Effect of Dimmed Lighting Conditions on Obstacle Negotiation
Thank you for your interest in this study. Before you decide whether to take part, it is
important for you to understand why the study is being conducted and what it will
involve. Please read the following information carefully and ask questions if anything is
unclear or if you would like more information.
1.Who will conduct the research?
We would like to invite you to take part in a research study investigating the influence of
dimmed lighting conditions on obstacle negotiation. The lead researcher for the study is
Danishta Kaul (PhD student, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling) and the
primary supervisor for the study is Gemma Learmonth (Lecturer, Faculty of Natural
Sciences, University of Stirling). This study is part of a PhD project funded by the Institute
for Advanced Studies, University of Stirling.
2. What is the purpose of the research?
The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of different lighting conditions (such
as light, ambient and dark) on walking patterns and naturalistic obstacle negotiation in
young and older adults. During the experiment mobile EEG data will also be recorded to
understand the underlying brain mechanisms while walking and navigating obstacles.
3. Why have I been invited to take part?
You have been invited to participate because you are either between the ages of 18-30
years old or 65-80 years old and you fulfil the following eligibility criteria-
• You are currently not experiencing any difficulty while walking.
• You have not had hip replacement or knee surgery in the past that might
influence your ability to participate in this study.
• You are currently not experiencing any physical conditions that might influence
your ability to walk.
• You have no history with neurological episodes (e.g., epileptic seizures) or any
neurological conditions that affect your ability to walk (e.g., Parkinson’s disease).
• You have not experienced a stroke that has impacted your movement ability.
• You have no metal implants in your head.
• You have normal or corrected-to-normal vision.
• You have a hairstyle that allows recording EEG data (e.g., no dreadlocks, no
product applied).
4. Do I have to take part?
No. The decision to participate or not is up to you. After reading this information sheet if
you do decide to take part you will be asked to sign a consent form when you arrive for
the experiment and you will be given this information sheet to keep. You can withdraw
your participation at any time before, during or after the experiment, without needing to
explain and without penalty by advising the lead researcher of this decision. You can ask
for your data to be withdrawn up until one month after the day your data was recorded
by emailing the lead researcher at danishta.kaul@stir.ac.uk and stating your unique
identifier. However, after that we will not be able to withdraw your data since it will have
been anonymised. This does not affect your data protection rights and if you decide not
to take part you do not need to do anything further.
5. What will happen if I take part?
The experiment will take place in room C.3A112 (Cottrell Building) in University of Stirling.
When you arrive for the experiment, the lead researcher will explain the task to you, and
you will be asked to read and sign a consent form. You will then be asked to provide
demographic data (such as your age, gender, height, and handedness) and information
about your physical activity level.
A mobile EEG cap will be fitted on your head to measure the electrical activity of your
brain throughout the experiment. A small amount of gel will be applied to each recording
site on the cap. You will also be asked to wear a light backpack containing the EEG
amplifier throughout the experiment. Further, you will be asked to put on a motion
capture body suit to which velcro markers will be attached. These velcro markers allow us
to track the movements of your body as you walk backwards and forwards. The motion
capture suit includes a jacket, pants, and foot wraps that are worn over your own clothes.
The lightweight velcro markers will be placed by the experimenter with your help on
certain anatomical landmarks of the body such as your hip bone, your knees, and your
feet.
During the experiment you will be asked to walk back and forth on a straight track while
stepping over 2D obstacles (a rectangle) projected on the floor using a light projector. In
some trials the obstacle will be visible before you start walking, while in other trials the
obstacle will appear after you have started walking. There will also be trials without any
obstacles where you will just walk back and forth. You will be taken to the ‘PIL’ room
(Cottrell building, room 3B113) so you can wash your hair after the experiment is over, or
you can do this yourself at home.
In the trials where an obstacle is present, your task will be to step over the obstacle,
ensuring that your foot does not come in contact with the edges of the obstacle. You will
be asked to complete all trials under 3 different light conditions. The ‘light’ condition will
have the artificial lights in the room turned on. The ‘ambient light’ condition will involve
the use of LED lighting and in the ‘dark’ condition the lights will be turned off, but a small
amount of light from a computer monitor will remain on so you can still see the track.
