Memory and number measures

Information for participants

Memory and number tasks are used to measure our ‘mental functioning’ – how well our brains work.

Tracking mental functioning can help us see how our brains develop as we get older and why some people lose some of their mental agility in later life.

To help us better understand how our brains process memory and number tasks we would like you to complete a short set of online tasks.

What do I need to do?

To take part, please log in to the website using the link and access code sent in your email or on the card given to you by your interviewer and complete around 20 minutes of simple tasks on memory and numeracy.

What if I can’t complete all the tasks correctly?

We are interested in all the information that you can provide, regardless of whether the answers are correct or not and whether you can do all or some of the tasks. The information will still be very valuable to us.

Will I be given feedback?

Unfortunately, we will not be able to give you any feedback on your results in these tests.

To thank you for taking part we will give you a £5 voucher.

Who is carrying out the research study?

Researchers at the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex are running this study. Verian (formerly Kantar Public) and the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen) will be working with us to conduct fieldwork and collect the measurements. Ethical approval for the study has been provided by NHS Health Research Authority, East of England – Essex Research Ethics Committee, reference: 22/EE/0260.

Do I have to take part?

Like every other part of Understanding Society, this part of the project is completely voluntary. You do not need to take part in these tasks if you do not wish to, but we hope that you will agree to it as you are a very important part of the Understanding Society study. To make the information as useful as possible, it’s important that we hear from lots of different people in many areas of the UK.

Are there any risks involved in participating?

There are no risks associated with taking part in these tasks.

How will you keep my information safe?

In this research study we will use information from the tasks, but we will only use the information that we need for the research study. Verian and NatCen, our fieldwork partners, will use your name and contact details so they can invite you to the study and carry out the fieldwork.

Everyone involved in this study will keep your data safe and secure. The results of the study will never include any names or addresses. The information collected is only used for research and will be dealt with according to the principles of the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). At the end of the study, annonymised data are made available from the UK Data Service and other secure data repositories to genuine and registered researchers only.

What if I change my mind about taking part?

Taking part is completely voluntary. You have the right to change your mind about completing this part of the study, or can withdraw from the study, at any time without explanation.

What if I have concerns about the way the study was carried out?

You can contact:

Director of Understanding Society, Professor Michaela Benzeval, telephone 01206 873983, email mbenzeval@essex.ac.uk.

Research Director at ISER, Professor Paul Clarke, telephone 01206 873760, email pclarke@essex.ac.uk.

Research Governance and Planning Manager at the University of Essex, Mantalena Sotiriadou, telephone 01206 876320, email ms21994@essex.ac.uk.

If you would prefer to read this information in a leaflet, you can download a pdf here.