Make sure you go through all of the steps in BeforeYouStartWorkingInTheLab before you start running behavioral studies
On the day of testing
- Always ensure testing rooms are booked beforehand, through the Virtual EMS system, and that those times and spaces are posted on SONA as well
Arrive at your booked testing room early, giving yourself sufficient time to setup and make sure the programs are running smoothly
- Have all of the informed consent and other paperwork ready before the participant arrives
- Paperwork should be obtained ahead of time from Matt/the Lab Manager/the lockers on floor B
- Prepare materials that will be used in the study (start computer, prepare program, organize paperwork, have money or SONA ready, etc.)
Room Reservations
Login to the Virtual EMS System and check room availability for B71, where a majority of our studies take place. We typically use specifically B71C for most of our studies. Before reserving a room, verify which rooms you can use with Matt and reserve those rooms for the allotted times you'll be working for the lab. Once the room is booked, go to SONA and publish that timeslot so that students can sign up to participate.
SONA scheduling & credit
The student should be able to login to SONA at the following address: https://unl.sona-systems.com/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2f
Once the student logs in, they will select researcher. From there, the student will be able to create their scheduled times and save it so that participants are able to sign up.
Note: make sure to include scheduled times on the Lab Google Calendar AND the Virtual EMS system.
After the experiment has finished, make sure to log back in to SONA and give the student credit for participating in the study.
Where Things Are
If you need anyone from the lab, you're likely to find at least one of them in the bullpen on floor B. The bullpen also has our lockers, 202 and 203, which have laptops, study forms, cash boxes, etc. that you might need for your study. Undergraduates will only get these passcodes when they are ready to run studies independently.
Tech Set Up
Both of our testing laptops run a distribution of Linux. They have been set up to be optimal for data collection, and so have some slightly unusual steps involved in experimental setup. In addition, each study has slightly different steps involved in their setup. The task instructions for each separate study will include a tech setup sheet, which will detail the specific settings required for that study.
Study Set Up
Set Up for each study will be slightly different, but each study should have specific protocol.
For general information on set up, refer to StandardEEGProtocols or StandardMRIProtocols
Following/Filling-in the log form
Once the participant has arrived fill the log form accordingly, recording the number of the participant, date, time, whether paid or for credit, and the running total of paid or credit participants.
Handling sensitive data
- All forms (consent, demographics, questionnaires, surveys, receipt forms, etc.) must be handled with care as they may contain sensitive data about participants
- At the end of each day that an RA has conducted study sessions, they should turn in all of the forms completed that day to the lab manager/postdoc/Dr. Johnson (depending on whoever is around). They will then check to make sure all of the forms had been correctly filled and are all there, before storing them in a holding folder. At this point, the "Forms given to Rafay" column in the log form should be checked.
Closing Shop
After the participant has finished the study, make sure to give the participant their SONA credit or money right away.
Once studies for the day are complete, be sure to close out of any tasks or browsers still left open. If files from the task need to be moved to a particular folder, be sure to do so before leaving the lab.
COVID Protocol: make sure to sanitize surfaces that the participant or the researchers specifically touched, especially areas that will be used again with the next participant.