There are a number of conditions in which you are walking backwards and forwards, each
condition should take no more than approximately 10 minutes and you will also receive a
short break after each condition. You are encouraged to ask for more breaks if required.
The total duration of the experiment will be approximately 4 hours (only approximately
30 minutes of this time will be spent walking, up to 60 minutes will be used for attaching
the motion capture markers and fitting the EEG cap, with the remaining time allocated for
any breaks required or hair washing) and there will not be any follow-up visits for this
experiment.
Disclaimer: Please note that researchers at the University of Stirling are not trained to
detect abnormal brain activity. EEG research scans at the University of Stirling are not
appropriate or used to diagnose medical conditions affecting the brain, or for detecting
structural abnormalities.
6. Are there any potential risks in taking part?
There are no potential risks in taking part in this experiment. The placement of the EEG
cap is not painful, although it may cause minor discomfort as you will be sitting still for a
while during this time. If you do feel any discomfort, please let us know. You are also
encouraged to ask for breaks if required.
7. Are there any benefits in taking part?
Psychology student participants may receive 2.5 tokens (if required) for the first hour and
then compensation at £7.50 per hour in accordance with the Undergraduate Student
Participation in Research in the Psychology Division Research Tokens Protocol.
Participants who are not first or second year Psychology students (taking part for course
credits or tokens), or who do not need tokens, will receive compensation at the standard
rate of £7.50 per hour.
8. What happens to the data I provide (including recorded media)?
All information provided by you during the study will be stored in accordance with the
2018 Data Protection Act and kept strictly confidential. All data will be fully anonymised
and no personal data is being recorded with the exception of the video (recorded during
the obstacle navigation task) which will be destroyed as soon as data analysis is complete
(within 1 month of recording). You will be asked to provide your consent for video
recording the experiment which will only be used to analyse gait patterns. The lead
researcher (Danishta Kaul) will be the custodian of the anonymous research data. To
adhere to open practice standards all anonymized results will be stored indefinitely and
will be made available on a public repository, Open Science Framework. Your identity will
remain completely confidential through the use of a unique identification code that will
be used in place of your name to identify all study data. The master list linking your name
and assigned code will be stored separately in locked storage. All study forms and
recordings will be stored in locked file cabinets or in password-protected computer files.
These forms and recordings will only be accessible to research team members.
9.How will the data be used? Will the research be published?
The research will form part of Danishta Kaul’s doctoral thesis and the findings will be
published in scientific journals and presented at academic conferences. You will not be
identifiable in any report/publication. If you wish to discuss the results of the study or
access a copy of the published results, please contact the researcher at
danishta.kaul@stir.ac.uk
The University of Stirling is committed to making the outputs of research publicly
accessible and supports this commitment through our online open access repository
STORRE. Unless funder/publisher requirements prevent us this research will be publicly
disseminated through our open access repository.
10.Who is organising and funding the research?
This research is part of a PhD project funded by Institute for Advanced Studies, University
of Stirling.
11.Who has reviewed this research project?
The ethical approaches of this project have been approved via The University of Stirling
General University Ethics Panel (reference number: 2024 18456 14815).
12.Who do I contact if I have concerns about this study or I wish to file a complaint?
If you would like to discuss the research with someone, you can use the following contact
details:
Danishta Kaul, lead researcher, PhD student (Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of
Stirling, FK9 4LA)- danishta.kaul@stir.ac.uk
Dr Gemma Learmonth, primary supervisor, Lecturer (Faculty of Natural Sciences,
University of Stirling, FK9 4LA)- gemma.learmonth@stir.ac.uk
If you have any complaints, you can contact-
Professor Paul Dudchenko, Head of Psychology Division (Faculty of Natural Sciences,
University of Stirling, FK9 4LA)- p.a.dudchenko@stir.ac.uk
You have the right to lodge a complaint against the University regarding data protection
issues with the Information Commissioner’s Office (https://ico.org.uk/concerns/).
The University’s Data Protection Officer is Joanna Morrow, Deputy Secretary. If you have
any questions relating to data protection these can be addressed to
data.protection@stir.ac.uk in the first instance.