Would you like to take part in a study on memories?

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Hi everyone! My name is Bethany Heywood and I'm a postgraduate researcher at the Institute of Cognition and Culture at Queen's University Belfast. I'm doing a study on narrative expression in people with Asperger syndrome, and I was hoping some of you might like to take part. I have received permission from Alex to post this. Here's some more information about the study:

Requirements:
Participants must have received a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome from a psychiatrist or other professional, must be at least 18 years old, and must speak English as a first language.

Description of study:
The purpose of this study is to see what themes and narrative styles are used when participants write about important memories and how these themes and styles may vary based on the type of experience being described. For this study, participants will be interviewed on Google Talk instant messenger and during the course of this interview will be asked to respond to questions about two different types of memories and will also be asked some questions about life in general. On average, this study takes 45 minutes, though this varies from person to person.

Benefits of participation:
Research has shown that writing about important personal experiences is linked with improvements in mental and physical health. (see Pennebaker and Seagal, Forming a story: The health benefits of narrative, 1999)

Risks of participation:
There are no anticipated risks, although participants should keep in mind that the researcher is not a clinical psychologist or therapist.

Compensation:
Each participant will receive a gift certificate to either Amazon UK (for £5) or to Amazon US or Amazon Canada (for whatever the exchange rate equivalent of £5 is--usually around $10).

How to take part:
There's a sign up page for this study, and I've posted the link to it in my profile. I'm new so I can't post a link directly in here.

If you have any questions, feel free to send me an e-mail or a PM.

Bethany T. Heywood
PhD candidate
Institute of Cognition and Culture
Queen’s University Belfast

Sorry, it looks like the link wasn't working earlier, but it is now. If anyone is still having problems, please PM or e-mail me, and I'll send you the link directly.

damn, I wish that I was diagnosed proffessionally.. im sure im an aspergie.. does that count? it sounds like something I would enjoy doing.. i feel like an outcast in a world of outcasts..

Hi Shawn,
At the moment, this study is restricted to people who have been officially diagnosed, but if you'd like to e-mail or PM me your e-mail address, I can keep you updated on future studies which might be open to you.

And I do still need participants for this study, so everyone please keep signing up!

Alas, I'd like to help, but English is my second language. Unless it counts that I often know the English term for something before remembering the German term.

Since you are in England, is it only the UK diagnosis of Asperger's or does the US diagnosis of PDD-NOS count? I think it's reversed between the 2 countries, generally in the US the diagnosis of PDD-NOS is higher functioning than Asperger's, and in the UK Asperger's is higher functioning than PDD-NOS.

I'd love to participate, but unfortunately I don't have an official diagnosis

Well I'm officially diagnosed, but not over 18. And English isn't my first language. (Not officially, but in practice I must say it is...)

It does sound like an intruiging study.

I don't use instant messenger programs/applications, for few reasons-I only do email, private messages (same thing as email, via a message board), or comment in forum posts. Is it a requirement to use IM-ing in this instance ?
My internet connection is "dial-up", so I can't just sit online typing for too long, or else it hangs up (it perceives my modem as idle/inactive when data isn't being transmitted).
Regardless of why, if study is limited to using IM function, that will preclude my participation.

You got any way of proving this is legit? I mean I'm interested, but you know...

When I was googling 'Queen's University Belfast' and 'autism' the other day before actually arriving in Belfast, this study came up a few times, so I'm sure it's legit.

Is it in Belfast? What pub?

Mage, I wasn't aware that there was a difference between the diagnostic criteria of PDD-NOS and AS in different countries. I'll look into that now. I think for simplicity's sake, I will restrict this study to participants who have been diagnosed with AS, but in any write-ups that I do, I will note that diagnosis may vary a bit from country to country. Thank you for bringing that to my attention.

Also, for anyone who isn't over 18 or for whom English is not their first language, I'm sorry. The age restriction is in place because it's harder to get ethical permission to work with non-adults, and also I want participants to have a enough experiences to draw upon when responding to questions in the interview. And I know that many non-native English speakers are often better than native English speakers, but I have had some problems in past interviews with people who did not speak English as a first language.

Belfast, unfortunately, conducting the interview via IM is a requirement. I chose to use instant messenger because I think it creates a good real-time back and forth. And since I'm conducting all of the other interviews this way, I don't think I can change methods. Sorry about that. Could you go to a library or a friend's house to do the interview?

JohnHopkins, here's some more information on the study:
Researcher:
Bethany T. Heywood
[email protected]

Supervisor:
Jesse M. Bering, Ph.D.
[email protected]

Queen’s University
Institute of Cognition and Culture
School of History and Anthropology
2-4 Fitzwilliam Street
BT7 1NN
tel. 02890 971340

Ethics Review Administrator:
Frances Mercer
School of History and Anthropology
15 University Square
BT7 1NN
tel. 02890 973434

ETHICAL APPROVAL:
This study has been approved by the Research Ethics Committee for the School of History and Anthropology at Queen's University, Belfast.

And if you go to the Queen's University webpage, I'm listed under current research students at the Institute of Cognition and Culture. If there's any other information I can give you to prove this is a legitimate study, just ask.

Magnus, I wish I could do this interview at a pub, but again, I can't change the methodology of it now.

I fear I might not be of use having autobiographical / chronological memory problems, which I’m told by my psych at the Maudsley Hospital is not common in AS.

0_equals_true, that does sound like it might be a problem. However, many of the questions in the study ask you about your feelings on certain important memories, and I don't ask for a timeline of your life or anything. I just give a broad memory prompt (for example, asking you to describe a turning point in your life), and you can write about whatever memory you feel fits that category. There are a few more general questions at the end of the interview, but mostly the interview focuses on individual important memories.

I'd love to help, however I am not yet officially diagnosed. (waiting for the phone call to set up my interview.)