Psychology: Computational Psychology With Professor Will Penny From University of East Anglia

In this webinar, UEA offers an interactive session on Computational Psychology, described on the UEA website as ‘providing a rigorous approach to psychology, complemented by the application of computational principles to understand the brain and behaviour. It is the fusion of psychological knowledge with experience in programming and machine learning, linked to artificial intelligence, human-computer interaction and data analytics.’

The objective of the session is to introduce the topic of computational psychology by way of a simple interactive example. The format is as follows.

1. The session leader will briefly introduce the topic of computational psychology (~5 minutes).
2. Students will watch a video of a participant taking part in a psychology experiment – a study of decision making in which people look at images of berries and decide whether or not to eat them. Some of the berries can make you ill but others are nutritious but this “ill/nutritious feedback” is not immediately provided. (~5 minutes)
3. Students are then asked  how they would program a computer to perform this task – breaking down the process into logical steps. They are then asked how they think people perform this task. (The video is shown for another ~5 minutes and the students are given a further ~5 minutes to come up with answers).
4. The session leader will then speak to several students discussing their answers and placing them in the context of computational psychology (~20 minutes).
5. The session will close with a description of the BSc in Computational Psychology at UEA (~5 minutes)

Lecturer Profiles (Click links): Professor Will Penny & Dr Louise Ewing

Suitable for: Year 12 & 13 students studying Psychology and/or Computer Science.

Preparation or Pre-Reading: Please share these videos with students to help them consider the field prior to the session.

The IT Setup: The setup is similar to Skype, using a pc and webcam, although students take part as a group with the image projected on a whiteboard rather than as individuals in front of lots of pcs. Dedicated videoconferencing equipment is also compatible if available to the school. Further details are here: Connecting in to a Channel Talent Event (Please Click)

We will work with your IT department to ensure everything is set up and working prior to the event. The sessions are generally limited to 3 to 5 schools to maintain the interactive nature of the experience.

Booking a Place: This is free for schools and colleges. If you have a group of students that you would like to take part in this event, please click here  BOOK HERE

Subject to availability we will book a place for you.