Three ways to improve your brain power
A level pupils studying Psychology had three different opportunities to explore the subject in greater depth in the space of just three days.
On Wednesday 4th, sixteen pupils attended two lectures given by senior Cambridge academics in a special afternoon organised at the Perse School for Girls. Professor Barbara Sahakian of Cambridge University Department of Psychiatry presented her work on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and talked about new drug treatments for the condition.
In an interesting look at the reasons for dyslexia, and differences in how children from different European countries learn their language, Professor Usha Goswami of Cambridge University Department of Education pointed out that the English language presents children with the hardest challenges - just think of how we expect the 'a' sound in ball, hat and garden to be pronounced.
"Dieting makes you fat." was only one of the many challenging and thought-provoking messages delivered on Thursday evening in the second meeting of the new Psychology Society. Professor Tim Newton of Kings College, London, deftly picked his way through the difficult topic of eating disorders (which apparently has the highest mortality rate of any psychiatric disorder), and shared his views on the possible causes of anorexia and bullimia.
8:15 a.m. in the morning saw the entire staff and Lower Sixth cohort of the Psychology Department set out for a day at the zoo on Friday 6th October. With two objectives; learning about primate communication (or asking the question, are humans the only species to possess language?) and completing part of the AS practical assessment, Twycross Zoo with its outstanding collection of New and Old World primates provided a truly educational day out.