Would you like to take part in some psychology research? We are seeking both autistic and non-autistic volunteers to have their eyes tracked as they read.
What is the purpose of this research?
This research project aims to examine how autistic and non-autistic people understand written text. It is hoped that this work will increase the scientific understanding of how text is processed by different people. We hope that these findings will contribute to supporting and improving reading comprehension, text design, learning tools, and inclusivity.
What would taking part involve?
Taking part would involve the completion of three separate sessions, one of which will be in-person, and two of which will be completed online. In total, all three session will take approximately 2 hours and 15 minutes to complete.
The in-person session will involve you visiting the university and silently reading text as your eye movements are monitored. The online sessions will involve a range of different tasks including solving puzzles and completing questionnaires.
Volunteers will be gifted £30 for their time on completion of all tasks.
Who can take part?
We aim to recruit up to 80 adults to take part in this research; 40 people with a clinical diagnosis of an autism spectrum condition and 40 people who do not have a diagnosis of autism.
All participants must:
- Be aged 18 years +
- Be native English speakers
- If you have a diagnosis of autism, this must be a formal, clinical diagnosis*
- Have no known learning difficulties that may influence reading (e.g., dyslexia)
Who should I contact?
If you would like to find out more, have any questions, or are interested in taking part, please send me an email. We would be delighted to hear from you.
You can see the university advert for this research on the School of Education news site.
*A clinical diagnosis means that this was formally assessed and assigned by a clinical professional/s e.g., a psychologist or paediatrician.