On April 2, the Concordia Undergraduate Psychology Association (CUPA) had their third annual psychology case competition. Although the concept stayed the same as previous years, the participants were different: this was the first year they hosted a Montreal-wide competition. All Montreal universities participated, which brought three teams from Concordia, McGill, Université de Montréal and Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM.)
The Competition
Three judges were present for all presentations: Mélanie Béland, a sixth year Clinical PhD student at Concordia, Eva Alexandra Best, a Developmental PhD student at UdeM, and Fernanda Perez-Guay, a post-Doc student at UQAM.
The competition was split into three different case categories: Neuroscience, developmental, and clinical.
Neuroscience
The research revolved around the assessment of decision making in the justice system. In this category, participants were asked to create an experimental design in order to evaluate the neurological assessment of decision making in patients with mental illness.
Developmental
Research in this category surrounded the issue of maternal mental health as well as the mother-child relationship when the mother has a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). They were asked to come up with an experimental design that would suggest whether or not the mother-child relationship and the mother’s mental health was affected when having a child with ASD. They were also required to suggest the appropriate methods to answer the question.
Clinical
The participants in this category had to suggest an appropriate early prevention model for substance abuse in Aboriginal youth while keeping in mind the major role that substance abuse plays in these communities, the major differences between each different Aboriginal community and the early age that these problems arise.
The Event
CUPA was the student association hosting this event. However, they did get the financial and organizational support necessary from the other participating schools. The event had three main parts to it: speeches, the competition itself along with a question period for each team, the announcement of winners and a networking cocktail.
Between each part of the event, food and beverages were served, along with the chance to mingle with other participants.
The competition ran smoothly and respectfully, and the winners from each category were as follows:
- Neuroscience: Université de Montréal
- Developmental: Concordia University
- Clinical: McGill University
After the closing ceremony, everyone proceeded to the networking cocktail, where all the participants were free to talk about their experience and get to know each other. It was great to see all the schools mingling, compared to the morning where the vibe was much more competitive.
Feedback
I had the opportunity to talk to some of the participants during the event, including the Concordia winning team. When I asked them about why they chose to participate in this event, most answered that it is not only to boost your CV, but also to get some hands on experience as it is quite difficult to get any psychology experience outside of the classroom. Everyone I spoke to was extremely pleased with this event, and found it even more motivating to be competing against the other Montreal universities. When asked if they were planning on participating next year, most participants said yes, except for those who are in their final year of their undergrad of course!