Current Studies
If you are an undergraduate looking to participate in Human Subject Research for classroom credit, please go to the Undergraduate SONA research page.
Adults 45 years and older (<60 years) are needed for a study on how seeing a speaker’s face helps with understanding what the speaker said. Researchers in the Language, Intersensory Perception, and Speech (LIPS) lab at UMass Amherst are seeking volunteers with American English as their first language. The study requires a 2-hour visit and a 3-hour visit to the lab on campus. Participants will be paid $10 per hour for their time. All personnel has volunteered to wear masks and currently only appointments for participants willing to wear doubled surgical masks are open. The first lab visit includes various computerized tasks that assess hearing, vision, and judgments about what a speaker says. The second visit involves recording the participants’ brain waves with an EEG cap on their head while they watch and listen to a speaker.
$10/hr for a 2hr visit and a 3hr visit
Do you identify as Hispanic or Latina/o/x? Are you between the ages of 13-19 years? Or are you the parent of someone that age?
A team of health researchers are looking for parents and teenagers (ages 13-19) to participate together in a study on life experiences and health. The study involves an interview, surveys, and health measurements.
Family members will be compensated up to $60 each for participating.
Participation is completely voluntary and all information collected is confidential.
If you are interested in learning more about the study, give us a call/text/email or message on social media.
Email: familias@umass.edu
Call/Text: (413)-200-8631
Facebook/lnstagram: UMassFamLab
Study Investigators:
Airin Martinez, Ph.D.
Evelyn Mercado, Ph.D.
We are looking for:
• Healthy kids from 11-12 and 15-17 years old.
What we study?
• We study decision making using an online computerized game to understand your decisions.
What you would do?
You will play an online game where you must discover what gear makes a pilot better in a race by making choices using your keyboard. A researcher will set up the game for you and will be watching the session through a videocall.
Participants:
• Will receive a stipend (between $12 - $15).
Contact:
• Please contact Ramiro Rea in the Neuro-Learning & Performance Lab at 413-489-1209 or kwak.online.study@gmail.com
During the lab study, you will be asked to provide information about yourself, your personality, and your alcohol use. You will also be asked to participate in an evaluation task.
Type of Subject: Individuals 21-30 years old who currently drink alcoholic beverages
Time: 5-10 minute eligibility survey and 1 hour for in-person study
Compensation: In exchange for completing the screener, you will be entered into a raffle for a $25 Amazon gift card. In exchange for the lab portion of the study, you will receive compensation at the rate of either two experimental research credits per hour of participation OR $15 per hour of participation.
We need:
- Adults between 18 and 35 years of age who are native speakers of American English
- You must be right-handed and have normal hearing in both ears
- You must have normal vision or wear appropriate glasses/contact lenses
- You cannot have a history of language disorder or neurological and
psychiatric issues
- You should not have taken psychoactive medication in the two weeks prior
to the appointment
What will you be asked to do?
You would come to the lab in Tobin Hall for a one-time visit. During your
visit in the lab, you will be asked to rate whether short English phrases
were pronounced correctly. While you are listening, your brainwaves (EEG)
will be recorded by a cap of electrodes that will be placed on your head.
What Covid measures are implemented?
All personnel has volunteered to wear masks and currently only appointments
for participants willing to wear doubled surgical masks are open.
How would you be compensated?
You would receive $12 per hour, rounded to the nearest half of an hour. The
session is between 2.5-3.5 hrs, so you can get up to $42.
Contact:
Please leave a message for Bella Cerulle at (413) 461-0299 or email
lipslab@umass.edu.
$12 per hour for 2.5 - 3.5 hour visit
In this study you will be asked to listen to a speaker talk and to indicate what the speaker said or will say by pressing buttons or by typing a response. We may track your eye movements while you listen to speech. We will also ask you a few demographic questions.
You must fulfill these criteria:
- American English was your first language and the only language you grew up speaking at home
- 18-30 years old
- Normal or corrected-to-normal vision
- Normal hearing
- No psychoactive medication use
- No diagnosed language or attention problems
- No neurological issues.
$5
The Tropp lab at UMass-Amherst is recruiting students older than 18 years for a study on judgements of online interactions. All you have to do is chat with a fellow student for 15-20 min and answer a few questions. 5 people selected from the raffle will each win a $150 gift card!
Visit: https://calendly.com/irsjstudy/30min?month=2022-10
or contact lmorhayim@umass.edu to sign up for the study.
Help us learn if physical activity benefits learning and napping in preschool children!
WHO: We are recruiting preschool children (33 to 71 months) that frequently nap along with a caregiver (and have access to a computer/tablet with internet) for one of two in-home studies. No campus visits involved!
