On Thursday, the Psychology Department hosted the first ‘Evening of Psychology’. This was an opportunity for our newly formed psychological community to come together to share research and passion for the subject.
The evening started with a conference style ‘poster presentation’. The U6th have spent the summer carrying out a research project – collecting data, analysing it and then developing posters ready for presentations. Parents and L6th were invited for refreshments and to look at the posters and discuss the research. The U6th did an amazing job persuading peers to give up phones, wake up in the middle of the night to do memory tests, and do lots of star jumps all in the name of science. It was great to see them talking so passionately about their research.
We then took the opportunity to group new Lower Sixth students with Upper Sixth students to discuss the subject and top tips for doing well and generally thriving in Sixth Form. There was a real buzz in the room, with Ms Gallivan supporting the discussions. In the meantime parents got the chance to quiz Mrs Guinney and Mrs Powell about what psychology looks like at A Level, how they can support their child and lots more besides.
The grand finale was a talk by Professor Charles Spence from the experimental psychology department at Oxford University. His main area of research is the brain’s integration of sight, sound, smell, taste, and touch. His research uses cognitive neuroscience to redesign foods, environments, products, and interfaces and he has worked with many well known chefs including Heston Blumenthal. He is the recipient of a plethora of academic prizes but most importantly (in my view) the 2008 Ig Nobel Prize in Nutrition for demonstrating how sound alters a potato crisp’s perceived crispness.
His talk was a fascinating dive into how our other senses impact how we taste food. For example, did you know that playing high pitched music whilst eating makes food taste sweeter and lower pitches makes it more bitter or that rounding the edges off chocolate makes it taste sweeter! Everyone was able to taste jelly beans with noses pinched and then letting go – it makes quite a difference to taste, unfortunately Mrs Guinney got the chilli jelly bean – something she found out without having to let go of her nose!
Finally, a huge congratulations to all our Upper Sixth students on their amazing projects but particularly to Yumi and José who won the overall prize. We are already looking forward to next year!
