6.6.06

Here's my post from last week. Bud is doing the second part of the experiment now and I can't wait to hear what he thinks.

One of the perks of living in a university town is that sometimes you can participate in studies – paid studies. For instance, a graduate student might be studying the effects of muscle fatigue on an employee’s work output. At least I think that’s what this experiment was about. It was $10/hour and sounded easy. Something to do with walking, it would take two hours but there were different tasks so I figured the variety would ensure that no one task was too exhausting.

I got there a few minutes late and was asked to change into black Kmart type shoes. The next part took about 20 minutes – the woman doing the experiment and her assistant – taped electrodes on various places all over my arms and legs. That part was relatively pleasant. Then I had to step onto a long platform covered in linoleum. Once on the inside-sidewalk, I was strapped to a harness and asked to perform simple tasks: walk from one end to the next; count the green circles that appeared on the TV screen opposite me; file papers according to their color at each end of the platform – that sort of thing. I thought, hey for $10/hr I could do this everyday after work.

After being lulled into a false sense of security, I was led to a machine and asked to sit down. It looked like the kind of machine you would find in a gym – you place your legs under a padded bar and lift up, extending your legs and then bending your knees. There were a few subtle differences though. 1. I was strapped to the “chair” 2. My movements were calculated on a computer screen in front of me 3. There was resistance pushing up AND down and 4. The wires from the electrodes dug into the skin on my under-thighs each time I pushed downwards.

I really believe I could have handled all of this for a few minutes. The experimenter told me to do a short set to warm up and although even the first few were difficult, that part was no big deal. It was when she pulled out a stopwatch and told me I had to push my legs up and down consistently for about 30 minutes that I started to panic. My heart started beating faster and I said, “what if I can’t?” She sort of smiled and said it was ok, that everyone found it difficult but I could do it.

I started the exercises and about 5 minutes in asked with a tremor in my voice, “what if I have to stop?” It was at this point that my experimenter got somewhat stern with me and said, “Do not stop.” I don’t recall ever working so hard in my life. My back was pouring sweat and about halfway through I croaked out for a glass of water. Periodically I had to rate how tired I was on a scale of 1-5, 5 being “cannot move”. And hey, since I’d pick the hammer, I never admitted to a 5.

It finally ended after – 40 minutes! She said it took me that long to reach my “50% strength”. I get the feeling I went longer than the other subjects which was no comfort to me. Had I known, I would’ve faked weakness 10 minutes in.

Since Bud is doing the experiment today and I’m not allowed to tell him what it entails (I did warn him to bring a soda though, bless his unsuspecting heart), I only looked at him last night when he said, “Hey, today was 6.6.06 and nothing bad happened!”