The Annual All Ireland Students Congress was held in Queen’s University Belfast from the 23rd-24th of March 2012. This is an annual conference for psychology students to present a summary of their undergraduate or postgraduate research thesis. There were over 270 attendees from all over Ireland. The psychology department in DBS had 23 presenters at the congress, with modes of delivery being either poster presentations or oral presentations. The standard of presentations was extremely high at this year’s congress, so much so that judging was a difficult task and a number of extra awards were presented. Congratulations to Ian O’Dwyer, an undergraduate DBS student who was highly commended for his poster presentation at the congress. As part of presenting, all students’ abstracts were published in the Irish Psychologist. DBS were represented at the congress by John Hyland, Chris Gibbons, Emma Harkin and Pauline Cummins.
The DBS presenters and their projects were:
Prakshini Sonam Banka
“The Effect of ISPCC Services on Stress, Test Performance-Anxiety, and Self-esteem.”
Supervisor: John Hyland
Leah Brady
“Personality, Self-esteem and the Mediating Role on Alcohol-Related Behavioural Strategies among College Students.”
Supervisor: John Hyland
Martin Brennan
“Investigation between Music Preference, Personality Traits, and Respondents’ Mood Change and Perception of time after listening to Music.”
Supervisor: Rebecca Maguire
Antoinette Curran
“An investigatory study of the effects of sport on aggression, self-esteem and life satisfaction.”
Supervisor: Rosemary Fish
Niamh Fitzgerald
“To determine if there is a relationship between self-efficacy, social anxiety and personality types in reports of suffering panic attacks between male and female participants.”
Supervisor: Margaret Quinn Walsh
Jacqueline Fitzgerald
“Emotional and behavioural difficulties in Adolescence: What to look out for?”
Supervisor: Patricia Orr
Jennifer Gordon
“Birth order; investigating its effects on personality, empathy, achievement and perceived academic performance.”
Supervisor: John Hyland
David Kelly
“An investigatory study into the relationship between extracurricular activities and stress/worry in exam years.”
Supervisor: Emma Harkin
Jenny Kerr
“A study to show if sports can enhance school performances, decrease stress and/or exam anxiety and improve self-efficacy.”
Louise Leung
“Fear of crime and its impact on quality of life in Irish nationals and ethnic minorities in Ireland.”
Supervisor: Rosemary Fish
Carmel McKenna
“Social Support of introverts and Extroverts and their attitudes towards Mental Illness and Help-Seeking.”
Supervisor: Margaret Quinn Walsh
Paul Meagher
“Measuring and comparing psychosocial factors between teenage early school leavers and formal second level students.”
Supervisor: Chris Gibbons
Danielle Mongey
“Examining the effects of different questioning methods in response accuracy among primary school children.”
Supervisor: Rebecca Maguire
Alison O'Byrne
“The Self-Esteem and Future Aspirations of adolescents with Specific Learning Difficulties.”
Supervisor: Emma Harkin
Ian O’ Dwyer
“Investigating the relationship between student’s personal and social variables and attitudes towards multicultural Ireland.”
Supervisor: Garry Prentice
Joseph O’ Dwyer
“Traditional Vs Cyber-bullying: Associations with Cognitive Mechanisms and Interpersonal Variables in European and Asian Sample.”
Supervisor: Margaret Quinn Walsh
Ntsocki Phakoe
“A study on the effect sleep has on teenagers’ personality, levels of aggression, mental health and self-esteem.”
Supervisor: Pauline Cummins
Catherine Quigley
“Stress and attitudes towards seeking help in parents of children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.”
Supervisor: Pauline Cummins
Daniel Sheridan
“Attitudes Towards Mental Illness in Relation to Gender, Self-Compassion, and Satisfaction With Life.”
Supervisor: Margaret Quinn Walsh
Keith Shier
“The Influence of Cultural Exposure on Recognition of Emotional Facial Expression in East Asians.”
Supervisor: Jonathan Murphy
Linda Tiernan
“An investigation into possible factors contributing to parental choice of education for their children (Irish medium and English medium).”
Supervisor: Emma Harkin
Mary M Warren
“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder in patients with Eating Disorders; A comparison of clinical and Personality Characteristics.”
Supervisor: Sinead Eccles
Mareike Weihrauch
“Child-animal companionship and its impact on development of social behaviour during early childhood.”
Supervisor: Jonathan Murphy