Psychology Participant Pool
Revised May 13, 2005
Since we have moved to a computer based system for maintaining the participant
pool, there are a couple of minor changes to past procedure.
Applying to collect data from the Psychology Participant Pool
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IRB Approval. Your study must first be approved by the Institutional
Review Board (IRB) Committee. A copy of the signature page of the University
IRB form must be submitted to the Departmental Human Subjects Committee
along with the application material for recruiting undergraduate students.
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Application Packet. The packet of materials below must be submitted
to Jonathan Butner, of the Human Subjects Committee. He will return a signed
posting form along with instructions for accessing your experiment on the
Online Psychology Participant Pool. Approval is for one semester only. The
forms that must be submitted are:
APPLICATION_template.doc - This form is kept
by the Human Subjects Committee for our records. Participants will not have
immediate access to the information on this form. This form must include full
disclosure as was given to the IRB.
INFOFORM_template.doc - This form is kept by
Angela Newman on the 8th floor. Participants will have access to this information.
It should be identical to the information on the application except in cases
where the IRB has approved omission or modification of information given to
participants, prior to participation.
POSTING_template.doc - This form contains all
information that will be posted on the website for participants to review the
experiment. A copy signed by the representative of the Human Subjects Committee
should be posted on the first floor bulletin board (in the hallway between the
elevators and the lounge area). This bulletin board is maintained as a way for
participants to see what experiments are runnning during the current semester.
DEBRIEFING_template.doc - The debriefing form
is a formal way to ensure that participants will receive an explanation about
the research that they just participated in. Most studies approved by the IRB
require a debriefing. If the form approved for your study is different from
the template provided, submit the IRB approved version. Our goal is to ensure
study participation as an educational experience for participants.
Recruitment
Online Participant Pool. Recruitment can only take place on the online
participant pool bulletin board. The information you provide must be identical
to the approved information submitted (Posting Form) to the Human Subjects Committee.
Instructions for accessing and maintaining the experiment will be provided at
the time your signed forms are returned. In addition, a copy of the approved
posting form must be displayed on the bulletin board in the first floor lobby
of the Behavioral Sciences Building. Note that passwords will change each semester.
Recruitment by Phone. On some occasions, experimenters may want to
recruit participants over the phone because they only need individuals who have
obtained certain scores in pre-testing. Experimenters who wish to do this must
still fill out an application form, justifying this method of recruitment. In
addition, before any phone calls are made (and experimenters should only contact
those individuals who gave their permission at the time of the Mass Testing),
and a posting form signed by the Human Subjects Committee must be posted on
the bulletin board downstairs. This will ensure a way for students to know that
the experiment is legitimate. Credit for participation will still be handled
through the online participant pool.
Credit Procedures
Experimental Credit. Participants are to be given credit at a rate
of 1/4 (.25) credit each 15 minutes of participation. Thus, a 75 minute study
would yield 1.25 credit hours. The participation time should include debriefing
time and time the participant may have had to wait because of a delay in the
experiment. In computing experimental credit, always round up to the nearest
1/4 hour. For example, an 80 minute study would yield 1.5 hours of credit. When
a participant has completed the experiment, the experimenter should give him
or her a Credit Slip/Experimenter Evaluation Form which the top half should
be completely filled out by the Experimenter. The credit slip is both a
receipt for their participation and a survey about the study experience (the
participant should complete the bottom half away from the experiment location
and experimenter). In addition, the experimenter should update the experimental
credit on the online participant pool within 48 hours of participation. It is
important to be timely in updating credit online since some instructors have
deadlines for completing experiments over the semester.
Below is new credit slip. Please discard your old slip, and use this one.
CREDITSLIP.doc
Docking Credit. Participants can cancel a session up to two hours in
advance. However, canceling online can only be done 1 day in advance (less than
one day requires the participant to directly contact the experimenter). If a
participant fails to show to a pre-arranged experimental session and did not
cancel that session, you may dock the participant credit up to the total amount
of credit the participant would have received for the session. This is done
through the online participant pool. However, please first try to contact and
reschedule with the participant rather than immediately docking credit. The
participant may have a very reasonable explanation for failing to show. Docking
should be taken into account on a case by case basis since the goal is to ensure
that both participant and experimenter time is well spent.
Participant Restrictions. Ethical considerations require that all students
have the same chance for earning credit from the participant pool. If at all
possible, experimenters are asked not to place restrictions on who can participate.
