It's 6 p.m., you're hungry and you're broke. Coincidentally, tonight you're also in luck.
Beginning this evening at 6, the psychology department will hold Psychology Experiment Night in Gilmer 190. Participants can arrive over the course of four hours, grab a slice of pizza, complete surveys and earn $7 for every hour of their time.
"We're doing this because we need participants to fill out surveys about attitudes and complete simple psychological experiments," graduate psychology student Liz Dunn said.
Psychology experiments typically obtain participants from Psychology 101 courses, which require that students complete a certain number of experiment hours.
Allison Jetton, a second-year College student double majoring in psychology and politics, participated in seven such experiments while enrolled in Psych 101.
"Some of the experiments tested hand-eye coordination, so I got to play simple video games," Jetton said.
While many students, such as Jetton, participate in psychology experiments in the fall, spring participation is much lower.
"We usually have enough participation in the fall because many first- year students take Psych 101 when they come to the University," Dunn said. "Enrollment tends to be lower in the spring, but many graduate students still need surveys filled out. Since the supply and demand is off, we decided to open up the opportunity to the entire University community."
As the tempting flyers posted around Grounds promise, "The longer you stay, the more money you make." Each participant will earn a voucher according to how many hours they participate in the experiments, and they may redeem their voucher for a check from the psychology department office in Gilmer.
The money available for Psychology Experiment Night comes from grants that professors secure from federal institutions, such as the National Institute of Mental Health, which provide funding for psychological research.
Although the graduate students cannot divulge details of their studies beforehand without jeopardizing the accuracy of the experiment, Dunn said tonight's general topics pertain to psychology in legal verdicts and attitudes toward certain social issues and groups.
"We try not to tell people any details before they participate because we don't want them to know exactly what we're testing," she said. "However, after the experiment, participants will be offered information sheets describing what the experiments were about."
Dunn hopes the Experiment Night will be a learning experience for participants and will expose them to psychological research methods.
"Although all the experiments tonight will be contained in this one night, students will also be given the opportunity to participate in future experiments," she said. Tonight "will just be basic stuff - no shock machines or anything"
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