A).
Figure 2A: The Interface for the L player
At the end of rounds 1 and 3, the L players will receive performance reports for their player F partners (as shown in figure 2B). The report will include the number of assignments attempted, the solutions for the assignments attempted, the transcription entered for each assignment, the result for each assignment (number of letters transcribed correctly), and the time spent on each assignment.
Figure 2B: Performance Report for Player F-Example
After reading the report, the L players will send feedback to their player F partners. The feedback will be in the form of a single message selected from a list of possible messages (as shown in Figure 2C). Different messages can be selected at different feedback stage.
Figure 2C: List of Messages available to L players
Part II
After completing five rounds of the easy assignments, the L players will decide whether their player F partners should continue with the easy assignments or work on the hard assignments in the next five rounds. Once the assignment difficulty is chosen, it remains unchanged till the end of the experiment.
Similar to Part I, the F players will work on the assignments for five rounds. Each round will last 60 seconds.
The L players will rate the difficulty (on a scale from 1 to 5, where 1 = extremely easy and 5 = extremely difficult) of each assignment their player F partners worked on.
At the end of rounds 1 and 3, the L players will receive performance reports of their player F partners. After reading the report, the L players will send feedback to their player F partners. The feedback will again be in the form of a message selected from a list of possible messages shown in Figure 2C. Different messages can be selected at different feedback stage.
Payment Rules: Player F
For each easy assignment, the F players will be paid 1 ECU (Experimental Currency Unit) for each letter transcribed correctly and a bonus of 10 ECUs for each string that is transcribed fully correctly. A transcription is said to be “fully correct” if and only if the input matches the string in the image perfectly.
For each hard assignment, the F players will be paid 1 ECU for each letter transcribed correctly and a bonus of 24 ECUs for each string that is transcribed fully correctly.
The total payment received by the F players is the sum of the ECUs received in all rounds in Part I and Part II. Every 60 ECUs can be exchanged for $1.
Payment Rule: Role L
The L players will receive equal payment as their player F partners.
Comprehension Test
Please complete the following comprehension questions. You are required to correctly answer the questions before proceeding to the next screen.