Psychology 100 Research Requirement

All students enrolled in Psychology 100 participate to fulfill the course requirement. Students under 18 please select the option to complete this requirement by reading a completing quizzes about research articles.

At Hunter, as at most educational institutions, psychology is taught as a science, and as such it progresses by means of empirical research (observing behavior). Participating in research offers students a critically important perspective on psychology and research, a perspective they cannot obtain by merely reading about it. For those interested in pursuing a psychology major, serving as a research participant provides the first glimpse of what psychologists actually do. Beyond this, the existence of a research participant pool makes it possible for many students and faculty at Hunter College to conduct original research. Psychology Departments at most colleges and universities have such requirements.

Your participation in research has a profound impact on the study you are taking part in, on the growth of scientific knowledge, and ultimately, on how this knowledge is applied in the real world. Please take your participation seriously. If you feel that you cannot participate fully and honestly in a research project, let the researcher know and reschedule your appointment or cancel.

Username and password is sent after LATE REGISTRATION. Log onto the Psychology 100 Research Participation system at https://huntercollege.sona-systems.com/.

Every Hunter College student has an email account from the Hunter College ICIT office. You will need to access this account. (If you have not yet accessed this account, go to 3rd floor HN to find out how you can access it.) This is the only way you can sign up for research studies. In order to sign up, you will receive an e-mail (sent to your Hunter College e-mail account) with a user name and password to log onto the website. With that information, go to the site mentioned above and log in. After you have logged in, select the “All Studies” tab to find a brief description of the studies being conducted this semester, the code number of each study, who is eligible for participation in each study, the time and place at which the study is being run, and the phone number of the researcher. You will be able to sign up for available time slots by selecting “View Timeslots for This Study.” Make sure to provide all requested information, such as e-mail and phone number.

Note: Be sure to write down the code number, date, time, and location of the study, as well as the researcher’s name and phone number. You will need this information later to get to the study on time, as well as to notify the researcher if unable to attend.

New studies are posted throughout the semester. Because new studies are being approved by the campus Institutional Review Board on a continuous basis, additional studies may be posted on the SONA system at any time. Please check the website regularly to find new research opportunities. Don't wait until the end of the semester to sign up for studies. This creates a tremendous crunch at the end of the semester, and results in fewer options for students.

When you sign up for a study, make sure that you write down the date, time, place, code number, and the phone number of the researcher. You will also receive an email the day before reminding you about the study. Show up at the research site on time (but not more than five minutes early). If you are late, you may lose the chance to participate at that time. Make sure that you know the section number of your course and your instructor's name to ensure that you receive credit for your participation. In some cases, you may be asked to provide your phone number on the sign-up sheet so that you can receive a phone call from the researcher as a reminder the night before the study, but be sure to show up whether or not you have been contacted.

If you find that you cannot participate in research at the time you have indicated, it is your responsibility to call the researcher whose number appears on the webpage for the specific study you signed up for (not the administrator of the Research Requirement) at least 24 hours prior to the running of the study. If you can, you should also remove your name from the webpage so that another student can take your slot.

As indicated in the previous question, students may cancel their research appointment without any penalty, if they call the researcher at least 24 hours in advance of the appointment. The first time you fail to notify the researcher of your expected absence and do not show up, your name will be submitted to the administrators of the pool. The second time you fail to fulfill your responsibility to notify the researcher, you will lose the option of participating in research for the remainder of the semester, and will be required to read the articles and take the quizzes. If you do not cancel or show up for the studies, you will be penalized by having to participate in an additional hour of research (or do an additional article and quiz) for each additional appointment missed.

While we do not expect this to be a common problem, it is conceivable that a researcher will not be present at the appointed time. Please wait at least fifteen (15) minutes before leaving. If the researcher is more than fifteen (15) minutes late, you have the right to receive full credit for an hour of research participation. Notify the administrator, Naitram Baboolall at psychreq@hunter.cuny.edu (Room 737B Hunter North, 212-772-5612), ASAP, that you were present but the researcher was not.

Students can always log on to the sona-systems and check. Your instructor can also view this info on the webpage; please ask your instructor to check for you if you are concerned.

While we hope and expect that the majority of students will learn from and enjoy participating in research, no student is forced to be a research participant. You may also fulfill the requirement by reading six brief psychological articles from among a group that has been selected as appropriate for Psychology 100 students, and passing (with a grade of 70) six short quizzes on the articles at the SONA website (https://huntercollege.sona-systems.com/).

• Hunter College Libraries E-Reserves
• Psychology Guide for Finding Articles

Several articles are already on electronic reserve at the Hunter College Library. Go to select “Electronic Reserve” and then view the reserve pages. From the pull-down menus, select “Instructor last name on the list below.” and “Contains”. Click on Instructor's name—“Baboolall”—and click on “Search”. Select your course number. When the copyright agreement box appears, type in the password-baboolall100 (using no spaces or capital letters), then click "Accept". Pick any one of the articles.

Quizzes on the psychological articles are administered on SONA, please log on and sign up and take the quizzes (https://huntercollege.sona-systems.com/).

Students who fail to fulfill their research requirement by participating in research by the end of the semester (specifically by May 15, 2025) are encouraged to read the article(s) and take the quizzes in order to receive the credit towards your final grade in PSYCH 100. The final quiz will be offered on May 15, 2025. Your research requirement will count towards 5% of your final grade in PSYCH 100. If you do not fulfill the requirement by May 15, 2025, you will receive a zero towards that 5% of your final grade in PSYCH 100.

All problems that you experience with the research requirement should be taken to the Research Participant Pool Administrator, Naitram Baboolall at psychreq@hunter.cuny.edu (Room 737B Hunter North, (212) 772-5612), or the Research Pool Faculty Supervisor, Professor Danielle Berke at db2800@hunter.cuny.edu (Room 736 Hunter North, (212) 396-6378). We will do everything we can to help you fulfill your requirement. Please do not take problems to your Psychology 100 instructors, the Psychology Department Chairperson, or the Psychology Department secretaries—only the above administrators can provide assistance on this matter.