SONA Credits for Bonus Points in Psychology Courses

There may be opportunities to earn bonus points for SONA credits in your Psychology courses.  If a course offers bonus points for SONA credits, the course syllabus will include the maximum number of SONA credits that can be used for that course (1-8) and that each SONA credit will increase your course grade by 0.5 points on a 100 point scale.  If you allocate more than the maximum number of SONA credits that can be used for bonus points in a specific course, you will not receive bonus points for those SONA credits that are over the limit.

In order to earn SONA credits and assign them to a course, you must register for a SONA account or login to your existing account.  Instructions for accessing SONA are available on our Student SONA  Account page or at this link.  If you have problems finding or accessing your SONA account, email psychsona@umass.edu.  Neither the instructor nor the teaching assistants for your Psychology courses can help you with your SONA account.  Click here for the SONA website.

Experiment participation

You are encouraged to earn SONA credits by participating in research studies.  The ability of scientists to conduct human subjects research depends on volunteers like you.  Much of the science that we are able to teach in psychology courses is based on participation of undergraduate students in research studies.  To earn SONA credits for research participation:

  1. Complete the mandatory, brief, non-credited survey the first time you login to SONA.
  2. You are encouraged to participate in the study titled “Long Prescreen Spring 2024”, for credit, which is only available until February 22nd at 2 pm. Participating in this online study may make you eligible for studies you would otherwise not know about.
  3. Check experiment availability frequently.
  4. If you are interested in participating in a specific study, and you meet the eligibility requirements described in the study description, sign up.
  5. Make a note of the time and specific location of the study. There will be reminders, but it is your responsibility to attend an experimental session that you signed up for.
  6. After your participation, confirm the researcher gave you the correct number of SONA credits (1 credit for every 30 minutes of participation).
  7. Assign your SONA credits to Course number – Instructor’s last name. Some courses have more than one instructor and some instructors teach more than one course. Be careful about selecting the correct one.
  8. Experiments must be completed by May 10th at 11:59 pm and must be assigned to this course by May 15th at 4:00 pm in order to receive the bonus points. There will be no opportunities for credit after May 10th.

Other ways to earn SONA credits

Some students are ineligible to participate in research (e.g., not yet 18-years old) or choose not to participate in the research studies that are available.  If your ability or willingness to participate in research studies changes during the semester, email psychsona@umass.edu to let us know.  To earn SONA credits through an alternative activity:

  1. Complete the mandatory brief survey the first time you login to SONA. Include the fact that you are unable or unwilling to participate in research studies when asked.
  2. Check for the availability of ALTERNATIVE activities frequently. These will typically include attending an in-person research talk or participating in in-person research demonstrations similar to what you might do in a psychology class.
  3. Make a note of the time and specific location of the alternative activity. There will be reminders, but it is your responsibility to attend the talk or session you signed up for.
  4. After your participation, confirm that you were given the correct number of SONA credits (1 credit for every 30 minutes of participation).
  5. Assign your SONA credits to Course number – Instructor’s last name. Some courses have more than one instructor and some instructors teach more than one course. Be careful about selecting the correct one.
  6. Alternative activities must be completed by May 10th at 11:59 pm, and credits must be assigned to this course by May 15th at 4:00 pm in order to receive the bonus points. There will be no opportunities for credit after May 10th.

Regardless of how you earn your SONA credits, please make note of the following:

SONA credits will not show up on Moodle

You can confirm that you have earned credits and assigned them to the correct course in SONA.  The instructor will be sent the number of SONA credits that you earned at the end of the semester and before submitting your final grade for the course.

Attend the sessions you sign up for.

Some research costs a great deal of time and money once a session is scheduled regardless of whether the participant shows up or not. 

