Eight Great Neck North High School students were invited to participate in the Long Island Psychology Fair at Roslyn High School on Jan. 11.
The students presented their science research projects to a panel of psychology professionals and two of the projects won awards in the biopsychology division.
North High junior Aaron Geula won the Best in Category award in the biopsychology division for his presentation titled, “Using fNIRS to Determine the Effect of Distractions on Cross-Brain Coherence.” His research studied brain waves to determine how distractions, such as cell phone rings, affected non-verbal interactions between two people.
Honorable Mention in the same division was awarded to a team of North High juniors, Sage Sherry and Emma Young, for their project titled, “Neuro Linguistic Eye Movement Tests Corresponding With Evoking A Remembered Or Constructed Image.” Their research compared subjects’ eye movements when a familiar image is described and when an unfamiliar image is described.
Additional participants from North High included senior Amy Shteyman for her project, “The Language of Facial Expressions: A Neuroimaging Study on how a Smile is Generated and Perceived by Another Person,” the team of sophomores Anne Goldsmith and Netta Mualem for their project, “Determining the Accuracy of Identifying the Mental State of Faces with a Nature Background,” and the team of sophomores Kayla Chan and Madeline Yang for their project, “Think Twice: Cognitive Modulation of Physiological Reactions Comparing Two Systems of the Brain”.
The Long Island Psychology Fair is open to any individual or team of students who completed a research project in psychology. Interested students must submit project descriptions for consideration, which are blind-reviewed by a panel. Only 42 applicants from across Long Island were invited to participate in the competition on Jan. 11.
Presentations were grouped based on area of study: educational psychology, cognitive psychology, interdisciplinary psychology, biopsychology, social psychology, and developmental psychology. Students presented a 10-minute PowerPoint to a panel of psychology professionals, followed by a five-minute question and answer period. Two prizes were awarded for each category: Best in Category and Honorable Mention.
Long Island Psychology Fair participants from North High conducted their research as part of the school’s science research program. The North High science research teachers and advisors are Christopher Bambino, Christina Keys, Maya Lerner, Alan Schorn and Jessica Schust, the department chair.
