The Morris County Psychological Association offers an annual Psychology Award open to all high school students in Morris County who are taking classes related to the behavioral sciences.  Classes include psychology, human and/or animal behavior, child development, and sociology.  The purpose of the award is to stimulate and encourage the study of the behavioral sciences among high school students.

       Students submitted papers previously written as part of their regular course work.  Each entry was judged independently by three doctoral level psychologists on a set of nine criteria, including:

• Awareness of social and cultural issues in the behavioral sciences
• Awareness of theoretical and technical issues in the study of behavioral sciences
• Clarity of written expression
• Originality of the study

Twenty-six students from six different Morris County schools submitted entries, which were then judged by twenty-four psychologists.   There were three top scores, which were the 2020 winners, and three additional exceptional entries which were given honorable mention.

The winners, honorable mention awardees, their teachers, and their parents attended an awards reception via zoom at on June 3, 2020. The winners were:

FIRST PLACE WINNER:

Julia Yan of Randolph, Randolph High School, teachers Michael Lonie and Sarah Townsend

The Definition of Chinese Authenticity

SECOND PLACE WINNER:

Tiffany Lau of Mendham, West Morris Mendham High School, teacher Jennifer Brown

An Exploration of the Chinese Learner Paradox

THIRD PLACE WINNER:

Caroline Joy Isemann of Long Valley, West Morris Central High School, teacher Victoria Hallett

Anxiety & Athletics: A study on the extent of high school sports impact on anxiety

HONORABLE MENTIONS

Hannah Abkin of Mendham, West Morris Mendham High School, teacher Jennifer Brown 

An Experiment to Investigate the Reconstructive Ability of the Human Memory and Mind 

Emma Ortiz of Long Valley, West Morris Central High School, teachers Victoria Hallett and Erin Feltmann 

The Extent to Which Exercise Can Effectively Treat Depression

Caitlin McNally of Flanders, Mount Olive High School, teacher Mary Kellam

Evaluating the Effectiveness of the Pause, Prompt, Praise Procedure and the Think-Pair-Share Technique in Tutoring at the Elementary Level

Judges were  Drs. Michael Zito, Joshua Zavin, Jayne Schachter,  Aaron Welt, Nancy Sidhu, Hayley Hirschmann, Morgan Murray, Randy Bressler,  Brenda Stepak, Sarah Dougherty, Carly Orenstein, Paul Yampolsky, Marc Gironda, Beverly Tignor, Deborah Fisch, Rhonda Allen, Marilyn Lyga, Francine Rosenberg; Isabel Lerman, Nydia Rolon, William Neigher, Lauren Becker, Deborah Roelke, Zachary Infantolino

The Psychology Awards Committee members were Drs. Aaron Welt, Lauren Becker, Nancy Sidhu, Sarah Dougherty, and Susan Neigher (chair)

For more information, please visit the MCPA website, www.mcpanj.com.