Psychology Program
Program Overview
Despite advances in technology and research, the way people study has remained largely unchanged for the past century. Research has shown that most students rely on intuition rather than evidence-based advice when it comes to studying, and only a small percentage receive guidance based on solid evidence. However, recent developments in the field of Self-Regulated Learning are focused on identifying effective study habits and correcting common misconceptions to help students achieve their full potential.
Eureka Alumni from this program have received admission offers to some of the top National and Liberal Arts Colleges in the United States, such as Harvard University, Williams College, University of Chicago, and Cornell University, to name a few. Alumni from this program have continued to pursue majors in Psychology, Neurobiology, Biochemistry, Comparative Literature, and Economics.
The research experience and skills students receive at the Eureka Program have helped students get accepted to selective programs such as the Stanford Summer Humanities Institute. Students from this program are also very engaged in their communities, sharing in volunteering activities and starting non-profit organizations to help the community. One alumni spends his free time volunteering at an organization that provides food and materials for those in need, while another student volunteers her time teaching migrant children music.
Many alumni from this program have received top awards like Scholastic Art & Writing National Awards, U.S. Presidential Scholars Awards, and various awards in their communities.
The below sections will provide more insight into the students that have attended this program and share their experiences and successes.
Sample Research Topics
Refining Tasks to Improve Planning Feasibility: A Study on Procrastination and the Planning Fallacy
"Procrastination" is a problem that many people face in today's world of efficiency, and the psychological phenomenon of "planning fallacy" explains why people tend to be overly optimistic and fail to complete their plans on time. Student H*, who was admitted to the University of Chicago, conducted an experiment to test whether listing specific tasks in a plan could help people overcome the planning fallacy. He created a questionnaire and randomly assigned participants to two groups: one group made a rough plan for the day. In contrast, the other group listed specific tasks and evaluated how much they could actually accomplish. Student H found that the group that listed specific tasks had a higher estimate of how much they could achieve, and they completed the tasks faster than the group that did not. Student H later improved the experiment by giving more specific instructions, and the results showed that "refinement of tasks can better realize the feasibility of the plan." This research could be helpful in our daily lives and in enterprise management, as specifying the process and details of each task in a plan could increase its feasibility.
*To protect the privacy of students, some names have been hidden.