IF you do want to impose restrictions on who can serve in your experiment, then
this must be specifically arranged with the committee. If restrictions are
approved then the posting form must clearly specify that the optional procedure
is open to all students.
Optional Procedure. Experimenters must give students an alternative
way to earn credit besides serving in their experiments. Ordinarily this option
is to read and be briefly tested on a readable article that is related to the
experiment. The credit received for this option should be in proportion to the
time involvement and should be commensurate with the credit that would be received
for serving in the experiment. Experimenters are free to propose alternative
ways of earning option credit; for example, helping in data collection or reduction.
The option and how to obtain the assignment must be clearly stated on the
posting form. Ordinarily, participants are told to come to the location of the
experiment and identify themselves as someone wishing to do the option or to
contact the experimenter via email, or even arrange specific sessions for the
alternative assignment.
Experimenter Responsibilities
As an experimenter using undergraduate students as participants, you have
several responsibilities. These include
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You must show up on time for your scheduled appointments with participants.
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Participants must be informed at the beginning of the study that they
may drop out at any time and still earn full credit for the experimental
session.
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Participants should be given their credit through the online participant
pool within 48 hours of participation.
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Participants should not receive more or less credit than their participation
time warrants.
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Participants should be debriefed immediately after the session. Debriefing
must be done even if participants do not request it and even if you have
not used deception.
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You should keep a balance of how many sessions you have posted on the
online participant pool at any one time. Keep in mind that participants
have to browse through all the sessions available. If your sessions dominate
the listings, then it is unfair to other studies posted (further, if a participant
has already been in your experiment, the list will appear not unlike junkmail).
The rationale for students earning extra credit is one of educational benefit
and debriefing ensures this benefit. Exceptions to this immediate debriefing
requirement will be made only by the specific action of the committee. In such
cases, arrangement must be made for subsequent written or oral debriefing of
all participants. All participants will complete an evaluation of each study
in which they participated. These evaluations will be regularly reviewed to
ensure that experimenters are following these guidelines.
Mass Testing
At the beginning of each semester, the introductory psychology course (Psych
1010) gives out a survey known as Mass Testing. Students choosing to participate
receive credit for completing the form, in class. Experimenters can request
to include specific items on the Mass Testing Form, for collecting survey-based
studies or pre-selection information.
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Since Mass Testing must be given as early as possible, a specific submission
date will be sent around via email. Materials will only be considered for
inclusion in Mass Testing if they include IRB approval and a completed version
of the survey (as it is to be printed) prior to this deadline.
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All items submitted to be included on Mass Testing, must have approval
from the IRB prior to the deadline for submitting. This approval must specifically
be for use with Mass Testing. The approval/signature page for the IRB must
be submitted with the scale.
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Items must be submitted both with a formatted hard copy and a digital
version. The formatted hardcopy should be marked up with any important formatting
that must be maintained (if any) to keep the validity of the scale.
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Inclusion of scale items and scale order will be determined by a representative
of the Human Subjects Committee.
Data from Mass Testing will only be made available to those with approved
access. We will do our best to return this information in a timely manner. Having
items on Mass Testing does not give you permission to contact these participants
in the future. Contacting participants can only be done after you have gone
through approval to utilize the participant pool (as described above).
Instructors
Instructors wishing to have their students participate in experiments for
extra credit should contact Jonathan Butner near the beginning of the semester.
He will create an account for you so that you can manage the class participation
through the online participant pool.
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We have a recommended statement for your syllabus if you choose to use
the subject pool which can be downloaded here.
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There is also an instruction sheet for students which can be downloaded
here. We recommend handing it out to
the class.
Students participating in experiments are allowed to participate in any approved
experiments with the exception that they cannot participate in any experiments
associated with the course instructor or teaching assistant's research laboratory.
For example, if Joe Bloggs taught a course which required the students to participate
for course credit, students could only receive credit from experiments unrelated
to Joe Bloggs. This restriction ensures that students are not coerced into participation
nor perceive coersion.
Final Comments
The procedures specified have evolved over the years to satisfy both ethical
and practical criteria. Other procedures for soliciting participants from the
undergraduate classes are not permitted unless they have been approved by the
departmental committee. If you wish to use other procedures, then please see
the chairperson of the committee. Among the procedures that you should not
adopt without committee approval are (a) to arrange with an instructor to
use his/her students in your study; (b) solicit students for your study as they
are leaving class; and (c) solicit students by telephone.
Thank you for your assistance!