This spring, a new course, “Introduction to Virtual Worlds,” will be offered by the Department of Psychology and the Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science. Using the Internet-based virtual world Second Life as the classroom, the class aims to teach students about the issues and challenges involved with using, inhabiting, designing and creating virtual worlds.
In addition to the course, Richard Gilbert, professor and assistant chair of the psychology department, launched a research lab called the P.R.O.S.E. Project (Psychological Research on Synthetic Environments) to study the psychology of virtual worlds. As part of the P.R.O.S.E. Project, the university built the “LMU Psychology Island” on Second Life’s Web site for its users to interact with LMU students and participate in psychological research. Gilbert said that two of the surveys — one about addiction to online worlds and one about sexuality in Second Life — just won approval from the university’s Institutional Review Board, which must sign off on research involving human subjects.
One of the unique components of his study is the way Gilbert will reimburse subjects. Usually a researcher would pay test subjects a small fee for their time, but for this study Gilbert will pay participants 1,000 Linden dollars, the virtual currency used in Second Life and the equivalent of four U.S. dollars, making this sort of compelling research much more affordable and accessible for our professors.
To visit “Psychology Island” or to get a tour of the new, state-of-the-art LMU facilities within Second Life, please contact Richard Gilbert: rgilbert@lmu.edu.