Welcome to the Department of Psychology Research Study Pool. Most of our studies take place in Green Hall located on the corner of Washington Road and William Street.

Students in all psychology courses must, as part of their course requirement, participate in psychology experiments in the Department. This requirement reflects the psychology department's belief that experiencing research from the perspective of a research participant adds greatly to a student's understanding of course material, particularly to the student's understanding of "how" psychologists study behavior. Whether psychologists address issues of cognition, learning, neuroscience, social psychology, personality, or abnormal psychology, their insights are based largely on the results of empirical investigations, and it is important for students to appreciate fully the nature, strengths, and limitations of this approach. Our understanding of basic neurobiological, cognitive and social processes depends critically on studies of normal, healthy adults conducted by researchers working at universities. Your participation not only furthers your education about the nature of psychological research; it also makes a substantial, critical contribution to psychological research at Princeton and to science in general. We hope that students will find it an enjoyable and educational experience, and that they will derive some satisfaction in knowing that they are making a contribution to science.

All experiments offered will have prior approval from the University Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects and from the departmental committee overseeing the research participation requirement. Participants are assigned code numbers and all results of the research are reported as group averages, so no individual is identified in any way.

A committee consisting of several faculty members and a representative of the graduate student committee will oversee the organization of this research participation requirement. RoseMarie Stevenson is the Program Administrator. Her office is located in Room #1-S-17, Green Hall, and her e-mail address is Rosemari@princeton.edu.

Any student who is not 18 years of age must contact RoseMarie Stevenson prior to signing up for any experiments.

• Course Requirement
• Eligibility Policy
• Signing Up for Studies
• Sona Systems, Ltd.
• No-Show Policy/Late Arrival
• Receiving Credit
• Requirement Participation Deadline
• Alternative Requirement
• Proceed to Online Sign-up

• Students must be at least 18 years of age.  If you are under 18, you must have a Parental Consent Form on file with the Program Administrator, RoseMarie Stevenson.  It is important to contact her (rosemari@princeton.edu) once you begin class to receive the proper forms.
• You may not participate in the same study more than once.
• Observe specific requirements/restrictions within the study descriptions.

Students are to sign up for a total of four hours of experimental sessions at any time during the semester of the required course.  However, they are encouraged not to leave their participation to the last few weeks of the semester, since there could be difficulties in finding experiments at the last minute.

All of the posted sessions are acceptable for any course; students need not select experiments whose content overlaps with the topic of the course they are taking.

Sona Systems, Ltd. is the online experiment management system used by the Psychology Department.    The subject pool will be managed by the Program Administrator, RoseMarie Stevenson.  All experimental sessions for which students may sign-up will be posted online.  Postings will begin on Monday, October 5th and will continue to be posted throughout the semester until the deadline date (January 12th).

Emails containing information on how to access the Sona System website will be sent to all students who are required to participate in experiments.  The subject line will read “Special Announcement: Psychology Subject Pool”.  Please do not disregard emails with this subject title or similar headings pertaining to experiment participation.  If you do not receive an email by October 5th, contact the Program Administrator, RoseMarie Stevenson.

Students are expected to arrive on time for their scheduled appointments.  Late arrivals will carry the same penalty as a no-show.

Students who fail to appear for a scheduled appointment, and who do not notify the researcher 1 day in advance, will be required to participate in additional research -- bringing the required number of session hours to 4.5 (or more).  If you fail to appear for a study, you will be penalized with a debit for the amount of time the study requires (i.e. one hour study missed, one hour added to your obligation).  Only in exceptional circumstances will this penalty (debit) hour(s) be waived.

 Each experimenter will be responsible for giving credit to subjects who participate in their experiment.  In addition, the experimenter will give each student a signed card confirming that they completed the study, and noting the amount of credit earned for the session. The student should keep the card as a record in case of any discrepancy about whether the requirement has been fulfilled.  Please make sure the researcher gives this card to you.