So there comes a time in the lives of every poor, penniless, poverty-stricken, impecunious, indigent, destitute (you get the idea) college student’s life when they realize that they are in need of some cold, hard, cash. So naturally, the first question we ask ourselves is, “how do I make money without too much of a time commitment?” Between all the classes, research projects, netflixing, and other extracurricular activities, there’s no way you can hold down a job that mandates at least 10 hours a week, and you can’t really give up the meager five hours of sleep that you have left. So. What do you do?
Rob a bank? Let’s not break the law. Sell a kidney? Let’s not get so morbid so soon. Sign up for groundbreaking, ethically questionable experiments run by a mad scientist? Hmm. Getting warmer.
The real answer? Take SLS 20, of course. In order to get credit, you have to sign up to be part of three studies that total 3 hours. (You have the right to opt out.) You also don’t get paid. But aha! Give a man a fish, he eats for a day, give him a fishing pole, he’ll eat for the rest of his life. SLS 20 might not have given you fish, but it’s led you to the pool where they swim. It’s called the Study Pool. (The metaphor was bad, I know.) This is also the place where you get to witness life as a Psych grad student or PhD. All those random factoids you hear on the radio? About having more choices makes people less happy with their decision, and other things like that — well, somebody’s spending the time in a lab coming up with those facts and figures. To get subjects to experiment on, those labs offer some decent payment. It’s usually 10 dollars for an hour of your time. If you try the studies in the decision lab, which is used by HBS and HKS researchers, the payment is often more, and there will be bonuses based on the decisions that you make.
It’s a win-win situation. You earn some money, do a (maybe) interesting task, and the researcher gets information. That said, the process is not always pleasant, so pick your experiments wisely. As per requirements for SLS 20, I signed up for an experiment, and one that happened to require attendance at two parts. So the first time, I was supposed to try to remember the people and their places and whatever was in the corner related to another, and the next time, I was to be tested on it. After 90 minutes of staring at weird landscapes and very obviously photoshopped people, and ranking my anticipated memory on it, I left.
The next week I returned only to discover (to my horror) that the questions I was being asked were things like, “how many lamps were there in the park.” Ex-squeeze-me?! That is NOT what they told me I had to try to rank and remember. After fuming for about 5 minutes, and being the people-pleaser I tried to be, I went and tried my best on the assessment. After I was finished, I was given math to do. Yes. Math. Like two digit addition and subtraction taken out from a second-grade math book. So I, being the mathlete that I am (just kidding), decided to push into full-out work mode, and finish the giant packet in 5 minutes, which I did. (And I checked my answers.) It turned out, this wasn’t a test of my mathematical proficiency or speed — it was just a filler activity that needed to be done, and I had to wait out another 10 minutes before I could move on to the next portion of the experiment. As appealing as sitting and twiddling your thumbs may sound, trust me, it’s not all hyped up as it’s supposed to be.
My point is, dear reader, that you would be doing your wallet, and other researchers a great service by signing up for these studies, but make sure to choose carefully. And, if, at any point you feel really uncomfortable, you can feel free to stop, and the experimenter will respect your wishes, no questions asked.
Welcome (pause for effect), to Study Pool.