Natural History and Science Museums

On Thursday 28th November Lower Sixth Psychology students visited the Natural History and Science Museums in South Kensington, London.

In the Human Body gallery of the Natural History Museum students revised their learning of memory and eyewitness testimony, with a demonstration showing how easily we can forget things when witnessing a crime. They were introduced to how the body responds in a stressful situation, learning about the important role of both the nervous and endocrine systems in this.

International Baccalaureate students particularly liked the exhibit that demonstrated some of the differences in how children think about and understand the world, which links to their unit on Developmental Psychology next year.

After grabbing a bite for lunch and picking up a few early Christmas presents in the gift shop, it was on to the Science Museum. Starting with the ‘Who am I?’ gallery which has exhibits on phobias, gender, genetics and perception, students were intrigued by a recorded interview and brain sections of one of the most famous case studies in Psychology, Henry Molaison. Known famously as ‘HM’ this part of the exhibit was of particular excitement to some of the students who view him as a bit of a psychology celebrity.

Students then had the chance to visit ‘Medicine: The Wellcome Galleries’ the largest medical exhibition in the world, featuring 3000 objects and only opened earlier this month. The multi-million-pound project that has taken several years to complete, showcased a range of interactive exhibitions and displays including the first MRI machine, a simulated padded cell from a psychiatric hospital with accompanying audio interview from a patient and an Electroconvulsive Therapy machine. Students took their time investigating everything on display.

IB student Rowan who found the simulated padded cell particularly fascinating said “It’s great to be able to explore the subject outside of a classroom.” Following the trip, students chose an exhibit that sparked their interest and researched it further to write their own fact sheet that could be used in a museum, to give further information.

Catherine who is also studying the IB reflected “The trip was a fascinating insight into psychology in the wider world and how it has evolved. Seeing the concepts we had discussed in the classroom illustrated was very useful.”