The worldwide growth in cognitive science research is reflected in the growth of research capacity, number of core faculty, and graduate students in the Department of Cognitive Science. Learn more about recent and ongoing impactful research happening in our Department by following the links below.
- SONA: Cognitive Science Research
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Introduction to Sona – Research Participation Credits
If you are taking CGSC 1001 you will have the opportunity to have an “up close” look at cognitive science research through research participation studies conducted by Cognitive Science professors, graduate students, and honours thesis students from Carleton University’s Department for Cognitive Science.
Research participation comes in several forms (i.e., lab studies, online studies, reading and writing about research articles). All are designed to foster understanding and appreciation of cognitive science research. Research Participation credits are worth 4% and count as bonus grades.
Participating in Cognitive Science Studies for Credit
At the beginning of the term when you are taking CGSC 1001, you will receive an e-mail containing your SONA login information and instructions explaining how to use the system to sign up for your choice of Research Participation Studies. In order to see a list of the available studies, you will need to log into the SONA system at https://carleton-ics.sona-systems.com.
There are two types of studies that you can sign-up for:
- Lab studies (conducted in a lab, typically on campus)
- Online studies (completed online from any computer).
Lab studies: For each 30 minute block that you spend participating in a lab study on campus, you will earn 0.5%. There is no cap (i.e., no limit) on the number of lab studies you can participate in up to the maximum of 4% towards your research participation credits.
- (up to) 30 min lab study = 0.5%
- 31-60 min lab study = 1.0%
- 61-90 min lab study = 1.5%
- 91-120 min lab study = 2% … etc.
Online studies: For each 30-minute block that you spend participating in an online study, you will earn .25%. There is a cap on the number of online studies you can participate in; you can earn a maximum of 3% (of the 4%) towards your research participation credits by participating in online studies. The remaining 1% can be earned by lab study participation or reading and writing about research articles for credit.
* The reason for the online cap is that we want to encourage students to experience a lab study which typically provides a richer and more interactive experience.
- (up to) 30 min survey = 0.25%
- • 31-60 min survey = 0.5%
- • 61-90 min survey = 0.75%
- • 91-120 min = 1% … etc.
Reading and Writing about Research Articles for Credit
An alternative way to earn your 4% research participation credits is by reading and answering questions about research articles (see your course outline for more details).
What is the last day that I can earn Research Participation Credits?
You will then have until the last day of classes for the term to earn your research participation credits (i.e., through Cognitive Science studies and/or alternative written assignments).
What if I have issues accessing my information or logging in?
Check your in-box and re-read your email that you received prior to contacting the SONA Administrator.
If you find that you are still having difficulty, email Cogsci@carleton.ca
- Sona Recruitment: Q&As for Researchers
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Note: any students who have mistakenly found this page please click here for student participant information.
Sona Recruitment: Q&As for Researchers
Some important information on using Sona is summarized on link below:
What/where is Sona?
Sona is an online application. There are two Sona’s – one for psychology and one for cognitive science. Cognitive science faculty and their student researchers must use the cognitive science Sona, found here: carleton-ics.sona-systems.com
Who can use the “cognitive science” Sona?
Sona is available to all cognitive science faculty and their students.
How does a researcher (my student, myself, etc.) get access to Sona?
Sona requires a researcher ID and a password. To get the ID/password, please email the Sona administrator – their email can be found at the bottom of the Sona page (carleton-ics.sona-systems.com).
What happens once I get my login information?
Once you get your login information and log into Sona by entering it on the Sona webpage (carleton-ics.sona-systems.com), you can add information about your study and set up time slots so that participants can sign up. The Sona admin will send you the Sona manual that describes how to do this step. It is the researcher’s responsibility to read the manual and set up their study.
Can I email the Sona administrator if I need help setting up my study in Sona?
It is the researcher’s responsibility to set up their studies in Sona – the Sona administrator does not provide support for this process beyond providing links to the documentation. Please note that beyond the Sona manual you will be provided, there is a great deal of documentation available online (e.g., on using Qualtrics in conjunction with Sona).
What if my study is a Survey (e.g. Survey Monkey)?
You need to set-up your study in SONA and link it to Survey (see the SONA manual).
Can online studies be set up through Sona?
Yes (also see next item).
Is there support for online research provided at Carleton?
Carleton provides free access to Qualtrics, which is software for setting up surveys online and collecting data through these surveys. For more information on getting this software, please contact the ethics office (carleton.ca/humanresearchethics). Once you get the software, please refer to the Sona manual and Qualtrics documentation for setting up your study.
How do much and what way can participants recruited via Sona be compensated?
The standard compensation is course credit (currently for CGSC 1001). Please be sure to follow the guidelines outlined here when determining the amount of credit:
carleton.ca/ics/current-students/undergraduate/participating-in-psychological-research-sona/
In particular, please do not alter the amount of credit given for participation outlined in these guidelines.
Sona participants can also be paid in lieu of course credit.
Do I need ethics approval to recruit via Sona?
Yes, ethics approval is needed to recruit participants using Sona. See HERE.
When is Sona available?
Currently, Sona is available whenever CGSC 1001 is offered (typically during the fall, winter, spring, and summer terms, but please check the calendar for exact dates).
- Technical Reports
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This is a service for the distribution, tracking, and citation of unpublished or draft material related to cognitive science. The documents here are checked for formatting and appropriateness of content, but are not otherwise reviewed in any way. By submitting a document, the authors grant permission to distribute it on this site, but the copyright remains with them. Although this service is intended primarily for the cognitive science community centered around Carleton, we will consider submissions from elsewhere.
Submissions should be made by email in either Word (preferred) or PDF formats to Jim Davies (jim@jimdavies.org). Be sure to include author name and contact information on the first page of the document.
Some reasons for submitting a tech report:
- You are presenting a paper at a conference that does not publish its proceedings, but you want to distribute the full paper anyway.
- You have a paper under review somewhere that you would like to distribute in draft form.
- You have a paper you are thinking of submitting to a conference or journal but want to distribute for feedback first.
- Somone wants to cite your paper (or you want to cite your own paper) but it hasn’t yet been published, or may never be published.
- You have a paper with some original ideas that you would like to distribute, but for whatever reason, you don’t want to (or feel you can’t) publish it in a journal or conference proceedings.
Technical reports should be cited as shown in the example below:
Brook, Andrew. 2001. Atomism, Anti-representationalism and a Sketch of an Alternative. Carleton University Cognitive Science Technical Report 2001-02. URL http://www.carleton.ca/ics/TechReports