One important way to learn about psychology is from the inside - by being a participant in psychological studies. You can learn about how studies are done, why they take certain approaches, what they find, and what it is like to be the person being studied. By serving as a participant in social science research, you also contribute to advancing the scientific understanding of human thought and behavior.

• Study Pool Operation Policy
• Eligibility Requirements
• Eligibility Requirements for Foreign Nationals
• Compensation
• Information Collected by Researchers for Compensation
• Late Arrival / No-Show Policy
• Capping Policy
• Study Information
• Registering vs. Signing up
• Psychology Lab Links
• Study Pool Security Policy
• Subject Payment Form (Doc)

• Go to Online Sign-up Now

The Study Pool operates under the condition and assumption that both the participant and the experimenter can engage in a cooperative interaction that contributes to the research goals. The following types of participants may be refused at the discretion of the researcher at any point during the study sign-up or during the experimental session:

I. Uncooperative Participants – those participants who do not follow the instructions of the study to the best of their ability and judgment. Unless instructed directly by the experimenter to do so, participants should not engage in the following activities during a study appointment:

1. Use a cell phone or other electronic device
2. Eat or drink
3. Do homework or email
4. Engage in other activities outside the realm of the instructions given by the experimenter
5. Provide false information regarding their participation eligibility to the researcher, the online system, the Study Pool online prescreening, or the Study Administrator. The person who signs up for the study must be the person who participates, and the person who is awarded the credit or compensation. Some studies in this system will require the presentation of valid identification upon your arrival.

Researchers will report any participant engaging in the activities listed above during the study appointment to the Study Administrator. The Study Pool Committee reserves the right to remove the user account of any participant who cannot comply with the instructions given during the study. The cases of these subjects will be taken up for individual review by the Study Pool Committee.

II. Potentially Dangerous Participants - those participants who are not fit to participate in the study because they are 1) behaving in an untoward fashion or are belligerent in any way to the researchers, administrative staff, or other participants or 2) participants who are mentally or physically unstable to the extent that they seem at risk of harming those around them or of harming themselves. If a researcher encounters this type of participant, they are to call the Harvard University Police (5-1212) immediately and report the incident to the Study Administrator.

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• You must be at least 18 years of age. If you are under 18, you must have a Parental Consent Form on file with the Study Administrator. You must be at least 12 years of age to participate in Study Pool studies with Parental Consent. For other Psychology Department studies available to participants under 18, please visit the The Laboratory for Developmental Studies.
• You must be fluent in English.
• Unless specified, you cannot participate in the same study more than once.
• Observe eligibility restrictions within specific study descriptions.
• If you are a Harvard University employee (part-time or full-time), please contact the Study Administrator to ask about your eligibility.
• If you are a Foreign National participant (not a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident with a Green Card), please read the following important details regarding your participation.

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For course credit: Foreign Nationals can participate in studies for Psychology course credit (if they are enrolled in a participating course) without prior approval from the Study Pool Office.

For payment: To participate in studies for monetary compensation Foreign Nationals (not U.S. citizens or Green Card holders) must be affiliated with Harvard University. Your United States visa or the annotation on your I-20 Form must list "Harvard University" as the sponsoring institution. If this is not the case, you are not eligible to participate in studies for compensation from Harvard at this time.

In order to be eligible to receive payment for study participation, you must also have a Social Security Number. If you have not yet gotten a Social Security Number, you can apply for one at your local Social Security Office. Check here for an office locator.

Harvard University Foreign Nationals are required to complete the FNIF (Foreign National Information Form) (PDF) and provide copies of their documents (see list of documents below) to the Study Administrator in William James Hall Office 234 and be approved by the Tax Office before ever being paid for study participation. No prior approval = no compensation. If you plan to visit the Study Administrator and bring your documents with you, it is best to email (studypool@wjh.harvard.edu) in advance to make certain she will be there when you visit.

When you visit the Study Administrator in 234 William James Hall to fill out your Foreign National Information Form (FNIF), you will be asked to present the following original documents:

a) your passport
b) your I-94 Departure Information (a small white card inside your passport)
c) your U.S. Visa from your passport
d) your I-20, DS2019, IAP66 or I797 (immigration documents), if applicable
e) proof of work authorization from your sponsoring institution, if applicable. Please bring all applicable documents with you to the Study Pool Office to avoid delay in processing.

