CORRECTION APPENDED

The hours are flexible, the pay is in cash, and the people are familiar.

Though the psychology department is not known for large payouts, its Study Pool program has become a regular source of income for many undergraduates.

“There’s definitely a group of people who are regulars,” says Karim S. Kassam, a psychology graduate student.

But Celeste M. Beck, the Study Pool coordinator, says that compensation is intended merely as “a source of spending money from time to time.”

Average pay, according to Beck and the Study Pool Web site, is only $10 per hour, and participation is capped at 15 hours per semester.

'GETTING CASH FAST'

Some students maintain that the actual pay is higher. Eric P. C. Phelan ’07 says that he earns more per hour at the study pool than at his work-study position, where he receives $13 an hour. [CORRECTION APPENDED]

He has earned almost $200 from the study pool already this semester, and keeps a spreadsheet documenting his earnings.

Hamida B. Owusu ’10 says she began taking part in studies because her parents asked her not to get a campus job.

Studies, Owusu says, are “a way of getting cash fast.”

Other regular participants agree that participation in the study pool is much like any other on-campus job.

Vivien G. H. Wu ’08, who says she sometimes took part in up to two studies a day during her freshman year, sees little difference between the two.

“It seemed comparable to a work-study job,” she says. “I approached it like a job.”

Wu earned up to $50 a week from the study pool as freshman, but now that she lives in the quad, she says the trek rarely seems worth it.

Yet quick cash is only one aspect of the study pool’s allure for many frequent study subjects.

“I thought it would be funny to see how much I could make if I did all of them,” Phelan says. “It became a little overwhelming.”

Alexander Gordon ’06, says he enjoys going to the study pool during his free time, and that most studies “pay squat.”

He insists that only his interest in psychology causes him to come back for more.

LEARNING FROM EXPERIENCE

Every study pool veteran has stories.

Wu recalls a study in which experimenters attached electrodes to her head and subjected her to a grueling mock interview. That study paid $25 for about two hours.

“I thought it was worth it at the time,” Wu says.

Phelan also recalls having electrodes attached to his head while he was asked to watch “Moulin Rouge.”

And a current posting on the study pool Web site offers $60 for a five-hour study that asks its subjects to choose between a movie and a nap.

Veterans recommend careful planning when signing up for studies.

“Save on travel time,” says Phelan. “Line them up so you’re in William James for consecutive studies.”

Gordon urges prospective subjects to “talk to the people doing the study, and find out very deeply what the thing is about.”

“It pays to follow up and find out what they’re trying to learn,” Gordon adds.

But Wu discourages potential study enthusiasts from following in her footsteps.

“It’s not the best way to earn money,” she says. “You should probably find an internship that you’re actually interested in.”

OTHER OPTIONS

All veterans agree, however, that the best sources of cash lie outside the Psychology Department.

Harvard Business School studies, in which participants often compete for cash prizes, can pay up to $25 an hour, but students already on the Harvard payroll are excluded.

And at the Harvard Neuromotor Lab, participants can manipulate a robotic arm for over $15 an hour.

But the more extreme studies seem to exist beyond Harvard’s gates.

Gordon says he once participated in a five-day sleep and sensory deprivation study at Massachusetts General Hospital during spring break.

Gordon says he was placed in a cell with a dim, unchanging light.

The study paid only $250 for five days, but Gordon did it “for the experience.”

“It was very disorienting, and a little frightening, because I had to spend a lot of time alone with myself,” he says. “It was an adventure. I feel like I came out a very different person.”

CORRECTION: The March 1 news article "Test Your Brain for Bucks" incorrectly said that Eric P. C. Phelan ’07 holds a work-study position. In fact, he works a regular term-time job.