Just when I thought I had closed the door to the BCI lab for the last time it seems that the powers that be forgot to tell me about my prize. (You would think their memories would be sharper given that they spend hours everyday studying the intricacies of the mind, but I suppose a lowly research assistant doesn't elicit any P300 brainwaves). As it turns out, I remembered the most correct words in a 5 hour, two day memory study of 75 participants age 18-35! I'd like to think it was due to my extraordinary ability to memorize but it's probably more accurate to say that I was consumed with trying to recall all 15 words in each trial and was pissed when I couldn't, thus motivating me to try harder. My reward for such dedication(aka OCD) is $100!
Now, if they could only tack on a few more zeros to the check in acknowledgement of my hard work in the BCI lab, then maybe I would also feel justly compensated for all the money I spent paying for parking and those completely unnecessary tickets. (Your welcome USF, maybe you can take this money from all us traffic violators and put it into a fund to actually build some adequate parking). After all, out of all of the research assistants,the participants I worked with consistently had the highest accuracy rates when nobody thought many would be able "spell" all the words correctly. Oh, ye of little faith. You just have to know how to engage and motivate, something I've apparently cultivated just by being a mom. But since I can't change the system, I'll have to take what I can get. Mama needs a new pair of shoes or maybe some fierce boots.
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