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Participant Information Sheet
(03/11/2025)

Title of Study: Comparing Human Decision Making with Artificial Intelligence (AI) in a Courtroom Context 

We are inviting you to take part in a research study. Before you decide, it is important that you know why we are doing the study and what is involved. Please read the following information carefully.

**Content Warning** The following study will involve a description of a crime that allegedly occurred and some description of the court process. Please note that the crime that is alleged to have taken place describes the physical assault of a child.

What is the purpose of the study?
The current study aims to investigate juror decision-making. Specifically, the research is interested in the decisions that jurors make about witnesses and defendants and whether Artificial Intelligence (AI) platforms make similar, or different, decisions to humans. The present study will therefore address this issue. The study is conducted online.  

Am I eligible to take part?
You are being invited to take part as you are 18 years or above. We will be asking approximately 300 other people to also take part.
Although we believe there to be no significant risks to taking part in the study, if you feel that reading about a crime and mental health will be distressing for you then we suggest that you do not to take part. 

Do I have to take part?
Participation is completely voluntary. You should only take part if you want to and choosing not to take part will not disadvantage you in anyway.
PLEASE BE AWARE that the study will ask you to read a court case trial scenario. The scenario will involve a description of the alleged physical assault of a child, which will also include details about injuries. There may also be some discussion of the witness’s mental health or neurodivergence. You will also be asked to read several statements from an existing, standardised measure about your views around mental health or neurodivergence. These statements do not, in any way, reflect the views of the researchers involved or the University of Lincoln. Participants who feel that this might be upsetting to them are advised to not take part. 

What will I be asked to do?
If you do decide to take part, you will first be asked to sign an eConsent form. This consent form ensures that you are happy to take part and are aware of what you will be asked to do as part of the study. If you agree to take part you will first be asked some demographic questions which will include asking you about your gender, your age, and your ethnicity. You will be given the option to select ‘prefer not to say’ if you do not want to answer these questions.

Next, you will be asked to read a mock court case trial scenario involving an alleged physical assault of a child (including details about the child’s injuries), alongside some description of the court process. You will then be asked some questions about the case trial scenario to ensure that you have understood this. Then you will be asked some questions about the witness and the defendant in the case trial scenario.

Finally, you will be asked to respond to some statements about your views around mental health conditions, neurodivergence, your attitudes towards punishment, and your feelings of empathy and concern for others. All participants will be fully debriefed at the end of the study.
It is anticipated that the study will take no longer than 10-15 minutes to complete.                  
                                                                    
Will I be paid expenses for taking part?
You will not be paid to participate in the study. However, if you are a University of Lincoln student who is participating through SONA then you will receive 1 credits for taking part. 

What are the possible benefits / risks of taking part?
The researchers do not anticipate there to be any real risks involved in taking part in the study. However, as mentioned, this study contains some topics that are sensitive in nature including crime, mental health, and neurodivergence. If you feel that any of this will be distressing for you then you are advised not to take part.

At present, we do not know what the outcome of the study will be, which is why we are conducting the research. However, we hope that by undertaking this research, we will be able to identify whether decision-making can be supported by AI in a jury decision-making context.        

Will anyone know I have taken part?
The information we collect will be handled in confidence at all times. No one will know you have taken part as your responses are anonymous.

Please note, if you are completing the study via SONA, the data will be pseudo-anonymised as this is linked to your student account. This is so the system can allocate you the SONA points. This identifying information will not be saved alongside the data set, and as such, you will not be identifiable in any analysis. 

Where will my data be stored?
The data obtained from the study will be stored securely on the university OneDrive in password protected files. Only the researchers will have access to it. The data from this study may be put in an Open Access repository for other researchers to use in future research. 

What will happen if I don’t want to carry on with the study?
You might decide that you do not want to take part. If this is the case, then you do not have to go any further than this point. If you do decide to take part but want to withdraw once the study has begun, then you can do so by clicking the ‘X’ button in the top right-hand corner and closing down the web browser that you are in. Please note that partial data from participants who withdraw from the study may be included in the final data set for this study.

As you will be completing the study anonymously it will not be possible to remove the data provided once the study has been completed. This is because we will not be able to identify you in any way. 

What will happen to the results of the research study?
The results of the study will be used to form several undergraduate year 3 dissertation project for a BSc Psychology course at the University of Lincoln. The results may also be published in a peer reviewed academic journal. You will not be able to be identified in any work produced from this study. 

Who is organising and funding the research?
This research is being organised by Dr Georgina Gous, Dr Robin Kramer, Dr Vicky Lister (research supervisors) and an MSc student (Lily Wright) at the University of Lincoln. 

Who has reviewed the study?
All research conducted by the University of Lincoln is looked at by an independent group of people, called a Research Ethics Committee, to protect your interests. This study has been reviewed and given favourable opinion by a University of Lincoln Research Ethics Committee [ethics approval code: 2025_22286]. 

What if there is a problem?
It is very unlikely that this study will cause you any harm. If you have a concern or a complaint about any aspect of this study, you should ask to speak to the researchers who will do their best to answer your questions. The researchers contact details are given at the end of this information sheet.

If you remain unhappy and wish to complain formally, you can make a formal complaint through the University complaints procedure or by contacting [email protected]. 

Contact details of researchers:
Dr Georgina Gous (research supervisor)    Email: [email protected]
Dr Robin Kramer (research supervisor)     Email: [email protected]
Dr Vicky Lister (research supervisor)        Email: [email protected] 

Other contact details:
If you are affected by any of the issues raised by taking part in this study the following organisations may be able to provide help and advice:

NHS Support
Support for mental health related issues through the NHS
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines/

Victim Support
Victim support is an independent charity dedicated to supporting victims of crime and traumatic incidents in England and Wales
https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/ | 0808 1689 111 (24/7 support line)

Student Wellbeing Centre (University of Lincoln)
If you are a University of Lincoln student then you may wish to contact the Wellbeing Centrehttps://studentservices.lincoln.ac.uk/ | [email protected]
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