James Madison University Wordmark

Department of Psychology

Participant Instructions

Psychologists frequently conduct research in which students are the participants. If you are 18 years of age, you can volunteer to participate in the Department of Psychology Research Participation Pool. As a participant, you will benefit from first-hand experience with psychological research.

All students enrolled in Gpsyc 101 or 160 are expected to earn three units of credit by participating in an experiment or by completing an alternate participant pool activity through Blackboard. Either one or a combination of these options may meet the requirements. If you are younger than 18, you may not participate in experiments and your only option is to complete the alternate activity. Complete at least one credit by the mid-semester deadline, Friday, October 17, 2008.  The deadline for completing three units of credit is Friday, November 21, 2008.

Registering for Experiments

Participants sign up for experiments online using software from Sona Systems. All students will be pre-registered with Sona Systems by the beginning of the 3rd week of classes. You will know that you have been registered when you receive an email in your JMU account containing your user ID and your password.

  • If you do not receive an email with your user ID and password you may set up your own account by going to http://jmu.sona-systems.com/ and clicking on “New Participant?” located in the bottom left-hand corner of the web page.
  • If the system will not allow you to set up an account that means you already have one and should instead click on the “Lost Your Password?” button located in the bottom left-hand corner of the web page.

Once registered, you may sign up for experiments by going to http://jmu.sona-systems.com/ and logging in.

Participating as a Research Participant

If you choose to participate in research, your rights will be protected. All research conforms to JMU and American Psychological Association (APA) standards for treatment of human research participants. As a volunteer, you have the right to withdraw from a study at any time without penalty to your course grade or standing at JMU. If you withdraw, you will still receive credit. All information about participants will be treated confidentially. Participants are encouraged to ask questions about the research.

For each experiment lasting one hour or less you will receive 1 unit of credit toward your 3-unit requirement. Experiments lasting 1-2 hours will receive 2 units. Students who sign up for an experiment and fail to show up or properly cancel their appointment will have 1 credit unit deducted from their total credits earned.

To sign up for an experiment, point your browser to http://jmu.sona-systems.com/ and log in. Click “Study Sign-Up” to view current experiments, and then follow the instructions on the screen.
Be careful not to sign up for an experiment for which you have already participated. Credit will not be awarded for participation in the same experiment more than once. After signing up for an experiment, be sure to note the experiment’s number, date, time, and place. Show up for the experiment. If you cannot show up due to an emergency, see instructions for cancellation below. Check the online Participant Pool frequently for new experiments. If you need assistance contact the Participant Pool Coordinator, at SubjectPool@jmu.edu.

Instructions for Cancellation

Emergencies and unexpected events occur in all our lives. The Department of Psychology realizes that you, as students, are very busy. Please remember that faculty and students who are conducting research are also very busy. Researchers are counting on you to show up. In some cases, a research session cannot run unless everyone who has signed up shows up! If you must cancel your appointment, follow the steps listed below to cancel your appointment to avoid losing one point of participation credit for signing up and failing to show up. Point your browser to: http://jmu.sona-systems.com

  1. Log in from the main screen.
  2. Select “My Schedule and Credits” for the experiment you wish to cancel.
  3. Look at “Study Sign-Ups”.
  4. Select the “Cancel” button next to the slot you signed up for and follow the instructions to confirm your request

Students who cancel with at least 24 hours notice will NOT be penalized for their inability to attend the experiment. Credit can be earned for signing up and participating in experiments in the future. Students who fail to provide 24 hours notice will be penalized 1 credit unit.

Alternate Activity: Research Articles and Questions

If you want to earn credit without participating in an experiment, you may complete the following assignment.

Several research articles relating to psychological research are available on Blackboard. The title of the books from which the articles are drawn are “Forty Studies That Changed Psychology: Explorations into the History of Psychological Research” by Roger Hock and “Introducing Psychological Research: Sixty Studies that Shape Psychology” by Philip Banyard and Andrew Grayson. These articles are accessed online. Log into http://blackboard.jmu.edu, select under “My Organizations,” "Psychology Participant Pool" and look in "Research Articles" to find these readings and corresponding quizzes. To receive one unit of credit, read one article and then complete the quiz that corresponds to that article. When you submit your quiz within Blackboard, the system will say that your quiz has been received, but you will not receive credit until your essay questions have been graded. Please allow 10 days for grading. Additional instructions for completing Alternate Activities are available within Blackboard under “information.” It is your responsibility to verify that your quiz is submitted correctly.

Checking Participation Reservations and Points Earned

You can check the credits you have earned towards participant pool participation or alternate activities at any time. To check your research participation reservations and credits earned for participating in experiments, log into http://jmu.sona-systems.com/ and go to “My Schedule/Credits.”. To check your alternate activity credits, log into http://blackboard.jmu.edu, go to "My Organizations," and click on the participant pool link, then go to “My Grades.”

Deadline

Complete at least one credit by the mid-semester deadline, Friday, October 17, 2008.  All students enrolled in classes for which participation is required must complete at least one credit by this date either by participating in a research study or by completing an alternate activity.
The final deadline to earn credits is Friday, November 21, 2008.  This is the last date to participate or complete alternative activity credits.

For Questions or Additional Information

Dale Bostwick
Participant Pool Coordinator
568-8010
JOHNSTON HALL, ROOM J8
SubjectPool@jmu.edu