Psychology Research Experience Program

There are two types of studies, online and lab studies. The credits work differently for each of these studies.

Lab Studies

For participating in lab studies, you will earn a half credit (0.5 credits) for every half hour of participation. For example, you will earn 1.0 credit for an hour-long study.

You earn more credits for participating in lab studies because many studies cannot be conducted online, so this provides extra incentive for you to participate in lab studies.

Online Studies

For participating in online studies you will earn a quarter credit (0.25) for every half hour of participation. For example, you will earn 0.5 credits for an hour-long study.

PS101 and PS102 Students

If you are a PS101 or PS102 student on the Waterloo campus, you can only earn a maximum of one credit in a term through online studies. The rest of your student must be done in lab.

If you are a PS101 or PS102 student on the Brantford campus, you can earn all three credits in a term through online studies.

For example, if you are enrolled in two classes that require five PREP credits total, you can still only complete two of these credits via online studies and the remaining three must be completed in lab. Note: Credits may not be updated right away.

Credit Calculations

Credits are earned separately for each course. So if you have two classes that each require three PREP credits, then you need to earn a total of six PREP credits.

The number of required credits shown on the PREP website may not be correct (due to a system restriction). Check your syllabus to see how many PREP credits that you need. You can, however, use the PREP website to check how many credits you have earned.

For those taking more than one PREP course, the total required credits are cumulative. Earned credits cannot be used for more than one course.

The PREP teaching assistants (TA) will issue announcements in two ways:

• Your Laurier email address, which is connected to the PREP system.
• The Announcement box on the login page of the PREP website. Pay attention throughout the term because PREP TAs post important information to this box from time to time (e.g. the date that the PREP pool is closing for the term).

1. Go to the PREP website.
2. Enter your user ID and password. Your user ID is your student number. If it is your first time logging in, check your MyLaurier email account for a randomly generated password that was sent to you by PREP at the beginning of the term. If you have any trouble signing in, email the PREP TAs at prep@wlu.ca.
3. Change your password. Click “My Profile” in the top menu.
4. Click “Studies” for a list of studies you can participate in. Read the study descriptions to find a study you are interested in.
5. Click the study link and select the time slot you want. If none of the time slots work for you, email the researcher.
6. To view any studies you have signed up for, or to cancel any studies that you have signed up for, click “My Schedule and Credits.” .
   • Note: If you are cancelling a study that you have signed up for, you must do so more than 24 hours prior to the start of the study, otherwise you will be penalized (see "Participating in Studies").

Each term, the first time you log into the PREP system, you will be asked to fill out a consent form to participate in PREP. Read this consent form carefully. The system will refer to this as the prescreen and it will appear in your account as a completed prescreen.

Note: If you choose to decline participating in PREP after reading the consent form, you will not be able to participate in studies this term. See the "Alternative Assignment" option to earn your PREP credits.

Online studies are done on your own personal computer. You will be given the study link after signing up for the study. Ensure that you complete the online study before the study’s participation deadline.

For lab studies, make sure that you arrive at the PREP waiting area on time. It is your responsibility to be at the waiting area on time, otherwise the researcher will record that you had an “unexcused no-show”. If you accumulate two unexcused no-shows, you are no longer allowed to sign up for any PREP studies. You will, however, be able to keep any prior earned credits.

• On the Waterloo campus, the PREP waiting area is located in front of the main psychology office (N2006). The researcher will meet you at the waiting area and take you to the room where the study is being conducted. 
  • Note: Although N2006 is generally the most common waiting area for PREP, there may be some studies that have an alternative meet-up location (e.g. Northdale Campus, a certain lecture hall). Read the study description carefully to find out where you will be meeting the researcher. If you are unsure about the location, email the researcher ahead of time to find out.
• On the Brantford campus, go to the location indicated when you sign up for the study.

Study Cancellations

In order to avoid getting an “unexcused no-show,” cancel any study 24 hours prior to the start of the study through the PREP website. If you must cancel with less than 24 hours before your scheduled timeslot, you must contact the researcher via their email listed in the study information.

If you have missed a study (without cancelling it beforehand) due to a medical or personal emergency, email the researcher of the study first as they are in charge of giving out credits. If the issue remains unresolved after speaking with the researcher then you may email the PREP TAs at prep@wlu.ca. Similarly, if you have any questions regarding a specific study, email the researcher.

