<p>have any of you participated in any?
how was it? what did you do? (i know not all of the experiments are the same, im just looking for an idea)</p>
<p>i get some credit for one of my classes, so i was interested in participating, but im curious about others' experience.</p>
<p>thanks (:</p>
<p>I had to participate in experimetrix experiments for some of my Psych classes. If I didn’t do 3 hours worth per class, I would go down a letter grade. With my experience, the experiments are a hit or a miss. Some experiments are really easy and you can finish in 30 minutes. Other experiments will take longer than the listed time, but they will compensate you with more credit. The experiments aren’t hard and if anything they are just time consuming. Most of the experiments that I did required me to push buttons on the computer depending on what I saw on the screen or how I reacted to the displayed picture. I personally would not participate unless I needed to. I just had some bad personal experiences. For instance, in one experiment, my color perception was a bit messed up for 30 min after the experiment because I was staring at weird things on the computer screen for so long. Also, my friend misunderstood the instructions for an experiment thus did it wrong. Afterwards, either the professor conducting the experiment or his lecturing professor berated him for messing up the data. Like I said, they are a hit or a miss. I doubt many experiments are that bad, maybe I just had bad luck.</p>
<p>I’ve never had bad experiences with experiments. Some of them require you to read things and answer surveys about how you feel. Other ask you to try to answer questions with what makes the most sense to you, even though all the answers look equally nonsensical. I’ve even had my pulse taken for an experiment while answering some questions.</p>
<p>I liked these experiments, but they took 3 hours of my time per class. Sometimes they’ll explain the purpose of the experiment to you after you’re finished.</p>
<p>oh.
thanks for your responses.</p>
<p>and are you videotaped/recorded during the process? for like…them to have the chance review later on in case they needed to for their experiment/data.</p>
<p>I honestly hate doing experiments for credit because my freshman year I participated in them for money, and that set the standard haha! The experiments in themselves aren’t too bad, but I did find them a little time-consuming. My best experience involved a fun experiment (had to do with intuition and logic), a friendly RA, and us finishing early. </p>
<p>My worse experience involved me sitting in a cramped room staring at a computer screen for an hour. It was a really hot day and they didn’t air condition the room. I was sweating bullets, the images really strained my eyes and gave me a major headache, and when I finished the RA was nowhere to be found. I had to wait another 10-15 minutes before a research assistant finally stepped back into the lobby and asked me rudely why I was still there. Uh, the instructions told me to wait for an RA to dismiss me?</p>
<p>My experiences have all been fine. Seriously now guys, think about what you’re saying. It’s like saying “I don’t want to go to class because it inconveniences my time and sitting in one spot for 80 minutes while constantly writing makes me uncomfortable, even though it helps my grade”. JUST DO THE EXPERIMENTS! It’s a hell of a lot easier than sitting through class.</p>
<p>Also @Hinderman, about your friend…I think it’s unprofessional to berate someone like that but misunderstanding instructions really does give everyone in the lab a terrible headache. In the lab I work the participant is given time to read the instructions to himself before the research assistant or professor reads them to him. Afterwards, the participant is asked if they have any questions and they can ask anytime they’re confused during the lab too. In addition, there’s usually practice rounds or tables displaying decision outcomes.</p>
<p>In conclusion, you really have no excuse to misunderstand the lab procedures. I know it’s a hassle to have to do experiments in the first place, but if you sign up for it you should really put your best effort :D</p>