Festival of psychology in the Midlands

On 9 September, I attended the annual 'Festival of psychology in the Midlands', which took place in the Museum of Making in Derby, alongside many other students, academics, professionals, ambassadors and pra-academics (an amazing new term I learnt!). The day was full of inspiring talks, new information and networking. 

The keynote speakers 

After registration (and a few yummy pastries!) we gathered for the first keynote of the day by Dr Rachel Wheatley and Dr Georgia Harris titled 'The journey to becoming a forensic psychologist pracademic'. Dr Wheatley and Dr Harris discussed their varied journeys into the field of forensic psychology before highlighting the 'scientist-practitioner model' and the benefits of being both an academic and practitioner (i.e. 'pracademic') in this exciting field. 

Dr Rachael Wheatley is a BPS chartered forensic psychologist and HCPC registered practitioner with over 21 years of experience in Her Majesty's prison and probation services. She now oversees forensic psychology professional practice programmes at the University of Derby, including an innovative online postgraduate diploma. Specialising in stalking and related offenses, she provides risk assessments, interventions, training, and consultancy as an independent practitioner. A trustee with the Alice Ruggles Trust, she is an active researcher, widely published, and a frequent presenter on the topic of stalking.

Dr Georgia Harris, a forensic psychologist chartered by the BPS and registered with HCPC, completed her doctoral qualification at the University of Birmingham in 2022, focused on police lineup practices and memory processes involved in eyewitness decision making. She has presented her research internationally and is now an associate lecturer at the University of Derby, teaching on the MSc and PGDip Forensic Psychology Programmes. With experience in prison, hospital, and community settings, she has also worked in private practice specialising in expert witness assessments for family courts. 

Dr Harris is an Associate Fellow of the BPS and a registered supervisor for applied psychology practice.

Posters 

Personally, the posters are one of my favourite parts of the day! Check out one of the other articles from this month's newsletter which focuses on the amazing selection of posters present at the conference.    

Lightning talks

After taking a look around the careers exhibition it was time for the lightning talks, these are short 5-minute talks aimed to get a quick insight into an individual's research. 

Lightning talks: Reflection from Pragya Modi

Breaking down my research to its key points was eye-opening. It made me really think about what was most important in my work. The questions after the talks were really valuable. People's comments gave me new ideas and ways to look at my research. It's amazing how short talks can lead to such good discussions.

I was surprised to win the prize for best lightning talk, especially given how many interesting presentations there were. It felt good to know my topic stood out among such diverse and high-quality research. I really appreciate receiving the award, it's really boosted my confidence as someone at the start of my academic career.

These short talks are great for learning about different studies quickly. They're also less scary than longer talks. If you are new to presenting at conferences, and haven't tried giving a lightning talk yet, I'd say go for it! It's a good way to share your work in a super supportive and encouraging environment.  

Orals talks 

While the lightning talks were downstairs, upstairs were the longer oral presentations. As I presented during session 1a,  I'm going to take this opportunity to discuss my area of focus.

Oral talks: Reflection from Gemma Wood

I presented my undergraduate dissertation which explored research methods anxiety in distance learning undergraduate psychology students. Research methods anxiety is 'a complex array of emotional reactions' faced by students while studying research methods, one of arguably the most important elements of a psychology degree but an element the majority of students find stressful. 

Previously, research methods anxiety has only been explored within traditional face-to-face students. The main focus is on statistics and maths anxiety, and techniques that have been developed to reduce anxiety are only applicable to in-person teaching and individual differences haven't been considered. These are just a few factors that led me to look into this further, alongside my own memories of research methods anxiety during my first year of university! 

Through online qualitative surveys and experiential, reflexive thematic analysis from a critical realism perspective, I produced an interesting variety of findings. First, students experienced a real rollercoaster of emotions while studying research methods. These included the first overwhelming interaction with research methods, assessment/deadline anxiety, thoughts of quitting their degree, feelings of relief and achievement when submitting, worrying about encountering research again and questioning a career in research. Overall, students found it an overwhelming, all-consuming experience, with one students stating "I felt overwhelmed by the whole process. I did not like it one bit. I felt there was too much information and not enough support… it put me off wanting to continue with my degree". 

I identified students felt like there was a level of responsibility to self-direct as a distance learning student, they had to manage their own journey and mindset as well as seek out their own community and support. These ideas hadn't been identified in research focusing on face-to-face traditional university students which suggests it's an added responsibility that comes with studying online. 