If you have general questions about the PREP system or your account, email prep@wlu.ca. You should never email your professor about any PREP system issues.

Log into PREP to find the "Psychology Mass Testing Questionnaire" listed under the "Studies" list.

Completing this questionnaire is highly recommended as this allows you to become eligible for additional future studies. The questionnaire takes up to 60 minutes and you are granted 0.5 credits towards your online credits when you complete it. You must do the entire questionnaire in one sitting as you cannot resume once you have stopped. 

There is a separate mass testing questionnaire for each semester. Your answers or credits from previous semester do not roll over to the next semester. It is recommended that you do the questionnaire each semester to be eligible for studies in that specific semester and to earn 0.5 credits towards your online credits during the semester you complete the questionnaire. 

As an alternative to participating in studies, you can earn credits by writing short critical reviews of journal articles. The reviews are graded on a pass or fail basis and each critical review receives the same credit as participating in a one-hour in-lab study. Students may choose to do critical reviews for all or a portion of their PREP credits.

Guidelines and a list of acceptable journal articles to review are available in the information sheet below.

Note that the deadline for submitting critical reviews is the same as the deadline for participating in studies (i.e. last day of class for the term).

Download the Information Sheet (PDF)

To ensure that you get your PREP grades, your earned credits must be accurate in your account. Check all of the following throughout the term, but especially by the day after the term ends:

Check That Your Course(s) and Section(s) are Correctly Added in Your Account

• Click “My Profile / Go to Courses(s).”
• If necessary, click “change courses” to modify or add your course(s).

Check That All Completed Studies Appear

• Click “My Schedule/Credits” and review.
• Researchers may take up to a week to grant credits, but all credits should be granted the day after the term ends.
• If more than one week has passed or the study is running into the PREP deadline, contact the researcher with a friendly reminder to add the credit for you.

Check That Your Studies are Assigned to the Correct Course

• Click “My Schedule/Credits” and review.
• If studies are unassigned or assigned to the incorrect course, click “reassign” and select the correct course(s).
• If studies are left unassigned or wrongly assigned, you risk not getting the credit towards your grade! Credits cannot be used for more than one course.

Q. How do I start?

A. To see what studies are available and to sign-up, you must visit the PREP website. Alternatively, you can access the PREP website from this webpage by clicking the PREP Website link above (at the tope right-hand side).

Q. How do I log into my PREP account?

A. In the center of the PREP webpage is a box labelled “Announcement” under “First time logging in?” When you are logging in for the first time, follow the instructions in this box carefully.

Q. How do I know if I can log into PREP?

A. Your account information will already be in the system so you already have a User ID and Password (PREP obtains the information from the registrar’s office before the term begins).

Q. How do I know if there are any PREP announcements?

A. The PREP TAs will communicate announcements in two ways. The first is through email. Your WLU email address is connected to the PREP system, if there are any important messages they will be emailed to your Laurier email address. The second is through the Announcement box on the login page of the PREP website. Please pay attention to this box throughout the term because the PREP TAs will post important information from time to time (e.g., the date that the PREP pool is closing for the term).

Q. What are the different kinds of studies that I can participate in?

A. Generally, there are two different kinds of studies. The first is an “on-campus” or “in-lab” study, the second is an “online” study. For in-lab studies, you must schedule a specific session using the PREP system. On the day of the study, you would show up at the scheduled time and wait in the appropriate waiting area for the researcher to come and call your name. In-lab studies can last between 20 minutes and several hours. For online studies, generally you will be taken to the study webpage as soon as you sign up. Online studies can be completed at any computer with internet access (i.e., at home or on campus).

Q. What is Psychology Mass Testing Questionnaire and how can I complete it?

A. The Psychology Mass Testing Questionnaire is an online study that could make you eligible for additional studies.  Completing this questionnaire is highly recommended as this allows you to become eligible for additional future studies.  The questionnaire takes up to 60 minutes and you will be granted 0.5 credits towards your online credits for completing this questionnaire.  You must do the entire questionnaire in one sitting, as you cannot resume once you have stopped. 

Q. How many credits do I get for a study?

A. That depends on the kind of study. For doing in-lab studies, you would receive .5 credits for every 1⁄2 hour. For doing online studies, you would receive .25 credits for every 1⁄2 hour.

