When research assistants first enter the lab, all new members are registered into the class PSY 390, or Lab Learning for new students. As members continue to participate in the lab, these research assistants can also advance in the type of class they are registered into, such as:
PSY 390 (Lab Learning): All entering students in the Alcohol Lab will enroll in this course, Responsibilities include: completing laboratory responsibilities, attending weekly lab meetings, leading lab meeting discussions, synthesizing discussion articles in a term paper, and creating a “lab project”.
PSY 492 (Senior Lab Learning): Enrollment in this course includes all the responsibilities for PSY 390. In addition, students enrolled in this course will be expected to participate in a writing-intensive experience, assume a greater level of responsibility in the lab, and help train new members of the lab teams.
PSY 396/496 (Honors Thesis I/II): Advanced students with strong dedication and interest in pursuing a relevant project may be selected to complete a Senior Honors Thesis in the Alcohol Lab. These students are expected to fulfill all the responsibilities of PSY 390 students as well as design an experiment, write an IACUC/IRB protocol, develop protocols for data collection, supervise data collection, describe the data trouble graphic and statistical methods, and write up the experiment in a full-length APA-style manuscript. Completion of a Senior Honors Thesis results in departmental honors in psychology.