Psychology Intro | Psycholinguistics | Have No Fear | I Witness | Arachnophobia

I Witness
By Melinda Verhegyi

___Standing outside Kevin’s office, an eager first-year student asks whether I am also here to participate in the eye witness based experiment. I am not, but I reassure him that he will enjoy the insight gained from his participation. Curious, the young man enters Kevin’s room and settles into a chair.

___Running the experiment is Kevin Coulson, research assistant for Dr Richard Kemp. Dr Kemp is a senior lecturer in the Psychology department of the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He lectures in Forensic and Legal Psychology and leads research in areas including eyewitness evidence, policing, and police interviewing. As an assigned placement from Bath University in England, Kevin is spending a year under Dr Kemp’s knowledgeable wing. This placement, a component of his Bachelor of Psychology, aims to expose Kevin to the world of research and provide him with hands on experience under the guidance of a qualified researcher.

___In the experimental room, Kevin smiles at his participant and discloses the instructions of the experiment. The participant is exposed to a short video clip. Kevin then hands over a questionnaire, and the participant has 10 minutes to answer as many questions as possible. Next, he is exposed to a set of photos similar to a police line up. He is asked whether the criminal in the video clip is present in the line up, and if so, to identify them. He selects the photo that he recognises as the criminal. Interestingly, Kevin later reveals to the young man that the criminal from the video was not actually included in the line up shown. He explains that it is common for witnesses to choose a photo simply because they feel pressured to do so. It is important to understand the reliability of eye witness accounts because inaccurate evidence can result in the conviction of innocent people. This experiment aims to understand eye witness identification.

___Conducting the eye witness experiment is only one of Kevin’s responsibilies as a research assistant. Dr Kemp’s work schedule is increasingly demanding, and Kevin has the responsibility of decreasing Dr Kemp’s workload as much as possible. Daily tasks for Kevin include photocopying, setting up equipment, and sometimes simply reminding Dr Kemp of important deadlines, meetings, and phone calls. More excitingly, through his involvement in Dr Kemp’s research, Kevin learns the truths of psychological research first hand.

___Following his participation, the young man leaves and Kevin runs the experiment on a number of other participants. Today is a typical day for Kevin. His primary role is to acquire experimental data for Dr. Kemp. Kevin runs the eye witness experiment for a couple of hours, makes a few phone calls and checks emails.

___Toward the end of the day, Kevin files and organises the data gathered throughout the day. His day ends as soon as the clock strikes 5pm, but he will be back the next morning for a 9 o’clock start. Kevin works every day of the week, but he still maintains an active social life that pivots around his hobbies. He enjoys soccer, tennis, and surfing, and he even goes sky diving when he can. He is fond of immersing himself in books; he is currently reading Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code and Michael Moore’s Stupid White Men.

___While Kevin enjoys his line of study, he recognises that there are many stereotypes regarding Psychology. People tend to think that psychologists are psychic. Humorously, he adds that people often think that in order to study Psychology, “one has to be quite nutty”. Kevin thinks that people are too skeptical about Psychology and that “it is something that the general population are quite ignorant about”. In line with this notion, Kevin provides good advice for prospective Psychology students. He says that it is very important for individuals to research the field before studying it because of the misconceptions surrounding the discipline. Often, it is portrayed through television shows as a glamorous line of work, and students need to ensure that they do not enter this field of study based on false expectations of what is involved.

___Kevin enjoys being a student of Psychology. His daily tasks as a research assistant are quite varied, but it is all in a day’s work. The lessons Kevin learns make it all worthwhile, and the experience irreplaceable.

Psychology Intro | Psycholinguistics | Have No Fear | I Witness | Arachnophbia