Q. How do I sign up for a study?

A. To sign up for studies, you would log onto the PREP website and click on “Studies.” You will see a list of available studies. You can read what the study is about by clicking on the study title. If you are interested in participating, click on “Timeslots Available.” At the bottom of the screen, click on “View Time Slots for This Study.” When you see a date and time for a timeslot that meets your schedule, click on “Sign-Up.” You should then see a “Sign-Up Successful” system message at the top of the screen. You can verify by clicking on “My Schedule/Credits.”

Q. What happens if I’m not interested in any of the studies currently offered?

A. Keep checking the PREP website. New studies are being added throughout the term. However, don’t wait too long because studies are first come first serve. Each study has a total number of required participants it needs to be finished and once it reaches that total, the study will no longer be available.

Q. I signed up for an on campus study and I have to meet the researcher, where do I go?

A. On the Waterloo Campus, there is generally one main PREP waiting area, and that’s where the researcher will come to meet you. The waiting area is in front of the Psychology Main Office (N2006), which is located at the second floor of the Science Building, close to the elevator. Always take as much information as you can with you to each study session (e.g., the study name, the researcher’s name, the time and location). However, please note there may be studies that require an alternative meet-up spot (example: Northdale campus (campus maps), certain lecture hall on campus, etc.), but this will be clearly stated in the study description. 

On the Brantford campus, go to the location indicated when you sign up for the study. 

Q. How long before a scheduled timeslot can I cancel a study?


A. You can cancel a study up to 24 hours before the session is scheduled to happen.

Q. I have an emergency and 24-hour cancellation window has passed, what do I do?

A. Email the researcher as soon as you can to let them know your situation.

Q. I missed a session, what now?

A. The researcher will assign an “unexcused no-show” to your account. If you accumulate 2 unexcused no-shows then you will no longer be allowed to sign up for any studies.

Q. Is there any way to get rid of an unexcused no-show?

A. You can try to email the researcher of the study you missed and reschedule the session, but it is up to the researcher whether they can accommodate you or not. The best way to avoid this situation is to be considerate and show up for your sessions. Keep in mind that most researchers are students as well and if you fail to show up for your study it is also an inconvenience for him or her.

Q. Who do I talk to if I’m having trouble with my PREP account? 


A. If you are having trouble with your PREP account, contact the PREP TAs at prep@wlu.ca.

Q. What if I wish to earn the credits but don’t want to participate in studies?

A. As an alternative to participating in studies, you can earn credit by writing critical reviews of journal articles. Guidelines and instructions are posted on this webpage above under the "Alternative Assignment" section. Note that the deadline for submitting critical reviews is the same as the deadline for participating in studies (i.e., last day of class for the term).

Before you are able to access PREP as a researcher, you must have a researcher’s account, which will give you different system options than a participant account.

Complete the Tutorial on the Tri-Council Policy Ethics

The PREP administrators will be able to create an account for you; however, before they can do so, you must have first completed the tutorial on the Tri-Council Policy Ethics. Everyone must complete this tutorial to ensure that they are knowledgeable about the guidelines for conducting ethical research involving humans.

Submit your completed certificate as an email attachment to the PREP TA's at prep@wlu.ca, along with your research account request.

Request a Researcher's Account

When requesting a researcher’s account, provide your

• Full name.
• Laurier ID.
• Main email address (the one you are likely to check the most).
• Name of your supervisor.

Receiving Your Log In

A TA will create your ID and you will receive an automated email with your user ID and password.

Once you have your login information, you are now ready to access the PREP website.

Already Have a Participant ID?

If you already have a participant ID and password, the two accounts will not be combined. Your participant login will be separate from your researcher login and you will have two sets of login information.

Log in to the PREP system portal using the user ID and password given to you by the PREP TAs.

On the right side of the login page, there is a section titled, “Notes.” Pay attention to this section throughout the term because the PREP TAs will post important information from time to time (e.g. the date that the subject pool is closing for the term).

Ignore the login instructions as these instructions are for participants. 

For more information on research ethics, see the following websites:

• National Council on Ethics in Human Research (NCEHR)
• Office of Research Ethics

Are You a Research Assistant?

If you are a research assistant, the study may already have been added on PREP by your supervisor. Your study name should appear under “My Studies.”

