Instructions for Using the Psychology “Subject Pool” Through the Website

Spring 2008

Faculty and advanced students who are conducting research with human participants and who are interested in using the Psychology Subject Pool may do so provided these guidelines are followed.

1. ALL research projects involving humans MUST first be reviewed and APPROVED by the Human Studies Council (HSC). This is a University committee that evaluates the ethical nature of each proposed study. Failure to complete the review process will render you ineligible to utilize the subject pool as dictated by University and Federal Regulations.

You can obtain a copy of the appropriate forms from:

A. Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Services

Davidson Hall

(860) 832-2365

OR

B. Access the following website: http://www.ccsu.edu/humanstudies

OR

C. If you are enrolled in Psychology 222 (Research Methods II), Psychology 597 (Graduate Research), or a MA thesis graduate student, obtain the forms and follow the instructions of your professor/thesis advisor.

2. After HSC approval, to recruit participants:

A. Room Sign-ups: To reserve a room in which to conduct your study, room sign-up sheets have been provided. Look for the room sign-up sheets immediately to the right upon entering the Psychology Lab. Or, contact your Psych 222/597 professor, thesis advisor, or Drs. Horowitz or Wood.

B. Using the Website (Experimetrix)

• First, you must obtain a logon (experimenter #) and password which will be provided by your professor, advisor, website administrator, or Drs. Horowitz or Wood. Faculty researchers contact Drs. Horowitz or Wood for the logon and password.

• Go to www.experimetrix.com/ccsu

• Click on to Experimenter.area. Enter your logon (experimenter #) and password which was provided by your professor, advisor, or website administrator (You may change your password later). Click on to LogOn. This will bring you to the Experimenter Options page.

• READ THE DOCUMENTATION UNDER Help WHICH WILL EXPLAIN HOW TO USE THE SYSTEM. The detailed instructions under Documentation are best. Make a copy of the instructions for your convenience. The following is an abbreviated summary sheet with information specific to our procedures.

• The documentation under Manage Schedule describes how to sign up for times, etc. The documentation under Experiment Settings allows you to change your password and perform some additional functions with your account.

• Under Manage Schedule click onto Edit Header which displays the information about your study. Be sure to complete all relevant information. Include your HSC# under “description of experiment”. Be sure to click onto “Apply Changes” or the information will not be saved. Go back to Experimenter Options Page.

• Under Manage Schedule click onto Add New Times which will allow you to add new sessions.

•You may register a participant yourself if you know his/her name and s/he is logged into the system. This procedure only applies for one participant per session.

• If you want to allow more than one participant per session, in Times to Add change From “1” to the desired number of participants. Be sensible about the number of participants the room can hold and the number you can handle. After clicking on to Add New Times scroll down to see what you have added. Go back to Experimenter Options Page.

• Under Manage Schedule click onto View Schedule which will allow you to see who has signed up for the future and past schedules. This is where you may cancel sessions and award credit. Session cancellations should only be done in the case of medical emergency. Be sure to click on to Display Experiment to Students or your times will not be displayed.

• When you run your sessions, be sure to keep track of the participants who do show up so you can award proper credit. View Schedule will allow you to see who has signed up for your sessions. Double-check this as your participants arrive. Only participants who have signed up through the website will appear in this database. Only give credit to those who actually show up. Participants may be penalized one unit for not attending, provided they have not cancelled at least two hours before your session.

• After you finish each session you may award credit one of two ways. For both of these methods the participants must have logged into the system. On the Experimenter Options page under Manage Schedule:

• Click on to View Schedule which will display those students who signed up through the website. Click on to Credit if they did attend your session. Make sure the number of credits you assign is correct. If you make a mistake you can easily change it before you click onto Apply Changes on this Page. If you apply changes and then discover an error, you can go back into View Schedule and go to Past: Already assigned credit or penalty and make the change immediately. It would be unethical to take away credit that has already been assigned and posted.

OR

• Click onto Direct Credit . Select the letter of the participant’s last name, then select the participant’s name. Click onto Apply Credit. Correct errors immediately as described above. This is how you would award credit to a participant that participated in your study without signing up ahead of time.

3. It is imperative that you apply credit on the day you collect data. Failure to do so a) will preclude future use of the subject pool; and 2) if you are a student, will be reported to your Research Methods Professor or Faculty Advisor. Even if you are collecting data on several days, you must apply credit at the conclusion of each day. If you have questions talk with your professor, Dr. Horowitz, Dr. Wood, or the graduate assistant in charge of recording subject pool activities (Phone: 860-832-2221, Office: 10 O Barnard Hall).

4. Deadline—All studies must be completed and all credit must be submitted by Monday April 28 at 3pm. It is imperative that all credit be submitted by this time. At this time, also make sure that all pending credits have been changed to either credit or penalty.