Unfortunately, this year we were unable to attend the annual BPS Scottish
Undergraduate Conference held at Queen Margaret University due to Covid-19. This
event is typically attended by students at level 3 & 4 from all over Scotland where final
year psychology undergraduates have the opportunity to share their thesis research with
their peers from a number of Scottish universities in the form of a conference. Not only
will they be able to learn about the range of research conducted by their peers within the
field of psychology, but this is a great opportunity for students to network and gain
further insight into possible career pathways from meeting professionals at the careers
fayre.
Despite the circumstances, we would still like to recognise ten of our students who were
selected to present their thesis after submitting their abstracts earlier in the year. In
addition to the submission of their slides to the Open Science Framework, an online
repository of the presentation slides (https://osf.io/zp23c/), we also asked them to
summarise what they were most looking forward to about presenting at the conference.
Here were some of their thoughts:
The effect of ASMR on mood and social connectedness: an exploratory study - By Anna Lindfors
“I was most looking forward to sharing our research findings and connecting with like-
minded individuals at the event. I think it is amazing that such events are organised as
they give us an opportunity to converse and share ideas with other aspiring researchers.”
Refuges from the Real: A Grounded Theory on Escapism - By Annabelle Olsson
“I was most looking forward to presenting qualitative work to other psychology undergraduates, as not many in psychology choose to use qualitative methods or know much about the many ways in which it can be done. Also, because my research concerns escapism, which is an everyday behaviour that most of us engage in, I was looking forward to hearing other people's perspectives and if my analysis resonated with them.”
Annabelle’s presentation slides are available at the Open Science Framework
The role of happiness and sadness in ambiguous speech production in native and non-native English speakers - By Caitlyn Smith
“What I was looking forward to the most at the conference was getting to see the diverse
range of topics that the other students were presenting. I was also going to network and
find out what opportunities are available for my future as we move towards graduation.”
Aquatic antidepressant: the unique experience of surfing and how it could affect your mental wellbeing, A qualitative study - By Ella Leppanen
“I was most looking forward to sharing my research with other psychology students and psychologists, getting experience in speaking publicly and presenting my work, and seeing the research from other students in the field.”
Ella's presentation slides are available at the Open Science Framework
Emotion, hearing and vision: A study on age differences in emotion recognition - By Lara Cicciarella
“I attended the conference last year and I wished to be part of it this year! I was really
looking forward to presenting my thesis project, as well as seeing the rest of the
presentations about so many interesting topics that were going to be discussed.”
The effect of ASMR on mood and social connectedness: an exploratory study - By Laura Zabala Findlay
“What I was looking forward to the most was seeing the diversity in people's research
topics, and to share my knowledge on ASMR with the world.”
Kink & Prejudice: How Gender and Gender role beliefs account for stigma strength towards gender norm violating BDSM couples - By Lea Wortmann
“I was most looking forward to presenting the research project that I had worked on for the past year to a wider audience, as well as to get inspired and hear about other students' thesis projects.”
Gender differences in the impact of fitspiration content: how social comparisons to muscular body ideals impact body satisfaction - By Molly Rennie
“I was looking forward to experiencing the research and interests of the psychologists of
the future. It would have been exciting to learn about the ideas of other undergraduates
and share my own, and I look forward to be able to do so in the future.”
Molly’s presentation slides are available at the Open Science Framework
Perceiving Actions: Recovering from a Negative First Impression using the Stereotype Content Model - By Nghiep Lucy Truong
“Having attended last year’s conference, I was excited to share my own work in social
psychology with my peers, while improving my public speaking and presentation skills.
This was also a great opportunity for me to learn about other areas of psychology
research and meet those who share a passion for the subject.”
Lucy’s presentation slides are available at the Open Science Framework
Me, My pens, and I: Perceptual Prioritization of Self-Owned Objects - By Skomantas Tamulaitis
“The chance to participate in an event that celebrates the skills that we as
undergraduates developed over 4 years at university. To observe the work of other
students and enjoy the sense of camaraderie.”
We are extremely proud of our students’ achievements!
For the full BPS Scottish Undergraduate Conference abstract programme, please refer to:
https://www.bps.org.uk/events/scottish-undergraduate-conference-
2020/programme.
To see the presentation slides from some of our students on the Open Science
Framework, please see here: https://osf.io/zp23c/.
As always, we would like to thank the organising committee from QMU and especially Dr Jason Bohan from the University of Aberdeen for supporting in the organisation of this opportunity.
