Sussex Psychophysiological Research Protocol

Guidelines for best practices in psychophysiological research.

About

This document contains information to help you include physiological data in your experiments. The templates and examples are presented for reference purposes and should be adapted to fit the specific requirements of each study. Feel free to borrow, edit, improve, and do let us know if you have questions or suggestions.

Note This is a work-in-progress document. Get in touch if you want to contribute.

What to Add in your Informed Consent Form?

You should begin by providing a simple, non-technical explanation of the physiological data collection procedure to participants, emphasizing its purpose in the research study. Participants need to be informed that various sensors or devices may be used to collect physiological signals such as heart rate, respiration, or other relevant data. It should be made clear that the data collected is solely for research purposes and that any irrelevant information will not be observed or analysed by the researchers. Additionally, participants should be notified of the potential risks associated with the data collection procedure to ensure their safety and well-being. Providing a link to professional guidance for any concerns related to their health or well-being is essential.

Here are templates of the information that should be included for different types of signals:

• Cardiac Activity (ECG, PPG)
• EEG

What to Add in your Ethics Application?

Risk Assessment Form

A risk assessment form should be included in your ethical review, listing all potential risks and explaining in detail who might be at risk and how to properly control those risks.

A list of the University of Sussex risk assessment forms can be found here: https://www.sussex.ac.uk/hso/hsoatoz

Here are examples of risk assessment form to be added for different types of recordings:

• ECG

Procedure

Apart from describing the tasks that participants will conduct during the experiment (under the Methods section for ethical review made at the University of Sussex), it is important to provide a detailed explanation of the physiological measurement procedure. This should include information such as:

• Brand of the equipment used with link to its website
• Setup of the equipment (e.g., electrodes placement)
• Training for the researchers
• Instructions for participants during setup and recording
• Safety procedures

Additionally, it is crucial to state in your ethical application that all manufacturer instructions will be strictly followed.

Here are examples of the information that should be added to the ethics application regarding the physiological data collection procedure:

• Cardiac Activity (ECG, PPG)
• EEG

Equipment Details

Regardless of the type of physiological data you will be collecting for the study, it is essential to include the corresponding user manual provided by the manufacturer, which can be found online. See below for examples of equipment details to include.

• Cardiac Activity (ECG, PPG)
• EEG

What to do during the experiments

Make a checklist. An example can be found here:

• Add link to checklist (word doc)
• Add screenshot to show in the README how it looks like