Research Opportunities
How to Earn Credit in Undergraduate Psychology Courses for Research-Oriented Activities
How to Logon to the Website to Sign Up for Research
Working in a Lab as an Undergraduate Research Assistant
How to Earn Credit in Undergraduate Psychology Courses for Research-Oriented Activities
General Psychology (PSY 2301) and Psychology of Adjustment (PSY 1303) require students to participate in two (2) research-oriented activities as part of the course requirements. This requirement can be fulfilled by serving as a participant (subject) in psychological research and/or completing an “alternative” research-oriented activity. In addition, other undergraduate psychology courses allow for extra credit to be assigned for such activities (see the course syllabus or check with the instructor). In all of the above situations, it is necessary to make an account online at the sona-systems website, following the instructions that are provided below about how to logon.
Earning credit by participating as a subject in a research project
On the sona-systems website will be a list of ongoing research projects that are open for participation. To receive credit for participation students MUST sign up online for that research project before participating or within 72 hours of participation. Note that some of the research has further restrictions regarding signing up - this is indicated on the website. No credit (extra or course required) will be given for students who may have served as subjects but failed to sign up at the online site. Obviously, no credit will be assigned to students who sign-up but fail to participate.
Earning credit by completing an alternative, research-oriented activity
For our department the first alternative is a student produced, written product based on a publication entitled “Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Psychological Issues”. This is a collection of pro/con arguments/points involving unresolved issues in psychology. Students are required to critically assess each point of view and conclude which position makes the most convincing argument. The second alternative involves reading a research article published in the Psi Chi Journal of Undergraduate Research and answering several questions regarding the research.
All alternative activities will take place in the Psychology Lab (A215). Students should report to the lab and indicate to the Graduate Assistant on duty that they wish to participate in an alternative research activity. The hours of operation are posted on the wall outside the lab. It will not remain open past scheduled closing for students to complete these activities so plan accordingly. Once the activity is completed the student must log on to the sona-systems site and register/sign-up for the activity they completed. Students who do not sign up on sona-systems will not receive credit.
How to Logon to the Website (Sona-Systems) to Sign Up for Research
1. Connect to http://angelostate.sona-systems.com (Note: do not type www.).
2. A login screen will come up but you cannot log in without an account.
3. In the lower left hand corner there is a link: request an account here, click on this.
4. A screen will come up requesting your name, user ID, and other information.
5. Your user ID is the same name used for logging into Blackboard, e.g., Joachim Studente would be jstudente.
6. There is also an area to select the psychology courses you are enrolled in. Read the instructions and select those courses you may want to have extra credit assigned.
7. Once you are finished and submit your information, the system will e-mail a numerical password to your ASU e-mail address, e.g., jstudente@angelo.edu.
8. You cannot log onto sona-systems until you retrieve this password.
9. Using your user ID and password login to sona-systems.
10. On the screen that appears you can change your password and email address, as well as modify other information.
Working in a Lab as an Undergraduate Research Assistant
Students who are considering graduate school should take advantage of opportunities to improve their research skills. The department has several labs under the direction of different faculty, listed below. Ordinarily, this experience requires more than one semester of involvement (but check with the faculty member who directs the lab for the specific arrangement). A one credit-hour course, Psy 4191 Research, can be taken up to three times. Only a few openings are available in each lab, so slots are ordinarily taken by advanced undergraduate students majoring in psychology who have completed the course in research methods, Psy 2321.
Children's Language Acquisition Lab is located in A204 and is operated under the direction of Dr. James Forbes.
Animal Learning Lab is located in the Rosemont Building (on the west side of campus) and is operated under the direction of Dr. Robert Mowrer. Using albino rats and a Morris water maze, our present project involves comparing the enhanced learning and retention produced by putative cognitive enhancers (e.g., vinpocetine, piracetam, ginseng, etc.) to that produced exposure to complex environmental stimuli (e.g., enriched environments). In particular, the animals are exposed to either complex environmental stimuli alone, cognitive enhancer alone, cognitive enhancer + complex environmental stimuli, or neither complex environmental stimuli nor cognitive enhancer (control group). The intent is to determine whether cognitive enhancers are better, worse, or no different from the cognitive advantages produced by exposure to a complex environment. Further, we want to determine whether cognitive enhancers can supplement exposure to a complex environment and produce greater advantages in learning and retention than either situation alone.
Survey Research Lab is located in A201C and is operated under the direction of Dr. William Davidson. Students learn the basic skills of survey research, including item writing, sampling, analyzing data for patterns and interrelationships among variables, and discerning good and bad items. Training exercises include working with data sets already collected, measuring variables such as optimal personality functioning, self-actualization, self-esteem, adaptation in college students, attitudes about organ donation, and stereotyping.
Biofeedback Lab is located in A201D and is operated under the direction of Dr. Sangeeta Singg. This lab offers opportunities for interested students to have hands-on experience with a computerized biofeedback system, which offers a reliable and safe instrumentation for self-regulation. In the past, the lab has facilitated biofeedback research in the areas of pain management and stress reduction. In principle, biofeedback is based on the science of communication and control (cybernetics), which assumes that organisms regulate themselves using information fed back to them from the environment. The feedback simply reflects information, like a mirror. Sensors attached to the surface of the skin receive electrical signals and transform them into musical tones and graphs on the computer monitor. This information is used by the person receiving biofeedback to self-regulate. This is a revolutionary method interfacing informational technology and psychology. These health care strategies are at the cutting edge of the interface between therapy and technology. It is clear that computer-assisted therapy systems are the wave of the future. Currently in our lab, we have capabilities for multiple modalities, such as electromyographic (EMG) feedback which reflects the activity of the skeletal muscles, thermal feedback involves the skin temperature, and electroencephalographic (EEG) feedback measures brain waves.