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Field Before After
Trial Start Date October 13, 2025 January 01, 2026
Trial End Date October 17, 2025 March 31, 2026
Last Published October 13, 2025 11:01 AM January 08, 2026 07:01 AM
Intervention Start Date October 13, 2025 January 01, 2026
Intervention End Date October 17, 2025 March 31, 2026
Randomization Method Each participant is randomly assigned to one of four conditions at the beginning of his/her session. Each participant is randomly assigned to one of four conditions at the beginning of the session.
Intervention (Hidden) We combine an immersion and a noise treatment to create our 2x2 experimental setup: 1) With the immersion treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were prompted that they are playing the story of a detective. They selected a personal avatar with which to play this story from 40 pre-configured portrait busts. Participants then entered a (nick-)name for their avatar. Also before the start of the experiment, participants received a text with a narrative and complementary pictures telling the fictional story of the detective and loosely connecting it to the decoding task. During the breaks, participants received short texts complemented with pictures that continue the narrative. Participants’ avatars were also shown in each break. 2) The no immersion treatment represents the absence of the immersion game elements described above. Still, participants were asked to provide a (nick-)name. 3) With the no noise treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were made aware that their score will be displayed in a ranking against their peers in the break after each round. They were informed that their score equals the number of letters they decode correctly. Also, they were asked to provide a (nick-)name. The ranking was sorted and besides the score of the participant, always showed 7 scores with gender neutral names. The scores were established in pre-testing. 4) With the noise treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were made aware that their score will be displayed in a ranking against their peers in the break after each round. They were informed that because a random selection of fields counts double while another random selection doesn't count at all, their displayed score can be up to 80% higher or lower than their actual score. The resulting ranking was sorted and besides the score of the participant, always showed 7 scores with gender neutral names. The scores were established in pre-testing. Also, they were asked to provide a (nick-)name. We combine an immersion and a noise treatment to create our 2x2 experimental setup: 1) With the immersion treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were prompted that they are playing the story of a detective. They selected a personal avatar with which to play this story from 40 pre-configured portrait busts. Participants then entered a (nick-)name for their avatar. Also before the start of the experiment, participants received a text with a narrative and complementary pictures telling the fictional story of the detective and loosely connecting it to the decoding task. During the breaks, participants received short texts complemented with pictures that continue the narrative. Participants’ avatars were also shown in each break. 2) The no immersion treatment represents the absence of the immersion game elements described above. Still, participants were asked to provide a (nick-)name. 3) With the no noise treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were made aware that their score will be displayed in a ranking against their peers in the break after each round. They were informed that their score equals the number of letters they decode correctly. Also, they were asked to provide a (nick-)name. The ranking was sorted and besides the score of the participant, always showed 7 scores with gender neutral names. The scores were established in pre-testing. 4) With the noise treatment, before the start of the experiment, participants were made aware that their score will be displayed in a ranking against their peers in the break after each round. They were informed that their displayed score can be up to 80% higher or lower than their actual score. The resulting ranking was sorted and besides the score of the participant, always showed 7 scores with gender neutral names. The scores were established in pre-testing. Also, they were asked to provide a (nick-)name.
Secondary Outcomes (End Points) Identification with the avatar, enjoyment, perceived effort, group identity, gaming frequency and type, demographics Identification with the avatar, enjoyment, perceived effort, group identity, demographics
Secondary Outcomes (Explanation) Identification with the avatar, i.e. extent the participants identify with their avatar Enjoyment, i.e. how much the participants enjoy the task and the experiment Perceived effort, i.e. participants’ perception of how much effort they put into the task Group identity i.e. the extent the participants relate with their peers in the experiment Gaming frequency and type, i.e. how much participants play video games (currently and in their teens) and what types (action, sports, ...) Demographics, i.e. education, gender, age, work experience
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