National Psychology Competition
On 28 June, two teams of Lower Sixth pupils headed to Royal Holloway University to compete in the National Psychology Competition. Pupils were asked to respond to the prompt ‘How can psychology be used to promote equality and diversity?’ Teams undertook extensive research into the various explanations for inequality by considering the cognitive factors, for example, the development of gender schemas, as well as the environmental factors, for example, the arbitrary forming of ‘in-groups and ‘out-groups’ to film and edit a three-minute video to showcase to a panel of expert judges prior to the event. On the day, teams presented their scientific poster and tackled challenging questions from the judges to compete against 20 other teams for the prize. Pupils experienced a university-style lecture that discussed how Pattern Deviancy Aversion (an individual’s dislike for unexpected deviancy in abstract visual stimuli) is correlated with Social Deviancy Aversion (e.g. dislike for people with tattoos and face piercings). The lecture touched on a number of topics we have be studying in the course, including correlation coefficients, the importance of peer review and replication of research and the issues of social desirability with self-report research. Although we didn’t return with first prize, the pupils and their teachers were incredibly proud of their efforts. Well done to all of those involved!
Back to all news
