<Psychophsiology and Event Related Potential Laboratory Technician>

Department:

Psychology

Effective Date:

May, 2012

Grade:

USG 6

37.5 hr/wk

Reports to:

Administrative Officer

General Accountability

This position is contingent on funding and is accountable to the EEG (Electroencephalogram) / ERP (Event Related Potential) Lab and the WatGRL (WaterlooGambling Research Lab).

Nature and Scope

As a member of the technical support staff in the Event Related Potential (ERP) Laboratory, and in the Waterloo Gambling Research Laboratory (WatGRL), the incumbent is responsible for the set-up and maintenance of the Active 2 Biosemi EEG, ECG, EMG system and the eye-tracking systems (ASL and SR Research EyeLink). He/she will also be responsible for the setup and maintenance of the Waterloo Gambling Research commercially available IGT slot machines (Lucky Larry’s Lobstermania & Moneystorm) as well as the WatGRL slot machine simulator. He/she will also be responsible for interfacing the slot machines to Powerlab, and Chart 7.0 psychophysiological data acquisition systems and help in the programming of experiments using the Active 2 Biosemi interface, Experiment Builder, Presentation and E-Prime softwares. He/she will also help in EEG data analysis using the EEGLab interface on Matlab. He/she will also be responsible for in-lab accounting duties – requesting subject payment advances, keeping track of payment, and parking receipts, working with Psychology Support staff to order equipment. The incumbent will provide research support to honours and graduate students involved in the ERP and WatGRL labs. He/she is also responsible for maintaining the websites and Sharepoint sites for the ERP and WatGRL labs.

Significant internal and external relationships for this position include:

Departmental Administrative Officer
Departmental Research Financial Coordinator
Central Stores
IST
Various Out-side Vendors (ADinstruments, Biosemi, etc.)
Psychology faculty members and / or grad students

Statistical Data

The ERP lab is headed by Dr. Roxane Itier, and houses 3 graduate students, a postdoctoral fellow and 1 honours student. The WatGRL has 3 faculty members (Dixon and Fugelsang, in Psychology, Harrigan in Drama), a postdoctoral fellow, three graduate students, a full time research associate, and various honours students. The WatGRL total research income exceeded two million dollars in the last 3 years.

Specific Accountabilities

Responsible for providing technical support for two Biosemi EEG, ECG, EMG systems and two ASL eyetracking systems plus one SR Research Eyelink 1000 system.
Responsible for providing technical support and maintenance for four IGT slot machines and a slot machine simulator
Responsible for servicing and maintenance of laboratory equipment to keep it in working order. This will include working with other departmental technicians as well as liaising with service representative for technical and repair updates.
Responsible for backing up data on a regular basis
Responsible for filing ethic applications and ensuring ethic clearance for all projects
Responsible for independently sourcing and ordering of laboratory supplies and equipment and liaising with sales representatives for costing information.
Responsible for troubleshooting experiments and assisting in the development of new experiments for the labs. This may involve learning new techniques and the use of different equipment.
Responsible for maintaining Sharepoint system for data storage for ongoing studies and maintaining the multiple lab websites. This may involve learning new programming platforms.
Responsible to act as a resource person for graduate students and research associates in the development of their research projects through technical expertise in operating specialized equipment.

Working Conditions

Much of the time is spent sitting in a comfortable position with frequent opportunity to move about. There is a frequent need to give close attention to various stimuli such as written material and verbal information given to co-workers. The work is varied. There are deadline pressures, while at the same time there is a demand for thoroughness and accuracy.