February 22, 2023

Psychology students at EHC were invited to attend a conference at Leeds Beckett University about psychology. The conference was organised by Leeds Beckett University at their Headingly campus and was attended many other schools and colleges in the area. It was called ‘Psychology at the cutting edge’, and it explored different aspects of psychology, stress, addiction as well as ethics in research.

“It was a great opportunity to get a first-hand perspective on what it means to be a psychologist, and how broad the topic of psychology is.” Said Mr Farnan, Psychology A Level teacher “The topics covered were diverse, including stress management, addictive behaviour, ethical implications of sensitive research in psychology, and more.”

The morning session discussed addiction, impulsivity, and the ethical implications of research where the students were split into groups and given an exercise to consider the ethical implications of researching people. Students were then asked to discuss their thoughts on what makes some people more impulsive than others and how this can affect people’s lives.

This was followed by a lecture was given by Professor Daryl O’Connor from, University of Leeds, “Stress: The. Quiet Killer.” Professor O’Connor’s lecture was fascinating, and he spoke about how stress is a silent killer and can affect us in many ways. He took us through some of his research into the effects stress has on the body and why this causes some people overeat while other under eat. He explained how stress is the same in children as it is an adult and what stress hormones can lead to someone taking their own life.

After lunch, psychology student Charlotte Sebine talked about her experience psychology degree at Leeds Beckett University. She shared her journey as an undergraduate student and explained what it’s like to work with professors and classmates who are just as dedicated to their studies as she is.

Finally, Dr Bill Davies gave a criminology lecture titled “Pains of Imprisonment.” His research focuses psychology of prisoners and what they give up when they go to prison and how to educate is delivered behind bars.

“The trip helped me have more of an insight into what studying Psychology at university will be like, and has been very informative about the wide areas of psychology,” said student, Suhaib Mamaniat.

Student, Georgia Hitchcock add: “It helped me decide if I wanted to do a degree in Psychology after college as well as giving me the opportunity to visit a local university and meet new people.”

The conference finished with a session on sport and exercise psychology and tours of the Leeds Beckett Headingly campus.