Background: Online crowdsourcing platforms, such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), have become popular alternatives to the ubiquitous student samples used in psychology research. r/SampleSize, an alternative pool on the website Reddit, allows for online participant recruitment without compulsory or immediate payment, making it potentially useful…

Researchers often rely on undergraduate students to participate in psychological studies and so ethical guidelines state that there must be educational value to their participation. In previous studies that have asked undergraduates whether they felt they learned something new from participating in research, students have generally said yes.…

The current set of three studies further evaluates the validity and application of the Psychological Research Inventory of Concepts (PRIC). In Study 1, we administered the PRIC to a sample of introductory psychology students and online (Mechanical Turk) participants along with measures assessing theoretically related concepts. We found evidence of…

For 6 years, we have offered an integrated weekly laboratory focusing on research methods as part of our general psychology course. Through self-report measures and controlled comparisons, we found that laboratory projects significantly increase students' knowledge and comfort level with scientific approaches and concepts, sustain interest in…

"Mythbusters" uses multiple research methods to test interesting topics, offering research methods students an entertaining review of course material. To test the effectiveness of "Mythbusters" clips in a psychology research methods course, we systematically selected and showed 4 clips. Students answered questions about the clips, offered their…

Undergraduate theses are an excellent method of providing paraprofessional research experience for psychology students. Describes some of the problems (and their remedies) in conducting and advising baccalaureate psychology theses, many of which were published or read at professional meetings. (CS)

This article describes an activity that can help students (a) understand how the research process influences the outcomes of that research and (b) appreciate the media's limitations of reporting research findings. Students read about research reported in an online newspaper and in a scholarly journal and responded to questions that guided their…

Distressed research participants were identified and contacted to investigate their experiences. Anxiety due to physical discomfort was the primary complaint. However, the experiments had very mild distress effects on the subjects. Anonymity did not influence responses. (CS)

This study investigated the educational value of research participation by assessing the accuracy of student perceptions regarding the scientific status and methodology of psychology at 3 times during a semester: during the first week, following introductory and methodology lectures, and at the end of the term. Students' understanding of…

A microcomputer was used successfully to replicate Sternberg's 1966 study of retrieval from short-term memory and Sperling's 1960 study on sensory or iconic memory. Computers with a capacity for measuring reaction time are useful in the laboratory for introductory psychology courses. (SR)

Discusses the role of research training in future undergraduate psychology programs. The author emphasizes the need to retain undergraduate research methods courses which have prompted many students to enter research careers. Psychology educators must confront an academic identity crisis and resolve the questions whether psychology is a discipline…

Discusses an evaluation of the use of role playing in teaching about research ethics. Reports that students first evaluated the utility of selected studies, then explored the ethics of research projects, with and without role playing. Concludes that role playing helped sensitize students to ethical issues in research. (SG)

This six-week program involving minority honor students juxtaposed didactic and experiential research components in psychology to provide a breadth of exposure to researchers and topics while achieving in-depth training in research methodology. Interns initially participated in faculty-sponsored research but later developed and implemented their…

The major goals of this two-semester seminar are to help first-year graduate students understand the links among perspective, theory, assumptions, problem formulation, methods, and findings in psychological research and to optimize their transition into the PhD program. The seminar is described and evaluated and suggestions for change are made.…

A project that combined a research practicum for 17 psychology undergraduates with the implementation and evaluation of an assertiveness training program for physically disabled college students is described. A follow-up of students' postbaccalaureate activities revealed that the majority were using skills that they had learned in the project.…