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You might be surprised, and possibly alarmed, at the number of psychology studies (including some of the most well known) that are based on cohorts of undergrad

You might be surprised, and possibly alarmed, at the number of psychology studies (including some of the most well known) that are based on cohorts of undergraduate students at the institution conducting the study.

indlebe 4y ago
Can confirm. Most psychology undergraduate classes at research universities offer free/extra marks for research participation. Most studies leverage purely these participant pools, with behavioural psych perhaps being the area where this is seen the most. As such, most behavioural psych PIs at these universities won't even budget for research participant honorariums.
- pigsty 4y ago
  Mine required participation in at least 3 studies. I feel like undergrads who are participating in a study only because they’re told to will shift the results a bit.
  - MikeTheGreat 4y ago
    My initial thought was "Yes, you're absolutely right. That must shift the results", and I think that selecting for any particular subset of the overall population will shift it, but given that the researcher is already using a convenience sample (i.e., easily available college students) is it really going to change it more than the convenience sample already does? Like, I can see there being a difference between a truly random sample from the overall population vs. students who are required to participate, but how much of a difference are you going to see between local students who volunteer vs. local college students doing this 'as part of their homework'.
    - sgc 4y ago
      Yeah, the biggest problem seems to be taking a bunch of extremely hormonal 18-20 year olds in an awkward and idiosyncratic social situation (university in general, and often forced dorm life for undergrads), and then calling that a universal study of human nature. Over and over and over again.
  - GalenErso 4y ago
    I once participated in a study in college for $50. I was not studying human sciences.
    - dhosek 4y ago
      When I took intro psych in 1986, we were required to do 3 studies, but some of the studies did offer cash. Those usually were the first to get filled. I think I only got money for one of the three.
  - sclarisse 4y ago
    It’s not the only thing to shift the results. I took one of those surveys asking the classic question of whether I’d like money now, or a decent bit more money in a few months. There I was, earning nothing, a little shy on cash, but I had a job offer in a few months for a decent little software job. I said I preferred the money now.
  - SilasX 4y ago
    Uhhhh doesn't that violate informed consent? "Participate in a study or don't graduate" doesn't feel as consensual as research ethics normally require...
detourdog 4y ago
I went to what was called a laboratory school tha was part of the education department at a large state university. They would pull us out class occasionally and wire are heads, stick us in a black room and ask about a small white dot. No idea what it was about but must have been research.
- TechBro8615 4y ago
  Oh yeah, I did that study for my TA once. It was something about reaction time or visual tracking or something like that. I was distracted, though, because my TA was really hot. I ended up quitting the Psych major with one credit remaining, and begrudgingly grinded through CS instead.
  - Maursault 4y ago
    > I ended up quitting the Psych major with one credit remaining, and begrudgingly grinded through CS instead. So you graduated a CS major with a double minor in Math and Psych? Interesting.
    - TechBro8615 4y ago
      Huh? There was definitely no math involved - I would never have graduated if there were! Incidentally it was a double CS + Psych that I started with, but I abandoned the psych portion and did the entire CS part in the last two years. Would not recommend.
      - Maursault 4y ago
        fyi, computer science is a subset of mathematics, the "computer" part sort of gives it away, because what it really means is "one who computes, factors, reckons." To be more clear, CS is Math. My CS degree, and most others I am aware of, had a built-in math minor, i.e. 22 credits of the 60 credit degree were courses from the math department, including discrete math, two years of calculus I, II & III, linear algebra, statistics, differential equations, number theory, and numerical analysis. If your CS degree didn't include any mathematics whatsoever, then your alma mater didn't prepare you to find work as a computer scientist. And if being only one or a few credits shy of a psych degree didn't earn you at least a psych minor, I'd ask for my tuition back with a lawsuit.

indlebe 4y ago

Can confirm. Most psychology undergraduate classes at research universities offer free/extra marks for research participation. Most studies leverage purely these participant pools, with behavioural psych perhaps being the area where this is seen the most. As such, most behavioural psych PIs at these universities won't even budget for research participant honorariums.

pigsty 4y ago
Mine required participation in at least 3 studies. I feel like undergrads who are participating in a study only because they’re told to will shift the results a bit.
- MikeTheGreat 4y ago
  My initial thought was "Yes, you're absolutely right. That must shift the results", and I think that selecting for any particular subset of the overall population will shift it, but given that the researcher is already using a convenience sample (i.e., easily available college students) is it really going to change it more than the convenience sample already does? Like, I can see there being a difference between a truly random sample from the overall population vs. students who are required to participate, but how much of a difference are you going to see between local students who volunteer vs. local college students doing this 'as part of their homework'.
  - sgc 4y ago
    Yeah, the biggest problem seems to be taking a bunch of extremely hormonal 18-20 year olds in an awkward and idiosyncratic social situation (university in general, and often forced dorm life for undergrads), and then calling that a universal study of human nature. Over and over and over again.
- GalenErso 4y ago
  I once participated in a study in college for $50. I was not studying human sciences.
  - dhosek 4y ago
    When I took intro psych in 1986, we were required to do 3 studies, but some of the studies did offer cash. Those usually were the first to get filled. I think I only got money for one of the three.
- sclarisse 4y ago
  It’s not the only thing to shift the results. I took one of those surveys asking the classic question of whether I’d like money now, or a decent bit more money in a few months. There I was, earning nothing, a little shy on cash, but I had a job offer in a few months for a decent little software job. I said I preferred the money now.
- SilasX 4y ago
  Uhhhh doesn't that violate informed consent? "Participate in a study or don't graduate" doesn't feel as consensual as research ethics normally require...

detourdog 4y ago

I went to what was called a laboratory school tha was part of the education department at a large state university. They would pull us out class occasionally and wire are heads, stick us in a black room and ask about a small white dot. No idea what it was about but must have been research.

TechBro8615 4y ago
Oh yeah, I did that study for my TA once. It was something about reaction time or visual tracking or something like that. I was distracted, though, because my TA was really hot. I ended up quitting the Psych major with one credit remaining, and begrudgingly grinded through CS instead.
- Maursault 4y ago
  > I ended up quitting the Psych major with one credit remaining, and begrudgingly grinded through CS instead. So you graduated a CS major with a double minor in Math and Psych? Interesting.
  - TechBro8615 4y ago
    Huh? There was definitely no math involved - I would never have graduated if there were! Incidentally it was a double CS + Psych that I started with, but I abandoned the psych portion and did the entire CS part in the last two years. Would not recommend.
    - Maursault 4y ago
      fyi, computer science is a subset of mathematics, the "computer" part sort of gives it away, because what it really means is "one who computes, factors, reckons." To be more clear, CS is Math. My CS degree, and most others I am aware of, had a built-in math minor, i.e. 22 credits of the 60 credit degree were courses from the math department, including discrete math, two years of calculus I, II & III, linear algebra, statistics, differential equations, number theory, and numerical analysis. If your CS degree didn't include any mathematics whatsoever, then your alma mater didn't prepare you to find work as a computer scientist. And if being only one or a few credits shy of a psych degree didn't earn you at least a psych minor, I'd ask for my tuition back with a lawsuit.