Abstract

Consent forms are crucial for ensuring that participants are informed about experiments and allowing research to be conducted ethically. However, people often struggle to understand the content of consent forms, fail to realize their importance, or ignore parts of the form altogether. In the present study, I randomly assigned participants to two consent-form groups, one with academic jargon and one without this jargon. After reading these consent forms, participants completed an assessment on the consent form. Half of the participants were given this assessment immediately after reading the consent form, and the other half took the assessment after a delay. The assessment measured both their memory of the consent form, as well as asking their opinions on consent form. Results showed no difference in the memory of the consent forms between participants who received the jargon or no jargon form, as well as no difference in memory based on delay. There was also no difference in opinion between the two groups based on jargon, but participants in the no-delay group found the consent form higher quality and more readable than participants in the delay group. Consent forms are still often poorly understood by participants, but factors other than jargon must be used in improving them.

Advisor

Foster, Nathan

Department

Psychology

Disciplines

Behavior and Behavior Mechanisms

Keywords

Jargon, Consent Forms, Memory

Publication Date

2024

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2024 Preston Melchior-Fisher