Last update: December 6, 2001.
In the following, "you", "your", and "participant" refer to the user. "We" and "our" refers to Participants Online, its owner, Darren I. Urada, and Participants Online employees upon their hiring.

1. You must not participate more than once in any study. If you attempt to do so, you may forfeit credit for your participation and you may be barred from participating in or receiving credit for future studies. Multiple procedures are in place in order to enforce this, including but not limited to the use of "cookies" (a small file saved on your hard drive) and the recording of your IP address. These procedures do not identify any personal information about you and will be used to identify or deny access to individuals who may be abusing these rules.

2. Currently we can only offer payment or drawings for cash to residents of the United States (hopefully this will be expanded in the future). No purchase is necessary and the offer is void where prohibited. For an alternative method of entry using regular ("snail") mail, send us an e-mail message requesting alternative entry information. The deadline for entry will depend upon the number of participants. Unless otherwise stated, the drawing will be declared closed when the study has attained the necessary number of participants. Odds, prizes, and further details on drawings will be included with each study.

3. Bonus drawing: Currently there is a single prize for the bonus drawing in the amount of $100, but this amount may increase if researchers make additional contributions to the prize fund before the prize is awarded. All entries must be received on or before December 31 of each calendar year. The odds of winning this bonus drawing will depend upon the number of entries received at that time. Participants may receive entries into this drawing by participating in Participant Online studies, by being on the Participant Mailing List on December 31 of each calendar year. No purchase is neceassary. Additional means of entry may be made available in the future. For an alternative method of entry using regular ("snail") mail, send us an e-mail message requesting alternative entry information. This offer is limited to residents of the United States and is void where prohibited.

4. We hope that you will take all of the research on this site as seriously as we do. Participants Online reserves the right to refuse service to anyone at our discretion. This will primarily be used to bar participants who, in our sole judgment, are not taking this research seriously.

5. You understand that you may be participating in a psychological experiment. As such, you understand that once you enter the experiment you may encounter experimental manipulations that may or may not include techniques that require some degree of deception. You understand that these techniques are only used as necessary for research purposes, and consent to their potential use.

6. You agree not to hold Participants Online, its owner, its employees, or any researcher who uses this site liable for any negative consequences that may arise from your participation in these studies or use of this web site.

7. You understand that your participation in experiments is completely voluntary and that you can quit at any time without negative consequences.

8. All research on this site has been reviewed by an appropriate committee (for example, a human subjects committee located at the researcher's university) and has been found to be acceptable and in accordance with the American Psychological Association's code of ethics (particularly sections 6.06-6.19). You understand that Participants Online relies upon the judgments of these committees and does not knowingly allow any studies that have been deemed unsafe or unethical.

9. Researchers will provide you with as much information about the study as is reasonably and practically possible before you participate. After you complete each study, you will be offered a full debriefing on the study's purpose and other details.

10. Participants Online has and will continue to take steps to ensure your privacy. Your personal information (your name, address, e-mail address, and any other information given during registration) will not be sold or shared with another party unless you explicitly give us permission to do so or if we are compelled to do so by law. We will only share aggregated data, such as the average age of our participants. Responses given while participating in an experiment will be given to the researcher in charge of that experiment. In some cases a researcher may wish to pay you, enter you in a drawing, or give you class credit directly rather than through us and the researcher would then require information about you to do so. If this is the case, you will be notified of this before you participate. If you receive a prize in a drawing, you understand that your name may be included on a winner's list that may be made public. Information you submit to this site during registration or while you participate in studies is authenticated and secured in transit with 128-bit strong encryption (assuming your browser supports this), the strongest form of encryption commercially available. Netscape and Microsoft browsers indicate a secure connection by displaying a small image of a closed padlock on the bottom of the browser.

11. You understand that changes to these terms and conditions become effective immediately upon being posted here. If you wish to be notified whenever modifications are made to these terms and conditions, you may send us an e-mail stating so.