psych school etiquette
so, i felt that i had to make a note about the dynamics of "making one's riches" off being a guinea pig in folks' experiments.
today, i participated in the most involved one yet. it included being strapped into a chair, having my arm velcroed to the table and using a robotic arm to move to various targets that were lit up. i was a bit nervous, especially because i kept remembering a clause in the consent form saying that "it is rare that jaws are broken" during the experiment, but that was one that i wasn't involved in, they just have one form. uh huh. "we don't break jaws here" is what the guy kept saying, and i kept cracking up, thus throwing my robotic arm off course.
he was one of the nicest though, as some of the other ones have been more cold. the bio lab one (space bar pressing for the most part) was kind of sweet sometimes, but it seemed like it was restricted to the confines of the lab. when we met in the washroom 5 minutes later, she acted like she didn't know me. but she was a constant, an "inside track" if you will, and scheduled me for more experiments "under the table", not through the website classifieds, like most.
the one that interviewed me for chinese canadian experiences seemed like she would be an interesting person to know, but kind of shunned me too. but i ran into the other day, and it seemed like she was lingering a bit to talk, but i was in a rush. the one that ran the japanese test was nice enough during the test (highest paying one at $25) but snubbed me in the street as if to say my poor written japanese (give me a break, i haven't written japanese in 12 years) fucked up all her data.
so where is the line? how friendly are you supposed to be with these people? or do you just do what they say for the promised money and get the hell out of dodge?