If you see the message “No studies found,” but you know the study has already been created, contact your supervisor to add you as a researcher.

If the study has not already been created, follow the next steps to create your new study.

Add Your Study

To add your study, use the following procedure:

1. Click “Add a New Study.”
2. Select the correct type of study. If you are not sure of which type, ask your supervisor for help.
   • Standard study: An “in lab” study and the most common type.
   • Online external study: Add a study link (e.g. Qualtrics); the second most common type.
   • Two-part standard study: Select this option if your study requires participants to attend multiple sessions (two times in lab).
   • Online survey study: This option is rarely used. Administer an online study directly through the PREP system (i.e. no external link required) but the PREP system is limited to very straight forward questionnaires (e.g. you cannot have multiple conditions).
   • Dummy study: If you need to restrict your study sign-up to participants who have scored a certain way on their mass testing questionnaires, contact prep@wlu.ca to request the procedure for this set-up.
3. Fill out the study information.
4. You must include a detailed description including the number of participants you need for your study and the meeting area for your study (see Adding Timeslots).
   • For Brantford-based in-lab studies, make it very clear in your study title and information that the study will be running on the Brantford campus.
5. Assign credits.
   • 0.5 credits for every ½ hour in lab study (or .25 credits for every 15 minutes – e.g. 75 minute in lab study = 1.25 credit), or 0.25 credits for every ½ hour online study.
     • Automatic credit granting: Choose whether the system automatically assigns credit to participants or not (the default is yes).
       • If you select “yes,” you must manually change participants’ status when they fail to appear for your study.
       • If you select “no,” you must manually assign credit to participants’ who take part in your study.
6. Important for online studies: It is very important that you copy the correct URL into the “Study URL” field. When participants sign up for your study, they are directed to the study website automatically by the system.
7. Class restrictions:
   • If you are conducting an on campus study, you will need to restrict classes to include only the courses running on your campus.
     • Waterloo campus: You must restrict classes to include only the Waterloo campus classes. Brantford classes contain the letters BR in the name. This prevents Brantford campus students from accidently signing up for Waterloo campus studies. Do this under “course restrictions”– select all except classes with BR in their name.
     • Brantford campus: You must follow the same procedure as Waterloo, but select the Brantford campus courses only.
8. Active Study? It is very important that you select “yes” for this option. If not, the study will not be visible to students.
9. Click “Add This Study.”
10. You should see the system message “Study Added” at the top of the screen.
11. You must have the PREP administrators approve your study before participants can sign up. 
12. Beside “Study Status” click “Send a Request.”

For participants to sign up and take part in your study, you must post timeslots. To post timeslots, follow the steps below:

1. Click “My Studies.”
2. Click “Timeslots” beside the appropriate study.
3. Click “Add a Timeslot.”
4. Online studies:
   • You must post a timeslot in order for the study to be visible to participants even though participants are not signing up for a particular session for online studies.
   • Post a single timeslot for the final date of participation. For example: if you want your study to be available for two weeks, post a single timeslot for two weeks from today.
5. Under “# of participants,” list the total number of people you require for your study. Once the final participation date, or required number of participants, has been reached, the study will end.
6. In-lab (on campus) studies:
   • Select the date and time you would like to schedule your session.
   • Enter the maximum number of participants you would like to have in your study.
   • Enter the location.

For Waterloo campus studies, enter the following location for all in-lab studies: “PREP waiting area: outside of the Psychology Main office (N2006), on the second floor of the science building”. Enter this location exactly as shown in the quotation. The department wants all researchers on Waterloo campus to use this same waiting area in order to minimize confusion and questions at main office. For Brantford campus studies another location may be entered.

When you schedule a session, it is your responsibility to show up and be on time. Any scheduled sessions that you can’t make must be cancelled at least 24 hours before the scheduled time. If you were to cancel a session within 24 hours of the scheduled time, participants may not have a chance to check their email and will not be aware that the session has been cancelled.

For session cancellations at Waterloo campus in addition to emailing the participant, also email Lucy Carreiro and CC Rita Sharkey.

For session cancellations at Brantford campus in addition to emailing the participant, also email Kristina Huff-Malecki.

Before You Meet Your Participants

Before meeting your participants, make sure you know their full names. Meet your participants in the appropriate location and don’t be late. When calling out your participants names, be sure to use their first and last names (e.g. there may be more than one Brittney in the waiting area).

