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The most essential skill for a lecturer? Juggling

This is the time of year when, as a lecturer, your non-academic friends say things like “it must be nice to have 4 months off,” or “I guess you don’t have much to do until September now.” This perception is understandable, but also couldn’t be further from the truth. Understandable because it stems from the …

Only an Illusory Comfort?

Other animals do not have it as easy as we do. To communicate a message (whether or not animals truly communicate is debatable, but that deviates from the objective of this post), they can only use their bodies and vocal cords, and they are completely reliant on other members of their species being able to …

Do Not Mess With Psychology Students…

I can say hand on heart, the best part of my job is interacting with students.  I was marking an exam answer recently and had to share it with a colleague simply because the answer was brilliant.  And this is coming from someone who is a harsh marker.  I always have to remind myself that …

Life of an Intern – Investigating Orangutan’s Eye Movements

The exam period of May 2012 proved to be a period of a lot of stress for me. Part of it came from all the reading and studying I had to do for the upcoming exams – something I think nobody in their right mind genuinely enjoys. Another part of the stress came from thinking …

Life of an Intern – Autism Centre

I worked in the Hua Ming Autism Centre located at Old Klang Road for a month during the summer break, after coming back from the United Kingdom. I would have loved to work longer, but the autism centre had an excess of interns working over the period of June to August. Even though the period …

Life of an Intern – Research in Neuroscience

I had the privilege of conducting my summer internship abroad at the UK campus with Dr Roger Newport. The 10 weeks spent on English soil was by far the most thrilling and enlightening adventure I have ever embarked on. The amazing landscape, the historical structures, the friendly people and the cold summer was an absolutely …

Life of an Intern – Organisational Psychology

Over the summer, I had the chance to work in the field of organisational psychology, when I applied for an internship in MSIG Insurance (Malaysia) Berhad. I worked on the 23rd floor of Menara Weld in Jalan Raja Chulan. During my three months there, I worked as an assistant at the KL Agency Department. This …

Life of an Intern – Research in Animal Behaviour (Part 2)

Summer break is a good time for undergraduate students as they can be enrolled into various programs, part-time jobs and internships. For me, I applied for an internship in Cerca Insights, a Contract Research Organization (CRO) which specialized in behavioral pharmacology. This company collaborates with customers from all around the world. Their vision is to …

Life of an Intern – Research in Animal Behaviour (Part 1)

Working in Cerca Insights, Penang gave me a brand new experience in the field of psychology. Before this, what was taught in class about animal behaviour and psychopharmacology could only be read in textbooks and articles, but here in Cerca Insights, I was exposed to the devices and methods used in these areas of research. …

Oh-So-Fun Prism Goggles Experiment

Ever wondered what it would be like to have your vision shifted horizontally – say by 30° to 40°?   Well if you have, you could have experienced this by participating in our experiment! Under the watchful eye of Dr. Kirsten McKenzie, a bunch of us – Psychology and Cognitive Neuroscience students – conducted experiments …