Research Participation

As psychologists, our understanding of the human mind and behavior is based largely on empirical
findings from studies such as those conducted in our Psychology Department. We strongly encourage
you to participate in psychological studies for several reasons. First, we believe that you will gain some
direct knowledge of the research process. Second, your participation provides an important contribution
to the field of psychology. Third, participating in studies gives you the opportunity to earn extra credit or to
satisfy a requirement for your course.

Consequently, as part of your undergraduate psychology course experience, you are required to obtain
some research-related experience. Check your class syllabus to determine what research options are
available to you. If you do not wish to participate in research studies, there may be other ways in which
you can gain research-related experience such as attending departmental talks by visiting scholars.
Please speak to your professor to learn more.

One option that is available to all psychology undergraduate classes is to participate in the online
PRESCREEN. You can access this option by logging into SONA and completing the Prescreen you will
automatically be offered. Like all experiments involving human subjects, participants are free to withdraw
and you may freely decline to respond to any particular questions.

There are a lot of reasons to choose to participate in the PRESCREEN. It is quick, easy and makes you
eligible for studies that may not be available to others as some studies are only available to people who
have taken the PRESCREEN. This may increase your chances of getting all the extra credit you need. It
only takes an hour and you will be asked to complete a set of questionnaires. The longer on-line
PRESCREEN is offered only during the first few weeks of the semester. The purpose of this longer online
survey is to allow researchers to determine who is eligible to participate in their studies. For example,
some researchers are seeking people who speak more than one language; others need people who hold
particular beliefs or who have experience a particular life event.

The PRESCREEN is completed through the Sona system.

The URL is http://umasspsych.sona-systems.com

You will need to log into the system using the instructions provided with your syllabus. The system will
take you automatically to the PRESCREEN.

For Psych 100, 240 and 241 classes

Students in these classes are offered an extra credit option for completing the longer PRESCREEN. If
th
you complete the longer PRESCREEN between September 7th and September 24 at 11:59pm you will
be granted 2 extra credits in the 100, 240 or 241 class you are enrolled in. Your professor will be notified
at the end of the two week period if you have completed this study. They will post the results wherever
they post your grades. SONA will NOT tell you whether you completed the longer PRESCREEN during
the two week window to be eligible for those extra credits. You will need to speak to your professor about
that. . If you do not wish to participate in research studies, there are other ways for you to earn extra-
credit in your course. Please speak to your professor to find out more about those opportunities.

For Psych Students in Other Classes

We strongly encourage students in classes other than Psych 100, 240 and 241 to participate in the
online prescreening. Although you will not receive extra credit for participating in the
prescreening, your participation may allow you to be eligible for a broader array of other
psychology studies.

University of Mass Psychology Department Fall 10

How can you sign up for the studies?
Again, all psychology studies that are available are listed on Sona System. The web address is
http://umasspsych.sona-systems.com The instructions for logging onto the system are included with your
syllabus or can be obtained on the Psychology website.
http://psych.umass.edu/uploads/sites/0/Files/S10-ug-SONA-instructions.pdf

If you have any problems you can come to Tobin Rm 441 or send an email to umasspsych-admin@sona-
systems.net

What should you expect from each study in which you participate?
1. Courteous treatment. The researcher should be present at the appointed time and place, and should
treat their subjects considerately. Failures to be treated courteously should be reported to your
instructor or the Department Chair.
2. Informed Consent. Subjects must consent to the study procedures. To do this, researchers must
obtain written signed consent forms prior to the study. So that subjects are informed concerning what
they are consenting to, the researcher must provide a fair and as full an explanation as possible of
the procedures before asking subjects to sign. This description should include information concerning
any discomfort or risks as well as any benefits to be expected. Researchers also should offer to
answer any questions concerning the procedures and mention the right to leave the study (see point
3)
3. The Right to leave any study at any time. Subjects may leave a session at any time and still receive
credit.
4. Informative Feedback. Researchers must explain each study to the students that participate. This
explanation should be clear and useful. Failures to provide adequate feedback should be reported to
your course instructor.

What obligations do students have when they sign up for a study?

1. Prompt arrival at the session. Students should arrive on time at the session. When students do not
show up, the researcher’s time is wasted. Often researchers lose an hour or more every time a
subject fails to show up. Of course there are times when it cannot be helped. It is important that you
contact the researcher and explain the situation. No-shows are tracked by SONA.

Earning extra credit through Human Subject Studies is a privilege. If you accumulate 3 or
more no-shows in a semester you may lose the privilege to participate in any more studies
that semester.

2. Attention to feedback. Making participation genuinely educational is an obligation of students as well

as researchers. Feedback is more likely to be interesting if students pay close attention to the
researcher’s explanation and ask a few probing questions.

University of Mass Psychology Department Fall 10