FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
WHAT WILL MY PARTICIPATION INVOLVE?
We’ll have you visit the lab twice, each time for about 3 hours. We try to space these visits exactly 4 weeks apart.
We’ll also have you do an at-home activity that takes about 5-12 minutes a day for the 4 weeks between visits. We’ll walk you through your at-home activity at the end of your first visit. The activity will be either recording your screen time each day or listening to brief audio recordings through a smartphone app.
The in-person visits involve:
About an hour of questionnaires on a computer. These questionnaires cover things like demographics, health, well-being, sleep, and stress.
A computerized task where you look at faces and make some ratings.
A computerized task where you listen to tones and watch a light blink on a box. We’ll ask you whether the tones and lights are happening at the same time.
A stress test.
Recordings of your heart activity, moisture in your palms, and breathing. These are non-invasive and in place during the stress test and one of the computerized tasks. You’ll have them on for about an hour total.
For heart activity, we’ll walk you through placing 3 sticker sensors across your torso (two just under your collarbones and 1 below your lower left rib), then clipping some wires to the sensors.
For palm moisture, we’ll place 2 sticky sensors on your palm and clip a couple wires to them that plug into a little wrist-worn recording device.
For breathing, there’s a stretchy belt that goes around your diaphragm and measures changes in tension – so it can sense when you breathe in and your lungs and ribs expand, compared to when you breathe out and your lungs and ribs contract.
WHAT'S THE TOTAL TIME COMMITMENT?
2 in-person visits of about 3 hours each.
About 15 minutes a day for 4 weeks.
CAN I TAKE BREAKS DURING THE VISIT? WILL I BE REQUIRED TO SIT OR STAND FOR LONG PERIODS OF TIME?
You can take breaks during your visit! We will ask you at a couple points if you would like to take a break, and you can also ask to take a break at any point.
Typically most of the session is seated, with about 35 minutes standing (we’ve got some anti-fatigue mats for that portion). We can adjust the entire session to be seated, just let us know when you schedule your study visits. We can also adjust most of the session to be standing, just let us know when you schedule your study visits.
WILL I BE PAID FOR MY PARTICIPATION?
Yes, participants receive up to $75 for completing the study. This payment is broken down as follows:
$25 for completing the first in-person visit
$35 for completing the second in-person visit
$15 for completing both in-person visits and completing the at-home activity.
WHAT TIMES DO STUDY VISITS HAPPEN? CAN I DO THEM AFTER WORK OR ON WEEKENDS?
Sessions typically run from 2pm-5pm or 5pm-8pm Sunday through Friday. So yes, we can do weekends!
If those standard times don’t work for you we can try to make any 3-hour chunk work between the hours of 1pm-9pm.
WHERE DO STUDY VISITS TAKE PLACE?
The Center for Healthy Minds
625 West Washington Avenue
Madison, WI 53703
CAN YOU ASSIST WITH TRANSPORTATION TO AND FROM MY STUDY VISITS?
We are able to cover cab transportation to the Center for Healthy Minds for a limited number of participants in the Madison, WI and surrounding area.
CAN YOU PROVIDE CHILDCARE DURING MY STUDY VISIT?
Unfortunately we cannot assist with childcare for this study.
WILL YOU TELL ME HOW I DID OR THE RESULTS OF THE TESTS?
We are not able to tell you the results of the tests.
HOW DO YOU KEEP MY DATA SAFE?
Each participant is assigned a 4-digit ID number that is used to label all of their data (paper and digital) instead of their name. We keep the link between your name and that 4-digit ID number in an extra secure database that is only accessible by study staff. Paper forms are kept in locked file cabinets. Digital files are stored on password-protected and encrypted servers.
We consider how things other than your name might be used to identify you, such as your address or birthdate, and keep this information extra secure as well.
AM I ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE? WHAT DISQUALIFIES PEOPLE FROM PARTICIPATING?
We wish we could include everyone who wants to participate in the study, but unfortunately have a number of inclusion and exclusion criteria to avoid confounds in the measures and balance the risks and benefits of the study.
Participants must be
Between 18-65 years old
Comfortable reading, writing, and conversing in English
U.S. Citizen or permanent resident (for payment purposes)
Have a smartphone compatible with our study app
Participants cannot have
A lot of experience with meditation, yoga, tai chi, or qi gong
Current or past psychotic disorder, Bipolar Disorder, PTSD, or social phobia
Current, severe major depressive episode
Current, severe generalized anxiety
Active stimulant use
Active beta-blocker, beta-agonist, anti-high blood pressure, or anti-anxiety medication use
Currently pregnant (due to physiological changes)
History of neurological disorder
Currently diagnosed with high blood pressure, or heart murmur
Have a pacemaker
THE SCREENING QUESTIONNAIRE DETERMINED I AM INELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE AND I WOULD LIKE CLARIFICATION AS TO WHY.
Reach out to us over phone or email and we would be happy to discuss this with you based on your personal situation.
Note that email is generally not a secure way to communicate sensitive or health related information as there are many ways for unauthorized users to access email. You should avoid sending sensitive, detailed personal information by email. Email should also not be used to convey information of an urgent nature. If you would prefer not to receive study communication by email, please contact us at 608-890-4430.
HOW DO YOU KEEP PARTICIPANTS AND STUDY STAFF SAFE DURING COVID-19?
We take COVID-19 precautions seriously. Our study staff will be wearing masks for your study visit. You can choose whether you wear a mask or not during your visit, unless University or local policies dictate otherwise.
For about half of the visit you will be in a room by yourself that has a microphone and speaker system set up to communicate with study staff in a nearby room. For the rest of the visit we will try to maintain 6 feet of distance, but there are a few procedures such as setting up the heart/breathing/palm moisture equipment that require us to be closer than 6-feet. Just let us know if you would like us to give you extra space during the visit.
If you need to reschedule your study visits due to COVID-19 concerns, we are happy to accommodate.
HOW LONG WILL THE STUDY BE RUNNING?
The study will be wrapping up some time between December 2022-April 2023, depending on recruitment and student graduation timelines.
I CALLED THE STUDY LINE AND NO ONE ANSWERED. WHAT SHOULD I DO?
Our study is staffed largely by university students, who are not able to answer calls at all times between 9am-5pm Monday-Friday. Please leave a voicemail or email us with the best times for us to contact you and we will get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you!