Please note that you will be paid in the form of a check for participation in any study, regardless of the amount. You may also be taxed (up to 30%) of your earnings depending on the regulations and policies issued by the Harvard Tax Office in conjunction with your home country taxation laws.

For Foreign Nationals located outside the USA wishing to participate in an online study conducted by Researchers in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University:

Foreign Nationals do not need prior approval from the SPO and Tax Services if they perform the services while physically located outside the United States. However, these participants must mail, fax, or hand deliver a completed statement (see samples below) to PI/Researcher (or designee) along with a completed Subject Payment Form. Participants cannot be paid until the researcher has received both the Subject Payment Form and this signed statement below. The signature is very important in these cases so emailed statements do not qualify. Approval for payment will not be granted without this statement.

"The computer I used for the ______ study during the period ___________ to __________ was located in the following state/country __________________."

Sign + print subject's name + Date

Also, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions for Foreign Nationals (doc) participating in Harvard Psychology Studies.

Any nonresident aliens wishing to participate in Psychology studies for payment must visit the Study Administrator in 234 WJH or contact studypool@wjh.harvard.edu for further instructions.

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• For most studies conducted in the Harvard Psychology Department, payment is generally $5 for a half-hour and $10 for an hour-long study. For on-site studies (not an online survey), you will be paid in either cash or via check for your participation. Note: To receive any payment, you must arrive on time.

• If you are a Harvard student enrolled in a participating Psychology course and you are eligible for credit, then you will receive the amount of credit designated for the study by the researcher. Studies run from 0.5 hour credit and up. Note: Again, to receive credit for participating, you must arrive on time.

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Required Information

If you are participating in studies for compensation, researchers in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University are required to collect your Social Security Number (if the payment amount is above $25) and your permanent address in order to comply with Internal Revenue Service regulations and U.S. tax laws concerning distribution of income and to verify your eligibility to receive payment in the United States. Researchers must collect this information from each study participant at each study event.

Please Note: Participating in studies for compensation does not make you an employee of the Harvard Psychology Department or Harvard University.

Protection Assurance

The procedure for safe-guarding your personal information such as Social Security Numbers is carefully reviewed by the Committee on the Use of Human Subjects. Personal information and data collected during a study must be kept in locked/secure areas to assure confidentiality and protection from identity theft. Social Security Numbers cannot be collected online for an online study unless it has been predetermined that the website and server are secure.

If you would like to verify the authenticity of an online study that is being advertised by Harvard researchers, we suggest that you consult the study list at https://husp.sona-systems.com/ or visit http://www.wjh.harvard.edu/psych/ to see the names of the faculty, research associates, and postdoctoral fellows who currently conduct research in this department. If you have further concerns, you can also contact the Psychology Study Administrator at studypool@wjh.harvard.edu or 617-495-3891, to validate the affiliation of a particular study with this department.

We appreciate your support of our research and we hope that you will continue to participate in our studies.

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The Harvard University Psychology Department Study Pool adheres to a Late/No-Show Policy for both study participants and experimenters.

If You Are Late

In order to participate in a study, you must must arrive at an appointment on time. If you arrive more than 10 minutes after an appointment is scheduled to begin, the researcher is under no obligation to run the study or to award credit or payment to you. It is at the researcher's discretion whether they choose to reschedule the appointment.

If You Are a “No Show”

You may cancel an appointment in Sona Systems up to 24 hours before your scheduled appointment time. If you know that you cannot make the study appointment and you have not cancelled within Sona, you must call or email the researcher to inform them of this change (contact info is usually found in the appointment confirmation email subjects receive or is posted within Sona). If you miss a study appointment entirely and fail to contact the researcher by phone or email regarding the missed appointment (constituting a “No Show”), Sona Systems will automatically inform the Study Administrator and the infraction will be kept on file. Once you have missed an appointment, the researcher is under no obligation to reschedule the subject.

Important: If you are Late or a No Show for TWO study appointments during the semester, regardless of whether or not these appointments are with the same researcher, you will be barred from participating in future studies for credit or for pay and will consequently be withdrawn from participation in the Study Pool for the remainder of the academic semester.