Late Participants

From time to time, participants will arrive late for a session. If you are running a session with a group of participants, only wait a few minutes for late comers. It would be unfair to make the rest of your participants wait any longer. If you are running a session with a single participant wait for at least 10 minutes before leaving.

Occasionally, students will not show up for their scheduled session. PREP has a system in place to deal with these situations.

Avoid missing participants. If you show up on time, wait a reasonable amount of time for latecomers.

PREP has a built-in system to discourage participants from missing scheduled sessions. If a participant misses an in-lab session, they receive an “unexcused no-show.” If a student is assigned two unexcused no-shows then they will be locked out of the system for the rest of the term. As a researcher, it is important that you apply penalties appropriately.

If a participant misses a session, use the following steps:

1. Click “My Studies.”
2. Click “Timeslots” beside the appropriate study name.
3. Locate the correct timeslot.
4. Click “Modify.”
5. Locate the participant’s name.
6. Select the radial button under “Unexcused No-Show.” 
7. You may add a short comment if you like.
8. Click “Update Sign-Ups.”

It is the participant’s responsibility to email the researcher should they miss a study. If a participant contacts you requesting a penalty to be cancelled because of a justifiable reason, such as sickness, family issues, health emergency, waited in the wrong place, etc. Double-booking with another appointment or not actually needed the credit, apply an unexcused no-show for these cases – these are not good reasons to miss an appointment. But also give the student an explanation why this is not a good reason and encourage them to sign up again. If there was a snow day, or school was officially closed, don’t give penalty or credit (excused no-show), ask them to sign up again.

1. Change their experiment status to “Excused No-Show” and email them explaining that you’ll give them the opportunity to sign up again for the same study within the next week.
2. If they sign up again and come to the next appointment – give credit.
3. If they do not sign up again – reverse the experiment status back to “Unexcused No-Show”.

Missed Online Studies

Participants are not penalized credits for missing online studies, they would just not receive credit for the missed study. If a participant fails to complete your online study, follow the same steps as above with one exception: select the radial button under “Excused No-Show.”

After participants take part in your study, you will need to assign them credits.

You can do this using the following procedure:

1. Click “My Studies.”
2. Locate the correct study and click “Timeslots,” beside the study name.
3. Find the correct timeslot and click “Modify.”
4. Select the participant’s name located below “Participated.”
5. Click “Update Sign-Ups.”

Each study has been approved to collect a certain number of participants. Monitor your study carefully to be sure that you don’t exceed this number. The PREP administrators will also monitor the number of participants that have been run through each study.

When the approved limit has been reached, the PREP administrators may disable the study because many different studies need participants throughout the year and we need to make sure there are enough participants to go around.

If you are approaching your required limit and you need to collect a few more participants, with good reason, contact the PREP administrators for approval. For Waterloo-based studies, contact prep@wlu.ca. For Brantford-based studies, contact Dr. Chris Alksnis at calksnis@wlu.ca.

Once you have completed data collection, make the study “inactive.”

The last day for students to participate in PREP studies in any given term is the last day of classes for the term. The PREP TAs will send a reminder email to researchers close to that date.

To ensure students have the credits assigned as part of their course grade, you must have all the credits for your studies updated by the date specified in the email.

To date, there is not a limit on the number of participants allotted to specific researchers. However, it is important to remember that the PREP pool is a shared resource that is vital to many researchers within the department. Typically, there are not enough participants to meet all researchers’ needs. Please keep this in mind, and make responsible decisions about how many participants you require in studies and how many studies to post.

The PREP pool is not intended for studies that offer participants a monetary payment, or any other form of compensation than the PREP credits. If you believe there are exceptional circumstances for which alternate compensation is appropriate, you should contact the PREP TAs to request approval.

Also researchers should not use the PREP email function to recruit students for a specific study, or ask course instructors to advertise a specific study to their students. If there are exceptional circumstances that require the targeted recruitment of participants (e.g. selection criteria that leave few students eligible to participate), contact the PREP TAs to request approval.

If you would like to include a measure in the mass testing questionnaire for the semester, you must get in touch with the PREP team via email at least one month prior to the start of the term to allow the PREP team to get ethics approval.

Once the semester has begun and you would like to access the collected data for your measure, email the PREP team at prep@wlu.ca.