Let the research begin!

Things are moving at breakneck speed in the research realm. Tomorrow we have a meeting with one of the teachers we plan to work with. Then we wanted to turn in the IRB application (which is kind of like an ethics committee to make sure we aren't unduly harming the kids or shocking them). But, so many loose ends have been left undone. So I have a great deal to do tonight: write the debriefing form in language that a 4th grader could understand (uh oh!), make up the other Theory of Mind measure (because the author of it would only send us references, not the actual passage, harumph!), figure out which four passages to use (rich in ambiguity, emotion, and character mental states), and polish up the application narrative. I'm glad I thought to buy an ink cartrige today, otherwise I'd be scrambling tomorrow morning to get all this printed.

My other research project is starting on Wednesday. We are going to have undergrads fill out a sublcinical psychopathy survey disguised as a personality survey (hehehe). Then we'll select the low end and high end of the subclinical psychopathy range to test them further on cognitive tasks. Don't worry, these people are NOT actually psychopaths and the measure is not diagnostic of clinical psychopathy, just personality characteristics that tend toward that direction.

With only a month left of school, the race is on to get all this finished in time!