Science and Pseudoscience conference
This conference aims to educate, entertain and enthuse your students, facilitating their understanding of science and increasing their motivation for studying Psychology!
Time 10.30 am - 4.30 pm Cost £20 per student plus 1 free teacher place for every 10 students.Note - there is a special rate for teachers who bring students to the Loftus and Sizemore conference in March. Tickets for both conferences cost £30.
Dates and venues Monday 17 November - Bristol, Colston Hall Wednesday 19 November - Nottingham PlayhouseTo book places Send the following details by email or post: ♦ Date of conference ♦ Your name, school’s name and full postal address, and contact telephone number. ♦ Number of tickets required (students plus free teacher tickets) ♦ Purchase order no. for invoice (if required). I will provide an invoice to print out for payment. Email to cara.flanagan@btopenworld.com Or use the conference booking form Post to Southwest Conferences, East Gilgo, Migdale, Bonar Bridge, Sutherland IV24 3AR Note that no deposits will be taken. Payment in full required by October 15th If you have any queries please ring Cara Flanagan 01863 766242 / 07710 534418.
PROVISIONAL PROGRAMME FOR THE DAY
10.45 Phil Banyard Senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University. former Chief examiner OCR Science and Pseudoscience - won’t get fooled again Every day we are bombarded with information from all sides. But how can we tell the good stuff from the rubbish? Can we boost our brain strength by eating indescribable fish bits? Or is there any evidence at all that 5 portions of fruit and veg a day do us any good? Or against all the odds does Derek Acorah really speak to dead people? The talk will look at these and many other important issues. [Disclaimer: no ectoplasm will be harmed during this talk] 11.15 Richard Wiseman … running a live experiment
Psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman started his working life as a professional magician and currently holds Britain’s only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. He frequently appears on the media, and has written over 60 academic articles and several books, including The Luck Factor.During this live mass participation ESP experiment, someone will be sent to a distant location, and everyone else will be asked to try and guess the location. This fun experiment will illustrate the methods used by parapsychologists to experimentally investigate ESP, and help answer that age old question - does psychic ability really exist? 12.00 Cara Flanagan freelance academic author, senior examiner Scientific research in Psychology Students are often very dismissive of lab experiments but they aren’t all bad. This session will look at some key studies in Psychology and consider the nature of scientific enquiry in our subject. 12.30 Richard Wiseman - The Luck Factor Why do some people lead happy successful lives whilst others face repeated failure and sadness? Why are some people always in the right place at the right time, while others are always unlucky? For many years psychologist Professor Richard Wiseman has worked with some of the world’s luckiest and unluckiest people to answer these fascinating questions. Discover the results of his work and find out how ‘The Luck Factor’ can change your life. 2.00 Mike Cardwell Senior lecturer at Bath Spa University, former Chief examiner AQA A Evolutionary Psychology and everyday life Does evolutionary psychology offer a valuable new insight into human behaviour, or are its explanations no better than Kipling’s ‘Just so’ stories? We take a critical look at what Evolutionary Psychology may or may not be able to tell us about the origins of modern day behaviours. 2.30 Andrew Newton - Hypnosis
Andrew Newton is one of the most successful and experienced hypnotists in the world. He has over 5,500 public and television appearances under his belt and has hypnotised more than 55,000 people over 28 years. Andrew originally taught Paul McKenna and inspired a host of others. His dynamic approach has earned him the reputation of being one of the world’s foremost experts in hypnosis.Andrew will talk about the history and development of hypnosis and explain in layman’s terms how and why it works! The lecture will end with a demonstration of hypnosis using volunteers from the audience. Andrew’s lectures are always both fascinating and funny and have proved to be immensely popular with professional and student audiences alike! 4.30 Day ends