Research Participation—Student Information What research is available? During a semester, a variety of experiments are conducted in the Department of Psychology by both faculty and students. These may include experiments in social, clinical, developmental, personality, industrial, cognitive, and learning psychology, although in any one semester only some of these areas will be represented. Experiments will generally begin to be available during the second or third week of school, with more available as the semester progresses. Participating in research is a good way to learn more about psychology and methodology while contributing directly to our knowledge of human behavior. In the past those students who have preferred to fulfill all the out-of-class requirements by participating in experiments have been able to do so, provided that they check the research board regularly and don’t wait to begin the requirement until the last few weeks of the semester. The last day to participate in reasearch for the Fall Semester is December 9th. How to participate in research You can sign up for studies on-line using the Psychology Study Participant Manager (PSPM). You can find information on how to use the PSPM by checking the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Page. Before signing up, check to see if there are any special conditions for participation. Some studies may request only participants with certain characteristics (e.g., being male, a smoker, or a native English speaker). If you are younger than 18, you will need to obtain parental permission for participation. Contact the experimenters prior to the research study for more information. You will receive one credit for each hour of participation. You should only sign-up for each study once. When you arrive at the experimental session, you should receive a copy of your informaed consent form to take with you. Keep this in a safe palce, as it is your proof of participation should clerical errors arise. Please allow at least 48 hours for credits to show up on the PSPM system. Keep a list of studies you have participated in and/or a list of other activities (see above) handed in. When you have the required number of items recorded on your list, you have finished the requirement. The informed consent form will be your proof that you have participated in a study. If there are any discrepancies between the credits that are on the PSPM session and your own recollection, you must show the consent forms from the studies you participated in to the PSPM Pool coordinator or you will not receive credit. Penalties You always have the right to refrain from participating in an experiment, with no penalty. That is, if you show up for a study and, after the experimenter explains what is required, you decided you’d rather not participate, you can terminate the session at that point. If fact, you can terminate the session at any point after hearing the instructions, even if the experiment has already begun. In other words, your participation is entirely voluntary. You may not receive credit if you do not complete a study, however, there will be no penalty for terminating participation. If, however, you fail to show up for an experiment that you signed up for without giving the experimenter 24-hours advance notice, you will be penalized with –1 credit. Experimenters must spend time preparing for each session, and if you fail to show, you have not only cost them time and effort, but you may even cause other students’ data to be useless. The negative penalty requires that you do an additional out-of-class experience (e.g., 5 instead of 4) to meet the class requirement. If you contact the experimenter at least 24 hours before the beginning of your session, there will be no penalty. The experimenter’s e-mail address and/or phone number will be on the PSPM system. If you have a good, documentable excuse for not showing up or giving notice (e.g., you are in an automobile accident on the way to the experiment), you may appeal the penalty by contacting the experimenter within a week of your scheduled time. However, the penalty will still be at the discretion of the experimenter. If things go wrong Researchers have an obligation to treat participants with respect and dignity. Any student who has a complaint about a study (e.g., you showed up but the experimenter didn’t, the experimenter was discourteous, the experimenter didn’t fully explain the experiment, you didn’t get credit for participating) should complete a complaint for as soon as possible (available in the psychology office) . The PSPM Pool coordinator will check into your complaint and contact you about it. Educational goals Once you show up for a study, the researcher has an obligation to explain what you will be required to do, what the study is about, and what questions are being answered by the research. If the educational goals of your participation are to be met, it is important that the study be fully explained to you before you leave the session. This will usually occur during a “debriefing” at the end of the experiment. Feel free to ask questions. Experimenters will be glad to answer them. The purposes of research in the Department of Psychology are both scientific and educational. Most of the information in your text was discovered by research of the sort you will be given an opportunity to participate in. Thus you may be able to add, in a small but significant way, to our growing knowledge of human psychology. At the same time, you will have a chance to see psychologists at work doing research, and this will add to your understanding of the scientific process in general and psychology in particular.