AP psych students will be showcasing experiments and demonstrations, and conducting orginal surveys on other students at the Psych Fair on Apr. 18.
This fair can be compared to a science fair with judges determining the best based on execution and exceptionality of the respective projects. The fair is more of an active accumulation of data, than a competition. Although there is no specific prize, the winner will be given bragging rights.
“[The psych fair’s goal is] to give us an understanding of not only how to complete research from a psychological standpoint, but also to have some fun and really get lost in the concept of psychology,” AP teacher, Jon Pereiro, said.
Students can attend during their study halls and social studies classes, if their teachers decide to attend. AP psychology students will be on an in-school field trip for the entire day and will set up during first period and perform experimentation on students the rest of the school day.
“I think getting the hands-on experience helps us and [teaches] us how actual psychologists do their experiments,” junior, Kathryn Strand, said.
The project itself is graded on what the students prepare for the fair as well as the results they present to their classes.
Student’s projects need to stay within the parameters of what they have learned throughout the year, other than that they have free reign to decide their entry.
“My hypothesis is that if we introduce a high level of stress in terms of a reward or overwhelming amounts of stimuli into a person’s environment, then they will have a decreased response rate and a lack of response time to that stimuli,” junior, Andrit Salihu, said.
“Our hypothesis is if the color of a cup determines the sense and taste of the pop,” senior, Annalyce Perona, said.
Students who participate in the fair as subjects should remember to be honest with their answers or actions in order to not skew any data.
“I’m hoping to see students act as psychologists during the fair. Not every building has the opportunity to do this, and I want to be able to provide students that opportunity to extend their learning,” Pereiro said.