National Psychology Competition

On Wednesday, three of our keenest Lower Sixth Psychology pupils, Sophia W-S, Philippa R and Atlanta G, 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 understand the misinformation epidemic?’  

The team undertook extensive research into a range of cognitive and behaviour explanations for the recent rise in the spread of misinformation. They considered, for example, cognitive biases such as confirmation bias, where individuals tend to seek out information that conforms with their existing views, while discounting dissenting facts and opinions. The group conducted extensive research before creating a 2-minute video summarising their key findings.  

On the day of the competition, the team presented their scientific poster and tackled challenging questions from the judges, competing against 30 other teams for the prize. They were judged on their communication and presentation skills, understanding of psychology, originality, and creativity. Pupils also received two university-style lectures from Dr Gemma Northam, senior lecturer on Neuropsychology, who shared her neuroimaging research into the effects of perinatal stroke on later development, and Dr Joe Barnby, Neuroscience lecturer, who is using sophisticated mathematical modelling to turn the electrical signals produced by our brains into music and art.  

I am so proud of the pupils for all the work that went into their submission and thank you to Bert W for his excellent contributions.