Implementation of the official protocol --------------------------------------- **Experimenters** Up to two undergraduate research assistants will be conducting the testing, although the majority of data collection will be completed by the one RA, Clarence. They both have previous experience running similar experiments in the same behavioural lab on the same computers (although not on EPrime). The primary RA was given all of the printed materials ahead of time to read over, and then given a thorough explanation of the protocol and a walk-through of the online materials (and how to use EPrime). He then completed a pilot run of the experiment (see below). **Piloting / training** The RA (Clarence) who is conducting the majority of the data piloted the experiment with a single lab member acting as participant. A second RA (Jacqueline) conducted the experiment starting at P118, in the spring session. She was given a thorough explanation of the protocol, a walk-through of EPrime and the materials, and then completed a full pilot run of the procedure. **Experimenter knowledge of expected outcomes** We labelled the two conditions as “on” (for control) and “ep” (for depleted), in an attempt to somewhat obscure which condition was which. The EPrime files were temporarily re-named to no longer include “hard” and “easy” in them, but that interfered with the program's ability to find the files, so the file names were reverted back. ‘Depletion’ was also never used in any of the study scheduling or labelling. However, the experimenters have been volunteering in the lab for over a year and are final-year psychology majors, and it is quite likely that they are aware of the depletion phenomenon, since it is a commonly studied concept in our lab. We will explicitly ask the experimenters at the end of data-collection to what extent they were aware of the hypotheses, and will add to the Results section then. We also expect that they will have read the debrief form, and will be generally aware of what is going on throughout the experiment. Both experimenters were aware of the general hypothesis being tested, although they were not aware of the history of the ego depletion literature. **Recruiting** The introduction to psychology students at University of Toronto at Scarborough can receive up to 3% (3 credits) in marks for participating in experiments. We recruit from this participant pool using a closed online program where researchers post their experiments with the time, room number, number of credits rewarded, and a brief description of the study. Students can scroll through and select any experiment that they want to participate in. Participants can cancel up to 24 hours before the study begins, or can opt out of any study and do an alternative assignment. All participants receive only the description: “word and number recognition and reaction time study, Native English speakers only (i.e. spoke English before the age of 5).”, received half a credit, and were told it would take half an hour. Participants who reported a non-English native language AND did not speak English before the age of 6 will not be counted as 'native speakers'. **Sample, subjects, and randomization** We plan to start running as many participants as possible between when the online pool opens (January 26th) and when it closes (mid-April). We currently have 4 hours allocated per week, and will run up to 4 participants per hour (2 starting every half hour to account for participants requiring additional clarification and taking longer than expected, as well as to ensure that the RA can attend to each participant without delays). However, accounting for no-shows and empty slots, so we realistically expect to have closer to 14 participants per week and a total of 100 participants by the end of March. We will stop data collection either after 180 participants have been gathered, or when the online pool closes (whichever happens first). If (at any point after 70 participants have completed the study) we find that the gender balance is outside of the acceptable range (30% to 70%), we will restrict recruitment to only the under-represented gender until that is corrected. All participants are fluent in English, as it is the only language of instruction at the university. The RA interacts with each participant (ex. when giving them the consent form), and will make an exclusion mark on the participant sheet if they come across a participant who seems to not understand English. Participants will be assigned the two conditions in a strictly alternating order. After 100 and 150 participants, we will check to see if there is an imbalance of conditions caused by exclusions, and will temporarily change the pattern to a-b-a-a-b-a-a-b (doubling up on the needed condition) until we again have even numbers. **Setting/Lab/Equipment** We have a behavioural lab with five computers, each with large dividers (six feet tall from floor) between each computer desk so that participants can not see each other or any other computer screen. The room is somewhat narrow and L-shaped, so that two computers are around the corner from the other three computers. There is a 6th desk at the bend of the L, where we store papers (ex. blank consent forms) and the researcher sits (and can partially see all participants, usually the backs of their chairs). There are no windows. The behavioural lab is directly accessed from the university hallway, so there is occasionally some noise from students that comes in from under the door. Experimenters sometimes go into the hallway to hush people, but we are at the end of the hallway so there is not too much outside activity. All five computers run Windows 7 and have a basic mouse, keyboard, and headphones accessible. We are currently using version 2.0.10.353 on EPRIME. We will be gathering questionnaire data (ex. difficulty,fatigue) on paper. We are using Protocol_49TQVF and Step-by-step_RS232. DEBRIEFING: All of our participants are being debriefed immediately after their own participation (debrief is *not* being delayed until all data collection is complete).