WHAT: Over a 16-day period, each study will include…
• Initial online assessment session: caregiver questionnaires, child cognitive & fitness assessment
• Two ‘testing’ days, each with: A morning activity or quiet play session (with caregiver assistance), two memory assessments (brief online meetings), and sleep measures during afternoon nap (Study 1 only)
• Movement and sleep tracking of child via a watch for 16 days
• Completion of a study diary by caregivers
COMPENSATION:
• $65 plus 1 story book (Study 1) or $45 plus 6 story books (Study 2)
To learn more about the study or learn if your child is eligible, contact our research team at cstlaurent@umass.edu or (413) 545-4831 or visit https://blogs.umass.edu/cstlaurent/.
The UMass ViTAL Lab is seeking parent and child volunteers to help us learn more about how stress affects young children's feelings and behavior, and about what parents do to help their children manage stress.
You may be eligible if:
You are over the age of 18
Have a child between age 4-6
Contact us for more information!
You can earn up to $75 and your child can earn a gift valued at $15 by participating in this study.
Participation is voluntary and information is confidential.
To learn more about how to participate, please email us at vitallab@umass.edu, call us at 413-345-5346 or scan this QR code & share your contact info with us - one of our staff will contact you.
The Somneuro Lab at UMass Amherst is recruiting for a variety of in-lab or at-home studies examining the relationship between sleep and memory in older adults.
Participants will be asked to complete a computer-based memory task and will then have their memory tested after sleeping or staying awake.
Compensation is available from $60-$200.
If interested, call (413) 545-4831 or email somneurolab+aging@gmail.com
Somneuro Lab, UMass Amherst
somneurolab.com
Researchers at the Learning Lab and the Human Performance Lab are studying teen drivers’ cognitive skills and their use of automated driving systems. They are seeking teen drivers who are ready to test for or have recently received their junior operator license. In the first visit, teen drivers will complete several computer tasks during a 45-minute session at the Learning Lab. In each of the next four visits, teens will complete a 60-minute driving session in the driving simulator at the Human Performance Lab. Participants should not be prone to motion sickness.
Teens can earn up to $150 for participation in all 5 sessions, and parents can earn up for $50. The full breakdown of compensation can be seen below:
Visit 1: $20 for teen, $10 for parent
Visit 2: $25 for teen, $10 for parent
Visit 3: $30 for teen, $10 for parent
Visit 4: $35 for teen, $10 for parent
Visit 5: $40 for teen, $10 for parent
Both lab locations are on the UMass Amherst campus. For more information, please contact Christina Hogan at TeenDriveStudy@gmail.com or fill out our intake form
Receive free group therapy as part of the Mapping Aspects of Psychotherapy in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (MAPDBT) research study. The goal of MAPDBT is to compare how different parts of evidence-based group therapy may improve emotional functioning among people who struggle to manage their emotions and have self-destructive behaviors. Participants will receive 6 weeks of free group therapy. Although these group interventions are based on evidence-based care, they are experimental as we do not know how six weeks of each separate group will affect your symptoms.
Participants would be required to attend 6 weeks of virtual group therapy (2 hours each session), come for 3 in-person visits (3 hours each session) to the Clinical Affective Science Lab (CASL) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst (maintaining social distance and following safety guidelines), and complete sets of online surveys. Unfortunately, the in-person sessions cannot be done virtually. In addition, participants will be compensated a small amount for participation (up to $210 for the full study).
Before people sign up for the study, we like to provide participants with more information on what participation involves. Additionally, we would also like to ask some questions about some psychological symptoms they may have experienced in order to ensure that they qualify for the study. This phone call should take about 30-40 minutes to complete and can be scheduled by emailing caslab@umass.edu.
We will be launching a final round of groups in mid-October, and will be completing participant enrollment soon. Please contact our lab now to complete the screening process and pre-group requirements, many of which can be completed virtually!
Visit the CASL website for more information: https://www.caslumass.com/ or call 413-354-0053
What do kids think about people and the world around them?
Researchers at UMass Amherst are recruiting kids ages 5-12 years to participate in a study!
We are conducting a study about how kids who are Black, White, or Mixed (Black & White)* think their peers would interact with authority figures, like police or firefighters.
The study will be conducted with a trained researcher through a one time visit on Zoom, which can be done in the comfort of your home. The session will last about 30-40 minutes and children will be compensated $5.
Soon after the study, we hope to follow up with parents to complete a survey. Parents will also be compensated for completing the follow-up survey.
Scan the QRC or visit this link to sign up for the study and we'll reach out to you though email to set an appointment!
*children who identify as Multiracial or Mixed Black are still welcome to participate.
Project leader: Gorana Gonzalez, M.S.
Contact: thecadlab@umass.edu