Recruiting

Observational Study

Sponsor:

Washington University School of Medicine

Code:

NCT07900893

Conditions

Schizophrenia / Schizoaffective Disorder

SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder)

Healthy Adult

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 59

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Motion Perception Task

Sine Wave Speech Task

Volatility Task

Choice Probabilistic Reversal Task

Kamin Blocking Task

Study Details

Brief summary:

In Study 3, all tasks and models from Aim 1 will be evaluated in a large community sample of online participants recruited through Prolific.

Aim 3 will establish 1) requirements for testing computational algorithms in population-based samples, 2) whether task length is optimal, and 3) whether computational parameters help predict psychopathology (hallucinations and delusions in particular) in the general population, and how these predictors may be impacted by demographic variables, such as race, ethnicity, gender, age and other social determinants of health.

Participant demographics will be matched to the U.S. Census 2023 American Community Survey (ACS) data release (updated as available). MPI MacDonald has successfully recruited large online samples for over a decade.

Specifically, researchers will recruit two samples of n=2,000 to preregister hypotheses and then n=3,000 to independently confirm those hypotheses. Multiple methods will affirm the highest quality human self-report and behavioral data for online samples.

Researchers use Prolific, which is known for high quality research participation, maintaining low levels of bots through strategies such as requiring a photo ID and a waiting period. Second, inclusion criteria will require an approval rating of 90-100% from previous researchers. Participants will complete three sessions, each limited to \~60 min to avoid burnout.

Conditions

Schizophrenia / Schizoaffective Disorder

SCHIZOPHRENIA 1 (Disorder)

Healthy Adult

Study ID

NCT07900893

Start date

Dec 1, 2026

Status verified date

Oct, 2026

Completion date

Jun 30, 2031

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 30, 2031

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 59

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Residents of the U.S.
  • between 18-59 years of age

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Resides outside of U.S.
  • under 18 or over 59 years of age

Study Design

Enrollment

10000 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Basic Science

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Interventions

Motion Perception Task

Assesses updating of beliefs from new sensory inputs with prior knowledge via perceiving direction changes in random dot motion stimuli

Sine Wave Speech Task

Measures the degree to which overweighting of prior beliefs impacts processing of sensory inputs (detection of speech).

Volatility Task

Measures the updating of priors about the location of a bag drop from a helicopter when the location changes (prediction errors).

Choice Probabilistic Reversal Task

Assesses prior belief updating when feedback about obtaining positive outcomes changes (prediction errors).

Kamin Blocking Task

Examines the role of mismatches between learned priors and new information (prediction errors) in belief formation about event causes.

Minnesota Trust Game

Assesses the degree to which people distinguish between their priors about others' motivations, such as selfishness and spite, and impersonal chance in one-shot trust game and dictator games.

Dynamic Trust Game

Assesses degree to which people learn and update priors about trusting partners from dynamic social feedback (prediction error) in a social exchange game.

Primary outcome measure

  • Motion Perception Task Performance [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]
  • Sine Wave Speech Task Performance [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]
  • Volatility Task Performance [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]
  • Choice Probabilistic Reversal Performance Task [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]
  • Kamin Blocking Task Performance [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]
  • Minnesota Trust Game Performance [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]
  • Dynamic Trust Game Performance [ Time Frame: 1 hour ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Deanna Barch, PhD

314-935-8729dbarch@wustl.edu

Locations

University of Minnesota

Recruiting

Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, 55455

Contacts

Angus MacDonald III, PhD

612-624-3813angus@umn.edu

Alyssa Zimmerman

651-558-1275zimme857@umn.edu

Washington University

Recruiting

St Louis, Missouri, United States, 63130

Contacts

Deanna Barch, PhD

314-935-8729dbarch@wustl.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Washington University School of Medicine

Last update posted

Oct 28, 2026

Last verified

Oct, 2026

Keywords

  • schizophrenia
  • schizo-affective
  • healthy controls

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-29. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Washington University School of Medicine on 2026-10-28. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.