February 17, 2015, by Tilly Potter

Testing, testing…

I’m sorry if this isn’t the most fun topic in the world, but this is what is taking over my life right now, so can definitely be described as student life! Today I have tested eight people and taken part in three other experiments or surveys. Am I whacky scientist, you may be wondering. Well, I’m a psychology student in my final semester, which means one thing: project time.

You might call me a slacker for this, but I don’t think I’ve ever spent as much time in the psychology building as I did today without venturing outdoors. For those of you who aren’t psychology students, the procedure is this: all third years need to run studies where they must recruit participants. To make this easier, first year psychology students must take part in a certain amount of studies to get course credit. But if you’ve a) left your testing too late or b) are fighting it out with the rest of your coursemates, the solution is, of course, helping each other out – being a participant to recruit a participant. I knew my altruism module would teach me some valuable life skills.

In a way this can be quite fun. You get to carry out an array of studies you’d never do otherwise, where you might be presented with pictures of faces in one, or answer questions about your concern for the environment in another. But on the downside, you need to be constantly alert and all free time goes out the window. My calendar has never looked so packed and my head is spinning with questions and data. At the time of writing it is Monday evening and I’m not sure how I’m going to make it to the end of the week without curling up and moaning ‘please, no more questionnaires’…

Although running a study can be tough, there are some really good things, too. I know the ‘feel the love’ posts were last week, but I feel incredibly grateful to all my friends, colleagues and fellow psychologists who are all being amazing by helping me out right now. You all deserve many hugs, biscuits… or whatever else (within reason). And hey, who says love has to be restricted to Valentine’s day?

Anyway, that’s enough sentimentality for now. Back to the testing tomorrow…

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