Sixth Form Psychology Students at the Stamford Schools have attended the "Your Future in Psychology" conference hosted by the 'British Psychological Society' (BPS).Students heard from experts in their fields on topics covered within the A Level curriculum, including addiction, schizophrenia and research into false memories. They also gained useful insight into the transition from A-Level to Degree level Psychology.Mrs Ware, Head of Psychology at SES, said: "T
his conference provided a really interesting insight into areas studied in A Level psychology, delivered straight from researchers and professors themselves. It has proved to be both beneficial to me and countless other A level students who are looking into studying psychology at university and beyond."Sixth Form students who attended the virtual conference shared their comments:"I have found the lectures very insightful and have enjoyed listening to other people talk about the subject differently to how we would normally receive information.” - Zara W, Year 12."I just want to say thank you to Mrs Ware for organising such a great opportunity today! I found it all extremely interesting, especially the addiction and schizophrenia sections as we’re studying those at the moment. ." - Sofia W, Year 13
Sophia M, Year 13, summarises the conference:
"The online conference held by the British Psychological Society offered an interesting and unique insight into different areas covered in psychological research. Being aimed particularly at A level psychology students, intriguing talks were held by a number of professors in the field of psychology which were both engaging and easy to follow. The program started with a welcome from the president of the BPS, Dr Hazel McLaughlin. Following this was a talk about false memories by Dr Robert A. Nash, a presentation on psychology and addiction by Professor Matt Field and a talk on the psychology of inequality held by Dr Nikhil Sengupta. After a quick lunch break, the program continued into the afternoon with a discussion about psychology at university, a presentation about schizophrenia held by Professor Veena Kumari and was finished off by a Q&A involving the speakers of the day’s program."Having these lectures that focused on topics within the A level curriculum allowed for the consolidation of previous topics studied in the course such as memory and also allowed for a more in depth insight into topics being studied currently, such as addiction and schizophrenia."This served as an effective boost to topics studied in the classroom, and allowed for the exploration into theory and research which is not studied in the A Level curriculum. One particular talk I found interesting was the talk held by Dr Robert A. Nash on false memories. In this lecture Dr Nash discussed his own research into creating false memories in participants, by providing them credible but false evidence of how they behaved. This was done by showing the participants digitally doctored videos of them completing tasks which they never actually carried out. He found that what you remember depends heavily on what you believe to be true rather than relying on the credibility of your own memories, and that many people claimed to remember carrying out the tasks they never had. This study was very thought provoking to me, as this research can tie into certain elements studied in the memory topic of Year 12, but still offers extra theory which isn’t explored in the curriculum. This was a common theme throughout the various lectures held during the conference, which is why these talks effectively advanced upon theory that is studied in the classroom."In summary, this conference provided a really interesting insight into areas studied in A Level psychology, delivered straight from researchers and professors themselves. It has proved to be both beneficial to me and countless other A Level students who are looking into studying psychology at university and beyond."To read more Sixth Form news, please click
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