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Information and consent

Purpose of the study: This research will enable us to better understand how people coordinate their actions remotely.

Procedure: If you decide to participate, you will receive more detailed instructions about the specific task. You will be asked to complete a computer task in which you and another individual navigate PAC-MAN around a maze to earn points. You will be on a video call with the other individual which will be recorded for research and quality control purposes. Please close the browser and return your submission if you do not consent to this or if you do not have a webcam on your computer.

This study will take around 30 minutes

Lead researcher: Dr. Luke McEllin

Contact information: mcellinl@ceu.edu

Institution: Central European University, Vienna, Department of Cognitive Science

Please note that by proceeding to the next screen you are willingly consenting to participating in this study. Your participation is voluntary and you are free to withdraw yourself and your data from this study at any time without any reason by closing your browser and returning the study on Prolific.

Please know that your participation in this experiment is completely anonymous, and we do not share personal data with anyone. For this study, we will record your keyboard and mouse responses and will record your interaction with your partner over video call for research and quality control purposes. All recordings will be pseudonymized—direct identifiers removed or blurred, and any publications or presentations will contain only group-level data. Your data is stored in accordance with the GDPR regulations and the website’s own data protection policy.

Potential Risks: any risks associated with participation in this experiment are equivalent to those of using a computer or under normal everyday life conditions. The study does not include any unpleasant sounds or images.

If you agree to all of the above, please proceed to the next page for detailed instructions otherwise please close the browser and return the study on Prolific.

Important info:

Video call: This study will include a Video call which will be recorded. This means that you will need to allow this study to access your microphone, camera and speakers.

If you do not consent to this, please exit now.

Please be respectful to each other during the call. We check all videos - any abuse or inappropriate behavior will be reported to Prolific and investigated.

Total time: approximately 30 minutes over 12 rounds.

There will be a comprehension check after this page to check your understanding of the instructions. You will not be able to participate if you fail this check more than once.

Instructions

Please pay careful attention to the instructions - you will only be able to participate if you pass a comprehension check. Also, failure to follow the instructions may negatively affect your payment.

In this experiment you will be placed in a video call with another individual - this call will be recorded. Please ensure that you have allowed the app to access your camera and microphone. These recordings will be stored securely - we do not share these data with anyone and they will be used only for research purposes.

Welcome to our Joint PAC-MAN game - here you and your partner will jointly navigate PAC-MAN around a maze (using your direction keys), collecting fruits (represented by triangles).

You will need to press the same button within the same time window (1 second) in order to move. There will be a metronome to help you out.

Also, please try to avoid the ghosts (represented by squares) as these will end the trial prematurely.

Please see image below for a screenshot example.

You will complete several rounds of this task. Each round has two different colored fruits - you will collect one of these in the joint phase.

More specific instructions are given below.

Pac-Man Example

Example of layout during task

Joint Phase

You and your partner should jointly navigate to the fruit whilst avoiding the ghosts - the color of the fruit you should collect will be displayed above the maze

You both control PAC-MAN using your direction keys - he will only move if you press the same key at the same time (i.e., within 1 second of each other).

Before a joint trial begins, there will a metronome that beeps eight times, once every second. Sometimes it will continue through the task and sometimes it will stop before the task begins.

Use the metronome to pace yourselves - this will make moving together easier

You will have one minute to collect the fruit.

Logging into the call

Once you are sorted into a pair, you will come to a page which has an "Open video call" button

Please click this button - a new window will pop-up which will show your partner, and allow the app to access your camera and microphone and make sure these are switched on.

You can move this window wherever you like, but please ensure that you arrange your desktop in such a way that you can see both the experiment window and your partner

Please be respectful to each other - all calls will be monitored by us and any abuse or inappropriate behavior will be reported to Prolific and investigated

Other:

You will receive a payment of 4.5 GBP.

Please pay full attention throughout the task - if you do not respond in a timely manner you will time-out and be withdrawn from the task.

You will complete 12 rounds in total - which will take around 30 minutes.

You might have to wait for another available player to be matched with. If you are not matched with another player within 10 minutes, please return the study on Prolific and you will be paid for your waiting time

Payment

£4.50

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