By SEDA TERZYAN
Bruin contributor
sterzyan@media.ucla.edu
Tatevik Vardanyan took a seat in a small dark room, alone with
only a computer to keep her company. Not knowing what to expect,
she nervously awaited the start of the experiment.
A torrent of images began to flash on the screen, each lasting
only a few seconds until the next popped up.
Vardanyan signed up as a subject for the experiment in order to
earn extra credit for a class through a Web-based experiment
tracking system called Experimetrix.
Vardanyan is among other undergraduate students who participate
as subjects in research experiments in exchange for course
credit.
Though her experience as a subject was nerve racking and
mentally straining, she said she walked away from all the
experiments having learned and understood more about scientific
experimentation.
When the experiment came to a close, Vardanyan said the
experimenter gave her a brief explanation about what the study was
really testing.
This briefing occurs after each experiment is conducted to
reveal its true purpose, which is sometimes hidden in the summary
posted on Experimetrix.
Experimetrix is a software system used by more than 100
psychology departments nationwide that manages the experiment
subject pool for participating psychology undergraduate courses,
according to its Web site.
Through Experimetrix, researchers post descriptions of their
experiments on the Web site and students view a list of choices and
enroll electronically. There are experiments such as cognitive
functioning and social psychology.
Courses such as Introductory Psychology and Social Psychology
can require students to participate in experiments with the goal of
familiarizing undergraduates with the research process.
“Students are supposed to learn about research in the
social sciences through participating in different studies,”
said Dr. Edward Geiselman, chair of the Subject Pool Committee.
Every study tries to make participation a learning experience,
psychology Professor Elizabeth Bjork said. “It is a mutually
beneficial process for the experimenters and the
students.”
Experimenters benefit because they are able to save a lot of
money by having undergraduate students volunteer as subjects, said
Jeri Little, a cognitive psychology graduate student.
“It makes it possible to attain large subject pools and
conduct more studies, which is ultimately to the benefit of the
university,” Little said.
Years before Experimetrix was established, students had to sign
up for experiments on sheets posted in Franz Hall.Back then, they
were still volunteering in studies and receiving points, said
Geiselman. All that has changed is the technology.
Vardanyan, who participated in four different experiments last
quarter, said most of her classmates participated in four
experiments all in one day to get them over with.
Each experiment lasts about an hour and can be demanding if you
are actually trying to participate honestly, Vardanyan said.
“Most students enjoy participating and ask questions at
the end of the experiments,” Geiselman said. “Others
appear to participate only for the credits to pad their test scores
and … don’t care about what the experiment is really
about.”