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Information for Participants
There are several ways to become a participant in a psychology experiment. On this page you can
- Find information about fulfilling the research requirement if you are a PSYC 100 student
- Find information about getting extra credit in a course through research participation
- Find information about participating in research for pay
- Find instructions for using the Sona system
- Get more information about research participation and the Sona system in the form of a FAQ for students.
Information for PSYC 100 students
The Psychology Department requires all students in Psyc 100 to complete a research requirement. The requirement is designed to help students learn, first hand, about the research process, as well as to provide human participants for researchers in the department. This document specifies the nature of the research requirement and how you can satisfy it.
Each student in Psyc 100 is required to complete 5 research credits as part of the class requirement. Students who do not complete the research requirement by the end of the semester will receive an “I” grade until they make up the deficiency.
Students may complete the research requirement either by participating in 5 hours of research or by completing 5 hours of alternative credits. At the beginning of the semester, each student must choose which option they will be taking (research or alternative). If you do not inform the Human Subjects (HS) Coordinator that you will be completing the research alternative before the last day of add/drop in this semester, then you will be expected to participate in 5 hours of research. You cannot change to the research alternative later.
The research alternative involves writing one-page summaries of research articles. Each article summarized counts for one research credit. A library of such articles is available, and will be emailed to the students who chose this option. Once the student writes a summary, it is sent by email to the webmaster, checked by the HS staff and credit is either denied or awarded. If you wish to choose this option, email the HS coordinator no later than the last day of add/drop for the semester.
Students who are under 18 years of age must obtain parental permission to participate in research. If you are under 18, please follow the instructions for people in the under-a8 age group.
If you choose to participate in research, follow the instructions to enroll in the Sona system and sign up for experiments.
When you participate in an experiment you will gain credit hours. However, if you sign up for an experiment and do not show up at the time you signed up for (and did not cancel properly following the instructions below), you may lose your opportunity to participate in experiments to meet the research requirement, and you may be switched to the research alternative.
Remember, the research requirement is 5 credit hours.
At the end of the semester, your earned credit hours will be automatically reported to the instructor or instructors of the classes for which you have selected your earned credits to apply towards.
The system will automatically keep a record of your participation. If you are in multiple courses that are allowing you to get extra credit from research participation you MUST indicate which credits will be assigned to which course. If you want to change the course that gets the credits, see the instructions for reassigning credits.
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Information about Research Participation for Extra Credit
Your instructor may offer you the opportunity to participate in psychology studies for credit in this course.
If you are not yet 18, email the HS Coordinator for an alternative way to gain credits.
See the instructions for using the Sona System for and explanation of how to enroll in the Psychology Department Experimental Credit System and how to sign up for experiments.
When you participate in an experiment you will gain credit hours. However, if you sign up for an experiment and do not show up at the time you signed up for (and did not cancel properly within 24 hours, following the instructions below), you will lose credit hours from the extra points that you have accumulated for participating in experiments.
Your instructor will explain how many credit hours you may earn for this course, and how these credit hours will influence your course grade.
At the end of the semester, your earned credit hours will be automatically reported to the instructor or instructors of the classes for which you have selected your earned credits to apply towards.
The system will automatically keep a record of your participation. If you are in multiple courses that are allowing you to get extra credit from research participation you MUST indicate which credits will be assigned to which course. If you want to change the course that gets the credits, see the instructions for reassigning credits.
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Information about Research Participation for Pay
Researchers in the department of psychology frequently offer pay for participating in research.
You may sign up for paid studies through the Sona system.
Please note that paid studies NEVER count toward class credit and that studies for class credit are never paid.
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