Furthermore, I identified unique challenges associated with research methods anxiety for the distance learning. For instance, students experienced isolation due to a lack of support immediacy – clearly seeing a lecturer through a laptop just isn't the same! 

Additionally, there were multiple challenges identified specific to SEND students, who make up a specific proportion of distance learners. A novel finding highlighted individuals' difficulties with qualitative RM, especially students with ASC who reported struggling explaining their own thoughts, interpreting what data meant and 'reading between the lines' of data. This extended to qualitative interviews. 

In the future, if I had the opportunity, I'd be keen to explore some of the questions this research raised, including neurodiverse students' experience of qualitative research methods, whether social media groups are beneficial for distance learners and whether these impact students' research methods anxiety at all. 

Despite being someone who finds speaking in front of others very nerve racking, I did enjoy the experience and would really recommend this conference for any students or new academics to present in a supportive, welcoming environment. Perhaps start with a poster or lightning talk, then go for a longer presentation.   

Workshops

After some tasty lunch it was time for the workshops. In studio 1, Dr Caroline Harvey and Professor Frances Maratos led the session titled 'Compassionate communication for higher education (CC-HE): Supporting student inclusivity and employability', which I've heard many glowing reviews about!

In workshop studio 2, Dr Jane Montague and Dr Fiona Holland led a taster session into analysing data using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis.

IPA workshop reflection: Al Payne

As I knew IPA would be featuring in my upcoming academic year, I was thrilled to see the workshop offered by Dr Jane Montague and Dr Fiona Holland. It was a cosy session, with nearly every seat filled around the tables. The workshop itself was particularly engaging, with enough information to make it accessible to myself as a student who had only a little experience with qualitative analysis, but also enough depth to still elicit insightful discussion among those more familiar with IPA. The excerpt, on body image and hair, was a perfect choice to stimulate thoughtful perspectives around the room.

Orals talks (Sessions 2a and 2b) 

After some interactive workshops we settled into listening to some more amazing talks. One of the benefits of this conference is the selection of topics covered in the oral talks, my personal favourite was 'Don't call me "Girl Boss", the experiences of women entrepreneurs with Imposter Phenomenon in online communities' by Leila Ainge. Other topics included leadership, neurodiversity, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, perinatal peer support, IVF consultations, acquired brain injuries and even the Kardashians! 

Afternoon keynote speaker reflection

Using psychology to help people act more sustainably: Dr Harriet Baird and Professor Thomas Webb

We were delighted to be invited to give a talk at the BPS annual Midlands Festival of psychology conference, held at the historical Museum of Making' in Derby. The day was packed with fascinating talks describing research from various subfields of psychology, including the use of gamification for behaviour change, the psychology behind conspiracy and paranormal beliefs, concealment, connection to nature at night, and the impact of neurodiversity in romantic relationships. We also had the opportunity to chat with colleagues from a range of career stages, both within and outside of academia. 

During our talk, we discussed how we can apply insights from the behavioural sciences to help tackle sustainability challenges, particularly with respect to promoting the use of reusable packaging to reduce single-use plastic. Reuse has been identified as a key strategy to reduce waste, as long as the containers are used a sufficient number of times to confer benefit. 

However, our research has shown that people can be unwilling to (re)use containers, particularly as they start to show signs of wear. We presented our research testing a number of different strategies to promote reuse - from reassuring people that containers are clean to telling people about the benefits of reuse.

If you're curious, then check out some of our published work to see what worked and what didn't (spoiler alert: providing information about cleaning the containers did not seem to help). We also pointed to the importance of collaborating with other disciplines, including material and environmental scientists, to understand when reuse systems make sense and to design interventions to promote reuse and avoid unintended negative consequences. 

The conference was a great opportunity to reflect on the broader impact of psychology in addressing real-world challenges. Thanks for having us! 

Branch meeting, evening & thank you! 

Author profile 

 Gemma Wood is a psychology graduate who has been the BPS West Midlands E-newsletter editor for over a year now. She has just begun her Master of Science in developmental and educational psychology at UCL alongside working in a children's therapy centre for individuals with ASC and developmental difficulties. She has strong interest in pedagogy, children's development and adolescent mental health, and aspires to hopefully pursue a career in educational psychology focusing on the impact of mental health.  

X: @GemmaWood00

Linkedin: Gemma Wood