If Your Researcher is Late or is a “No Show”

In the event that a researcher is more than 10 minutes late or does not show up for a scheduled appointment, you are entitled to payment or credit (for the amount of time the study is supposed to allot) plus a Debriefing Form from that particular study. If the researcher is late, you can receive this payment or credit from the experimenter when they arrive or from another authorized lab member.

If the researcher does not show up (constituting a “No Show”), you should call or email the researcher directly (contact info is found next to the study descriptions in Sona) to make arrangements to receive payment or credit and the Debriefing form.

All Late and No Show Researchers are to be reported by subjects to: review@wjh.harvard.edu.

For questions concerning this policy, please contact the Study Administrator.

Late/No-Show Policy (doc)

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• Studies usually last from a half-hour to 2 hours (payments amounts are higher for longer experiments). As a participant, you could be asked to fill out questionnaires, view videos, or make judgments on a computer. Many studies are conducted with computers, so familiarity using computers is needed. Study topics may include decision making, memory, emotional processing, action identification, cognitive processes, etc.

• Studies may involve interactions with others.

• Specific information is provided in the study descriptions under "Sign Up." There are many kinds of studies being run in our department. For example, you might be asked to fill out questionnaires, view videos, interact with others in a group, or make judgments in a computer task. All studies are reviewed and approved in advance by the Harvard University Committee for the Use of Human Subjects, and by the Department of Psychology Study Pool Committee.

• When you arrive at each study, that particular study will be explained to you by the investigator and you will have a chance to ask any questions you may have about participation. If you wish to participate, you will be given a written explanation of the study and asked to sign it, indicating your consent to participate.

• Even after you have consented and have started to participate in any study, it is always up to you to decide whether you want to continue. If, as the study is underway, you decide you would rather not participate, you may tell the experimenter and stop participating at any time and you will still receive credit for participating.

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What's the difference between "registering" and "signing up" for studies?

Registering in the Study Pool means that you receive a login and password to use the Study Pool online appointment system. Registering does not automatically sign you up for studies. Once you register (receive your login and password from the site), you can log in and view the available studies and select the ones in which you are interested and then choose an appointment time. Once you make an appointment, you will receive an email confirmation and reminder of that appointment time.

Before you register, please read the following important information. By registering to use Sona Systems, Inc.*, the online appointment scheduling system used by the Harvard University Psychology Department, you are providing information that will be stored on secure, password-protected servers run by Sona Systems, Inc. and used only for the purpose of scheduling study appointments with researchers in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. This information will not be stored on servers located on the campus of Harvard University. You will not be asked to provide your Social Security Number on this site at any time. Also, in order to further protect your identity, you will be assigned a numeric code by Sona Systems with which researchers will identify you.

Sona Systems, Inc. transactions use SSL technology - the same level of security used to protect credit card transactions online. The information you enter here is accessible only by you, the Study Pool Administrators, and the employees of Sona Systems, Inc., as required for basic site administration. The information on this site is treated as confidential, and will not be shared with any outside party for any reason. Through your registration in Sona Systems, Inc. you will also be eligible to receive email updates concerning study opportunities within the Psychology Department at Harvard University. If you wish to opt out of these email notices at any time, contact the Study Administrator.

*As a participant, you have the right to choose not to schedule your study appointments through Sona Systems, Inc. If you choose not to use Sona Systems, Inc., contact the Study Administrator at studypool@wjh.harvard.edu or (617) 495-3891 to arrange for alternative, off-line scheduling.

Special Needs: The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that students with special needs have equal access to program information. If you are a special needs student requiring assistance in signing up for Study Pool appointments, assistance is available in the Study Pool Office, 234 William James Hall or you may email the Study Administrator .

For more details on the Study Pool Security Policy, click here .

Go to Online Sign-up Now

Note: Neither registering in the Study Pool nor participating in studies makes you an employee of the Harvard Psychology Department or Harvard University.

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If you would like to find out more about the research conducted in the Harvard Psychology Department, follow the links below to view the individual lab pages.

Psychology Lab Links by Supervisor

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Harvard University Home | Psychology Department Home

Psychology Study Pool at Harvard University
234 William James Hall
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Info: 617.495.3891

Contact the Study Administrator

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Copyright 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College