Photo Credit: Lisa Otsuka

M-A's very own Psychology class

Did you know our school had a psychology course? Or more importantly, did you know this psychology class was messing with your head?

As most kids don’t know, psychology is a very small elective that’s split into two periods: one taking Psych with Lisa Otsuka for a semester, and the other taking Gender Studies with Christina Galliano at the same time. Otsuka’s psych class teaches a basic overview of various parts of psychology, most notably the ideas of conformity and listening to authority. Psychology students were given a project in these fields, make an experiment to test people’s willingness to either conform or listen to a supposed authority. Inspiration came from a series of candid camera tapes which showed similar experiments ranging from standing in the elevator backwards to not stepping on any black squares on a checkered floor.

Otsuka described the experiments as a moment “to step back and observe some aspect of social behavior”. She strongly believes that the experiments are very informative, not for their results, but for the experience of stepping out of social situations and observing, allowing students to formulate their own understanding. She was not looking for a detailed report on the experiment; she was looking for effort and innovation on the part of the student. She sees the experiments as “all simple little things [that] illustrate strong principles”.

In previous years, a wide range of experiments have been conducted, but the most memorable, Otsuka recounts, was the “how close is too close” experiment. Students would be talking to someone, either friend or acquaintance, and slowly inch their way toward the person watching to see how the person reacted, if they scooted away, or commented.

One of the more unique experiments this year was done by several students revolved around the psyche student Rosa. In a class with her baby’s father, the fake news that she had gone into labor was released. The teacher and a few students in the class all knew the news was fake, but the observed the other students of the class and analyzed their reactions. They hypothesized that the students closer to Rosa and her boyfriend would be more openly emotional in both comments and movements, offering more support and congratulations than those who did not know Rosa.

Other experiments ranged from sitting on a desk in a classroom rather than in the seat to see how many others would follow suit to putting a sign on a slide that it was out of order and seeing how many concerned parents would stop their kids from sliding down. All the experiments were innovative and unique, and Otsuka was extremely proud of the work her students had turned out.

“It really was just a fantastic experience,” says Nicole Barnes. “Best experiment in all of high school”.