School of Psychology

Research Participants

Participation in psychology experiments is an integral part of the psychology major.  Not only do you develop a better understanding of the research process and the source for many of the concepts you learn about in your psychology classes but you become a part of the future theories and concepts in the field.  Although participation is voluntary and instructors will allow alternative credit opportunities, your participation in experiments will be an experience you keep with you beyond your undergraduate education.

Introduction to Psychology students, you are required to accumulate 10 Research/Experiential Activities credits and have the option of accumulating up to 15 credits (each credit beyond 10 would be added as extra credit to your grade).  Each laboratory study is calculated as 1 credit for attending (this does not apply to online studies) plus 1 credit per 30 minutes (or portion thereof) of time spent in the study location - e.g., a 45 minute study would be worth 3 credits. 

Your Rights and Responsibilities

For any experiment, you have the right to refuse to participate or to cease participating at any time with no penalty to you.  You also have the right to be informed, prior to the experiment beginning, what will occur and what will be expected of you.

To obtain credit for your participation, the experimenter will log onto Sona Systems after your session and apply the credit to your account.  If you have not received credit, and it has been more than 24 hours since your participation, please contact the experimenter.

Signing up for Studies

Florida Tech utilizes an online subject pool management site called Sona Systems for listing studies, signing students up for sessions, and keeping track of credits earned.  Here is what you need to do enroll in Sona Systems:

1.  Visit the Sona Systems site at http://floridatech.sona-systems.com, and click on the link in the lower left hand corner under "New Participant?" where it says, "Request an account here."

2.  In order to request your account, you WILL NEED: your Florida Tech email address, your student number, AND the name of your Intro to Psychology instructor.  It is VERY important that you choose the correct Intro to Psychology instructor, because each instructor will only be able to see the number of credits earned for his/her students.

3.  After your account is setup, you can log into Sona Systems, click on the listing of current studies and sign-up directly from the Sona Systems website.

IMPORTANT: You WILL lose Sona Systems privileges if you sign-up for studies but fail to show-up for the study session without canceling AT LEAST two hours prior to the session start time.