Welcome to the Research Participants Group (RPG) Web Site
Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo
The State University of New York

The Research Participation Option – 0.5 credits for each half hour (or part thereof).

Participation in all experiments is strictly voluntary. The research participation experience provides insight into the research process and gives future researchers an understanding of research from the perspective of the research participant.

You will be informed of the experimental procedures at the start of every experimental session and provided that you agree to participate, you will earn 0.5 credits for each half hour or part thereof. In order to ensure that a high level of ethical standards for research procedures are met, all of the experiments offered through the psychology department research participant group must have been reviewed and approved by the university Social and Behavioral Sciences Institutional Review Board.

Mass Testing. This refers to filling out responses to a number of questions so that experimenters can locate appropriate individuals and invite them to participate. All PSY 101 students can earn 1.0 research credits by participating in the mass testing class during the 3rd week of the semester.

To participate, follow this procedure:

  1. If you are under 18 years of age, you will not be able to sign up for experiments and hence you may not participate. Once you turn 18 however, your account will be activated and you will be eligible to choose to the Research Participation Option.
  2. Experiment participation begins in the 3rd week of classes. At this time, go to http://wings.buffalo.edu/psychology/rpg/gettingstarted/ for detailed instructions on activating your account with the experiment scheduling software and for signing up to participate in experiments.
  3. Attend class during the 3rd week of the semester to gain your Mass Testing credit. If you are 18 at the time of mass testing, you can gain 1.0 research credit simply by submitting in a blank answer sheet with your name and ID.
  4. Your credit balance can be examined by logging into the RPG system. Your current balance will be displayed near the top of the web page.

RPG Policies

  1. Be punctual for experiments. Experimenters often cannot accommodate late-arriving participants. We suggest you print out the confirming email message you receive for each scheduled experiment, as it will contain the date, time, experiment number and location for your appointment.
    • Lateness or absence from an experiment will be penalized with 0.5 negative credits, with the need to gain an extra 0.5 research credits for each appointment missed. This increases the number of research credits that you must complete above the initial 7.0 credits.
    • After 5 appointment lateness or absences, a student will no longer be eligible to participate in experiments and will need to gain all research requirement credits (7.0 plus any from penalties) through the Brief Research Summary Option.
    • A computer terminal dedicated to experiment scheduling is available 24/7 in the hall outside Park Hall 213 – participants can always check appointment times and locations using this terminal.
  2. Experimenter Lateness. Wait for at least 10 minutes past the appointment time if you arrive on time for your scheduled appointment and there is no experimenter. You will be given 0.5 credits for any appointment that is missed by the experimenter, cancelled by the experimenter less than 24 hours prior, or that fails to occur due to technical problems. If an Experimenter misses the appointment, wait 24 hours for credit to be assigned before reporting a problem.
  3. Credit Assignment and Receipts. Participants earn 0.5 research credits for each half hour (or part thereof) of participation. Experiments are scheduled through the web and credits and penalties are assigned through the web as well. Students may wish to keep paper copies of these records. During mass testing you will receive and experimental record sheet that you can maintain. This record sheet might be your only proof of experiment participation in case a credit has not been assigned to you. Additional sheets may be obtained outside Park 213 or by clicking here.
  4. Appointment Cancellation. If you find you cannot make a scheduled appointment to participate in an experiment, you must cancel your scheduled session on the RPG system up to 24 hours before the scheduled start-time of the session. Failure to show up for a scheduled session will result in penalty.
  5. To obtain a copy of the Research Participation Requirement Handout click here.