Fall 2025 PSY1300 Research Experience Participant Guidelines

Please direct any questions regarding the research experience requirement to the Research Experience Coordinator at: Psy-Research@txstate.edu

                                                           This information applied to these sections of PSY 1300 during Fall 2025:                                                                                

                                                         M, W, F  9:00 -9:50 AM      Section 001 (CRN 11822) – Instructor: Mr. J. Angulo 

                                                         T, TH      8:00 - 9:20 AM     Section 004 (CRN 12813) – Instructor: Dr. A. Meeks

                                                         Online                                   Section 005 (CRN 11580) ­– Instructor: Dr. K. Tooley

                                                         Online                                   Section 006 (CRN 12814) ­– Instructor: Dr. K. Tooley

                                                        M, W, F  10:00 -10:50 AM  Section 007 (CRN 12815) – Instructor: Dr. J. Cascio

                                                        M, W     5:00-6:20 PM         Section 011 (CRN 19527) – Instructor: Dr. L. Werner

                                                        M, W     3:30-4:50 PM         Section 012 (CRN 19841) – Instructor: Dr. L. Werner

                                                        Online                                   Section 013 (CRN 20544) ­– Instructor: Mr. M. Stern

                                                        Online                                   Section 014 (CRN 20545) ­– Instructor: Dr. A. Jones-Rincon

                                                        Online                                   Section 015 (CRN 21993) ­– Instructor: Ms. M. Hicks

                                                        M, W     11:00-12:20 PM     Section H01 (CRN 19842) – Instructor: Mr. M. Stern

                                                        M, W     3:00-4:20 PM         Section R15 (CRN 20575) – Instructor: Ms. D. Arreguin

                                                        M, W     1:00-2:20 PM         Section R16 (CRN 20576) – Instructor: Dr. J. Harris

Psychologists conduct much of their research with human participants at universities such as Texas State University. To enhance your understanding of the nature of psychological research, it is important that you get some first-hand experience with research. For that reason, students are required to have direct experience with psychological research.

All research with human participants must be carried out in an ethical manner. For example, you cannot be required to participate in research studies against your wishes. Therefore, you have two options to fulfill the research experience requirement: one involves participation in research studies whereas the other does not. Both options have been designed to take the same amount of effort. You are free to choose either option or a combination of both for a total credit balance of 6 credits. These 6 credits are worth approximately one-half of a letter grade (i.e., 5% of your overall course grade).

You must complete your research requirement NO LATER THAN Tuesday, December 2nd, 2025, by 11:59 pm- this is the latest work can be submitted for credit.

Option 1. Research Participation

If you are 18 years of age or older, you are eligible to participate in research studies (the age restriction is due to federal policy). Your participation in these studies will give you direct contact with research. Participation in psychology research studies at Texas State University that require 30 minutes or less are worth 1 credit; studies that take between 30-60 minutes are worth 2 credits; studies that take between 60-90 minutes are worth 3 credits; and so on. Laboratory studies (those that you have to participate in-person at a predefined location) are worth an additional bonus credit above what the time commitment dictates. Online studies are credited just based on the time commitments listed above. The number of credits will be noted in the study description that you see when you sign up. The number of credits listed on SONA for any given study is accurate, and already includes the bonus point if applicable.

 

                                                                    Credit Distribution

Length of Study

 

Earned Credit

(In-person studies: add 1) additional credit)

1-30 minutes  

1 credit

31-60 minutes

2 credits

61-90 minutes

3 credits

90-120 minutes

4 credits

121-150 minutes

5 credits

151-180 minutes

6 credits

Research Article Summary

2 credits

 

Only studies listed at http://txstate.sona-systems.com qualify for credit. Other studies, including paid studies, cannot be used to satisfy the Research Requirement.

 

To sign up for a study, follow the steps below:

  1. Beginning on Friday, September, 12th, 2025,  go to the website: http://txstate.sona-systems.com
  2. Log in with your Texas State net ID and password
  • The first time you login, you will be asked to take a brief survey to get some basic information about you. This initial survey will earn you your first credit!
  • After completing the initial (prescreen) survey, you can sign up for additional studies, view your accumulated credits, and edit your profile, as shown in the screen shot below.
sona studies screenshot

*NOTE: If you sign up for a study but cannot attend/complete the study, you must cancel your appointment through the SONA system or contact the study’s researcher to cancel. If you fail to complete or cancel a study, you will not be allowed to sign up for future studies until you contact the researcher to set up a new time to participate in the study you missed.

Option 2. Research Article Summaries

You may also demonstrate direct contact with research by submitting a written summary of a research article published during 2024-2025 in Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research. Credit will not be given for summaries of articles published in any other year or any other journal. Each written summary is worth 2 credits. To earn credits in this way, follow the steps below:

  1. Visit the library homepage (https://www.library.txst.edu/), then click on “Periodicals”, then search for “Psi Chi Journal of Psychological Research”. When the result comes up, click on “Academic Search Complete”. Expand the year list (2024 or 2025) on the right side of the page, and choose one of the articles listed. 
  2. Read the article. Then type a single-spaced, 1-page paper (in 12-point font) that answers the following four questions:
    1. What question(s) did this research try to answer or what hypotheses did it test?
    2. What methods were used to answer the question(s) or test the hypotheses?
    3. What were the major findings of the research?
    4. What conclusions did the researchers draw based on the findings?
    5. Please respond in your own words and avoid direct quotes. If plagiarism is detected in your article summary, you will lose the opportunity to earn credit through article submission.
  3. Submit your summary via an email with a file attachment (.docx or .pdf, NOT SharePoint) to: Psy-Research@txstate.edu

Monitoring your Credits
The Research Experience assignment is worth 5% of your course grade. Research credits for both options can be tracked by logging into http://txstate.sona-systems.com/ as described above. In addition, your credits earned will be updated in a column in your Canvas Gradebook, once a week. Additional details, including frequently asked questions, can be found at: https://www.psych.txst.edu/research/research-participation/psy-1300.html

Please direct any questions regarding the research experience requirement to the Research Experience Coordinator at:
Psy-Research@txstate.edu

Frequently Asked Questions about the Research Experience Requirement

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