Undergraduates - Participate in Brain Research

November 25, 2024

Undergraduates - Participate in Brain Research

Study Title: First Impressions and Neural Correlates

IRBNet # 2155513-1

Study Purpose and Rationale: The purpose of this research is to examine undergraduate students’ patterns of brain activity in relation to performance on a task that involves first impressions. 

Inclusion/Exclusion Criteria: To be eligible to participate in this study, you must be an undergraduate student at least 18 years of age, and no older than 60 years old. You must have normal or corrected-to-normal vision in order to participate. If you have a history of concussions, head injuries resulting in loss of consciousness, or seizures, you are not eligible to participate. 

Participation Procedures and Duration: The study will be held in North Quad 067 and will take approximately 2 hours of your time. Prior to scheduling a data collection session in the lab, you will need to complete a 10-minute online demographic and health (e.g., any known skin conditions, implanted metal devices, history of concussions, etc.) screening survey to determine your eligibility to participate in the study. You will also need to complete additional questionnaires about your emotional experiences and experiences in social relationships, which is expected to take 20-minutes to complete. If eligible for the main study, you will be prepared for an electroencephalogram (EEG) recording session and your brain activity will be measured while completing a computerized task. The task will involve you viewing pictures of same-aged peers and indicating your first impressions. This portion of the study is expected to take 2 hours to complete. 

Risks or Discomforts:

It is possible you may feel some discomfort while being prepared for the EEG recording. Saline gel will be placed in holes in the cap and will get into your hair. The gel is non-toxic and washes out easily with a shower. While the risk of an allergic is very low, in order to ensure your safety, a small amount of saline gel will be placed on your arm and left to dry for 2-3 minutes prior to capping procedures to ensure no allergic reaction occurs. You may quit the study at any point if you feel uncomfortable or do not wish to continue. If at any time you express discomfort with the EEG process or any other aspect of the study, the researchers will discontinue the experiment immediately. 

Compensation: The first portion of the study (i.e., the online surveys) is expected to take 30-minutes of your time. There will be no compensation for completing the online surveys (i.e., part one) of this study. The second portion of this study (i.e., the EEG data collection) is anticipated to take approximately 2 hours. If you are enrolled in a CPSY undergraduate course and complete the entire study, you will be given 2 research credits. If you are enrolled in a CPSY course and choose to withdraw from the study or are withdrawn by the researcher due to ineligibility, you will receive credit equal to the amount of time spent in the study. Participation under 1 hour will earn 0.5 research credits, 1 hour to under 1.5 hours will earn 1 research credit, 1.5 hours to 1.75 hours will earn 1.5 research credits, and 1.75 to 2 hours will receive 2 research credits. If you ask for your data to be destroyed, you will still earn research credit commensurate with your time spent in the study as described above. If you are not able to complete the study due to a technical malfunction, you will be given the full 2 research credits. If you are not in a CPSY course, you will receive a $20 Tango gift card if you complete the entire study, $15 if you participate for 1.5 hours, $10 if you participate for 1 hour, and $5 if you participate for 30 minutes. If you are not able to complete the study due to a technical malfunction, you will be given the full $20 gift card amount. Note that students in CPSY undergraduate courses that participate in this study are not eligible to receive a gift card. 

How to Participate: If you have questions and/or you are interested to participate, please email Claire Dugan at cepiper@bsu.edu.

Researcher Contact Information

Student Principal Investigator:  

Claire Dugan

Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and Counseling                                               

Ball State University

College of Health

Muncie, IN  47306

Telephone: 765-285-8040

Email: cepiper@bsu.edu

Principal Investigator:   

Lawrence H. Gerstein, Ph.D.

Department of Counseling Psychology, Social Psychology, and Counseling                                             

Ball State University

Health Professions Building

Muncie, IN  47306

Telephone: 765-285-8040

Email: lgerstein@bsu.edu

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