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.”