Research Experience

Students are strongly encouraged to participate actively in the research process.

In General Psychology, students serve as participants in research via the Psychology Subject Pool research requirement, where students sign up for studies via Sona (https://uark.sona-systems.com)

Students can also participate by learning how research studies are conducted out by working in a research laboratory, which typically corresponds with credit in a 207V “course.”  Working as “research assistant” (RA) typically involves helping faculty members and graduate students design studies, collect data, analyze results and/or disseminate findings.  RAs have different duties depending on which research lab they work with.

Any student interested in working as an RA (i.e., obtaining credit for a 207V course, or volunteering as an RA) should follow the following steps:

  1. Visit the People link and look at the faculty web pages to find research topics that would be of interest. Some faculty members have lab websites (see a partial list below), but this is not a complete list of research opportunities; it is best to look at individual faculty pages to get a full sense of the types of topics studied in this department.
  2. Email the faculty member to ask about their application procedure for joining the lab. Some faculty members have application forms, some do interviews….they will be able to tell you the procedures they use.  Some faculty post the application procedures on their lab websites.
  3. After acceptance into a lab, discuss the course registration process with your faculty mentor. Each faculty member differs in their policies in terms of how and when students participate as a volunteer or for credit.  Registering for credit (207V) typically involves obtaining an override form in MEMH 216 and obtaining the signature of the faculty member in charge of the lab.  Each faculty member has their own “section” of 207V, so be sure to look up their section and the “class number” associated with the section you want to register for!  Providing the correct numbers will facilitate your registration.  Note that honors students will sometimes register under the 399VH course number instead of 207V.

(Some) Lab Websites

Remember, not every faculty member or lab has a lab website.  Be sure to look at individual faculty profiles (under People) for individual faculty research interests!