For students who are enrolled in or have previously taken classes in the psychology department, you know of the research pool participation hours. This fall, my Intro to Social Psychology class introduced me to this requirement in the syllabus, which has students “earn ‘6 credits’ of approved research-related activities.” The credits translate to one hour of a study, which can be fulfilled through in-person or online tests via a designated website. When these opportunities become available, students can sign up for specific time slots and earn credits.
With the knowledge that I would have to complete these credit hours as a percentage of my class grade, I made sure to keep my eyes peeled for potential opportunities. One day before my fall advising meeting, I was waiting at Nau Hall before the appointment. As I glanced around at the walls outside the room, I happened to spot a pull-tab flyer amongst various announcements about clubs and upcoming events. This one called for participants for UVA’s Long Term Memory Lab’s EEG study, which I figured would be a convenient way to get some of the participant pool hours done. I ripped one of the tabs with the lab’s email on it and stuffed it unceremoniously in my backpack.
Later, I unfurled the crumpled up slip and remembered to send an email to express my interest. When they got back to me, they explained first what an EEG study was (“an experiment [that] uses a cap and gel to stick electrodes to your head”) and what the study was for (“to measure brain activity while individuals view words, images, and/or videos”). Unfortunately, I found out that this particular study could not grant me research pool credits since it was paid. After some deliberation, I decided to let the lab know I was still interested because I thought it could be an interesting opportunity. Especially considering that I had done one last year and I wanted to see how this one would be different. The correspondence over the next week consisted of scheduling a screening before the EEG, which ended up being a brief call going over my information and what was to be expected.
On the day of the study, I headed over to Gilmer Hall and found the lab. The first thing I was instructed to do was look over an informed consent form, which consisted of confirming my patient confidentiality and detailing my rights. Then, I filled out a voluntary demographic form while a research coordinator and assistant worked together to fit a cap to my head, using a few syringes to squeeze gel into each node on the cap. With the wires of the electrical nodes trailing behind me and the gel now covering my head, the lab researchers connected me to a machine that allowed us to observe my brain waves on a computer.
For the experiment, I was instructed to complete several different activities that were designed to test my memory recall. While I was asked not to disclose details about what the study entailed as to preserve the study’s integrity, each activity definitely required focus and attentiveness. The previous EEG study I did was a pain experiment that utilized different stimuli and studied the resulting brain waves. This one was very different in that it was focused on “how cognitive processes unfold on the order of milliseconds” to “measure large-scale brain activity patterns as individuals direct their attention to the past in order to retrieve stored information vs. direct their attention to the present in order to encode new information.” I was unsure what to expect of the EEG study, but the research assistants were incredibly helpful and patient while I navigated through the activities.
Overall, I felt that the experience was fairly interesting and it would definitely prove useful for students interested in doing research with the psychology department to see how the processes are done firsthand. Whether you do it to earn credits or just out of sheer curiosity, participating in these studies can provide insight into how data is collected. In psychology courses, we frequently read about different methods of testing such as EEGs, but it is a different experience to be a part of one yourself.
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