Let’s advance science together.
Thank you for your interest in participating in research with the Hartley Lab at New York University.
The Hartley Lab studies how learning, memory, and decision-making change from childhood to adulthood. We are always recruiting new study participants, like you. Sign up today and get paid for doing tasks!
Sign Up
How It Works
Participating in studies is an easy and rewarding way to help researchers learn more about how the mind works!
Create an Account
In a few simple steps, parents or adult participants can create an account for themselves and their children. Only one account is needed per family!
Participate in Studies
Once you have created an account, we’ll schedule a quick video call to verify your identity. We’ll then send study participants fun and age-appropriate tasks to complete.
Get Paid
As a thank you for participating, we’ll send you or your child an Amazon gift card (for online studies) or give you cash (for in-person studies).
About the Hartley Lab
The Hartley Lab is a psychology research lab at New York University. Dr. Catherine Hartley, an associate professor at NYU, leads our team of students and researchers. We study how children, adolescents, and adults learn and make decisions.
Our Research
Our research employs computational and neuroscientific approaches to characterize dynamic changes in learning, memory, and decision-making across development. Our studies have been published in top academic journals, and are funded by the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and other scientific and philanthropic organizations.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to common questions other study participants have had.
Most studies in the Hartley Lab involve playing computer games that measure different aspects of behavior (like learning and decision-making) and filling out questionnaires that ask about emotional states, family life, and other aspects of development. Some of our in-person studies also involve MRI scans, which let us understand how the brain responds to different tasks. None of our tasks are harmful to participants.
Many of our studies take place over a single session that lasts between 30 minutes and 2 hours. Other studies involve multiple sessions. When we invite participants to take part in studies, we will always describe exactly what participants will do and how many sessions the study involves. Participants always have the opportunity to stop experiments partway through if they no longer want to participate.
For online studies, we will ask you to fill out an online form providing your written consent for your child’s participation. For in-person studies, we do ask that you accompany your child to their appointment so we can receive your written consent for their participation, though children over 13 years old may attend on their own if we speak to you on the phone and receive your written permission. You may also be asked to fill out questionnaires that will provide us with more information about your child.
Yes, participants are always compensated for their time. For online studies, participants (you or your child) will be compensated in the form of Amazon gift cards. The gift card will be sent to the email address that you use when you sign up for our database. In general, participants are compensated within 3 business day. If 7 days have passed and you haven’t received an email with the gift card, please contact our team via email. We will do our best to make sure participants are compensated for their participation in a timely manner.
For in-person studies, participants will receive monetary compensation for their participation (at least $15/hour) at the end of the study. For MRI studies, participants will also receive a picture of their brain.
Yes! Many of our studies are fully online. To take part, participants just need a stable internet connection and a quiet space to complete the session. At this time, most of our online studies also require a laptop or desktop computer (i.e., they cannot be completed on a phone or tablet).
Please check your internet connection and close all other tabs on your computer. If you continue to have difficulties loading a study, please contact the Hartley lab team via email along with your name and a brief description of the problem you encountered.
For in-person behavioral or brain imaging (MRI) studies, participants visit our lab located within NYU’s Department of Psychology at 6 Washington Place, New York, NY, 10003.
Some of our in-person studies involve magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans, which enable us to monitor activity in the brain. There are no known or foreseeable risks or side effects associated with MRI scanning procedures. Only individuals who have electrically, magnetically or mechanically activated implants, or metal in or on their bodies are at risk, because the MRI machine uses a huge magnet to take the images. Therefore, we screen all potential participants to ensure that they are safe to have an MRI and carefully remove all metal from eligible participants before they are approved to enter the MRI environment. We will provide more detailed information about MRI scanning if you come in to participate.
If you would like more information about our research please do not hesitate to contact us by emailing us. If you include your phone number in your email, we are also more than happy to answer any questions you might have over the phone.