Information for Students Using the USC Psychology Department Participant Pool (SONA)

Where to start?

Access the website at http://sc.sona-systems.com/.  Make sure you use this specific address!

You must self-register.

• Click the NEW PARTICIPANT link on http://sc.sona-systems.com/ to request an account.
• Enter the information requested. Use your University EMAIL!
• Select your current classes to send participation credits to a particular class.
• After pressing SUBMIT, an email will be sent to you with your username and a temporary password to login to the system.
• Log in to http://sc.sona-systems.com/ with the information in the email.
• Change the password to something unique that you can remember.
• Complete the short prescreening form.

Lost password?

1. Enter your email in the Retrieve Password field.
2. Your password will be sent to your email address.

How to sign up for research studies.

• Log in to http://sc.sona-systems.com/ .
• Click on VIEW AVAILABLE STUDIES to see the available studies and credits offered.
• Click on the study name, or Timeslots Available to view the study information.
• Click on View Time Slots for This Study to find a time to participate.
• Click on an appointment time in the Calendar.
• Click Sign Up on the following screen.
• Select the class to assign credit on the Confirmation screen.
• Each credit can be applied to one class!
• You can change the allocation of credits to courses throughout the semester up to reading day.
• Make sure to note the information on this screen. I recommend taking a screenshot!
• Click "confirm" to sign up or "cancel" if the time works.
• The system will not allow signing up twice for the same study.
• The web will send you an email reminder about the study within 24 hours of the study.

Reviewing Information and Cancellations

• Review what studies you are signed up for by clicking on the My Schedule/Credits.
• The studies you are signed up for are listed under the heading Study Signups.
• Credits are listed under the heading Credits.
• To cancel a study before its start time, click cancel, located to the right of your study time.
• Confirm cancellation on the cancellation screen.
• Study appointments may be canceled up to one hour before the scheduled time.

Penalties and Privileges

• If you sign up for a study and fail to show up without canceling, you will accrue an "unexcused no-show."
• There will not be any penalty for excused or unexcused no-shows.
• If you accrue TWO "unexcused no-shows," you will lose the privilege of participating in the SONA participant pool.
• You may still submit papers for alternative credit (see below).

Alternative for Students Not Wishing to Participate in Research

• The Participant Pool offers a written alternative for students not wishing to participate in research.
• Participating in studies helps to gain hands-on experience concerning how research is conducted.
• The next best way to gain insight into research is by reading articles published in professional psychology journals.

How to complete the written alternative.

Select an article from a recent issue of a peer-reviewed psychology journal (2000’s or later).

The article must be at least 3 pages, and the journal must be one that is available as a pdf through the electronic collection in the Thomas Cooper Library.

Read the article and write a short, 1-2 page synopsis and reaction/critique.

The synopsis should state directly under clear subtitles: (1) the major hypothesis being investigated, (2) the method used by the researchers, and (3) how the results supported or did not support the hypothesis. The last section should be the reaction/critique which are your thoughts about the study, including what you learned from reading it and how it ties to what you have learned in your Psychology classes, and should also include the strengths and limitations of the study, as you see them. This should be a 1-2 page, double-spaced paper saved as a Microsoft Word document. Email the Word file along with the pdf file of the article to the participant pool TA at psycpool@mailbox.sc.edu as attachments, with your email stating your participant pool user name and indicating which psychology class the credit is for. Each paper will constitute one hour research credit. Thus, if three hours are required, you need to write three such papers. Papers can be mixed with research participation credits.

Note that University policy on plagiarism prohibits you from using text of the article without proper citation. Copying from another student's paper is also considered plagiarism. To discourage plagiarism, these papers are filed by the last name of the article's author. All papers for a particular article will be compared to make sure that students are using their own words. Likewise, using AI to write the paper is also consider plagiarism and the papers will be run through an AI detector before grading.

Contact the SONA TA at psycpool@mailbox.sc.edu for further questions. The last day to turn in papers for extra credit is the end of the week before the last full week of the semester.

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