  1. If you, an experimenter, or a session organizer needs to cancel a session with more than 24 hours notice for any reason, no SONA credit will be assigned and no penalty will be assigned.
  2. For online studies that can be completed at any time, if you sign up but fail to participate by the deadline, no SONA credit will be assigned and no penalty will be assigned (marked as excused).
  3. For in-person sessions and sessions that require you to be online at a specified time, you must either cancel more than 24 hours before the scheduled time or arrive at the designated place within 5 minutes of the scheduled time. Otherwise, the experimenter or session organizer will assign an unexcused “no-show” regardless of the reason.
  4. If you are assigned three unexcused “no-shows” in a semester you will be unable to sign up for any more experiments or alternatives.
  5. If you have a valid reason for missing the session and failing to provide 24-hour notice, email psychsona@umass.edu within 48 hours with the reason and any supporting evidence. Your reason and history of other no-shows will be reviewed. When there is a valid reason, unexcused “no-shows” will be changed to excused absences, which will also reinstate your access to SONA and the previously earned SONA credits.
  6. If the researcher does not show up within ten minutes of the scheduled appointment you will be compensated with 1 Sona credit for showing up. Please email psychsona@umass.edu and inform them. You should be able to reschedule if you still want to participate in the study.

What if I earn SONA credits one semester and want to use them for bonus points in another semester? 

Credits must be used in the semester they are earned and do not carry over to the next semester.

Can I earn all of my SONA credits through online studies or alternatives?

There is a maximum number of SONA credits that can be earned through asynchronous online activities each semester, typically 2-3.  That limit applies to the number of SONA credits that you can earn through online activities in one semester, regardless of the number of overall SONA credits you earn or the number of psychology courses you are enrolled in.  The Long Prescreening is an asynchronous online survey; SONA credits earned by participating in the Long Prescreening count towards the limit.

What if I start participating in a study or alternative activity and decide I do not want to continue?

You may stop your participation in an experiment at any time without penalty.  You may withdraw your consent and have any data that have been collected up to that point discarded.  You will still be compensated with SONA credits for the portion of the activity that you have completed (1 SONA credit for every 30 minutes of participation).

What if a disability prevents me from participating in research or the alternative?

Students with disabilities that are registered with Disability Services can request an accommodation from their instructor if neither experiment participation nor the alternative can work.  The student with the instructor cc’d can email psychsona@umass.edu for an alternative assignment (e.g., written summary of research articles) that does fully accommodate the needs of the student.

What if there are not a sufficient number of experiments or alternatives that I am eligible for?

If you are having any problems accessing SONA or SONA credit opportunities, please contact psychsona@umass.edu. Neither the instructors nor the teaching assistants for your psychology courses will be able to help.  However, the department will provide sufficient opportunities for you to earn SONA credits if you want them and address the issues you are having within the first 8 weeks of the semester.

What should I expect from each study you participate in?

  1. Courteous treatment. The researcher should be present at the appointed time and place.  Research participants should be treated courteously at all times. Failures to meet this expectation should be reported to psychsona@umass.edu or the Department Chair.
  2. Consent. Researchers must have participant’s consent to move ahead with study procedures.  The Human Research Protection Office and an Institutional Review Board have determined how consent can be obtained. You have the right to ask questions and to understand what will happen during an experiment.
  3. You may stop your participation in an experiment at any time without penalty.  You may withdraw your consent and have any data that have been collected up to that point discarded.
  4. And educational experience.  You should learn something about the specific research, a research technique, or a research topic as part of your participation.  This information may be available throughout the experiment or as part of debriefing at the end of the experiment.

What are my obligations when I sign up for a study?

  1. Prompt arrival at the session.  Many types of research require resources (time and money) whether or not a scheduled participant shows up.  Cancel your sign-up with at least 24-hours notice before the scheduled time if you cannot keep your appointment.  Otherwise, the experimenter will assign an unexcused no-show.  If you have a valid reason for missing the session and failing to provide 24-hour notice, email psychsona@umass.edu within 48 hours with the reason and any supporting evidence.
  2. Earning bonus points for SONA credits is a privilege.  If you accumulate 3 or more no-shows in a semester, you will lose the privilege to earn more SONA credits.
  3. Learn something about research.  Having your participating be an educational experience is an obligation of students as well as researchers.  Asking questions and making sure you fully understand the information researchers provide is a great way to learn from your experience.

Why should I sign up for and complete the Long Prescreen at the beginning of each semester?

The Long Prescreen is an online survey that you can earn SONA credits for completing during the first few weeks of the Fall and Spring semesters.  By participating in the Long Prescreen study, you not only earn some SONA credits early in the semester but also may be eligible for other studies that you will only hear about if you have completed the Long Prescreen.