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Year 13 Psychology pupils spend the day with Butcombe children

For two days before Christmas, Year 1 and Year 3 classes were invaded by a number of students from the Psychology Department in the Upper School. For their A level exams, the Year 13 students were investigating a number of different aspects of children's development. The Year 1 and Year 3 pupils in Butcombe were the perfect guinea pigs for a series of fun tests and experiments!

The children listened to stories, solved puzzles, answered questions, poured water into beakers, copied sequences of actions and even had to catch a ball standing on one leg! One task involved placing a toy robber out of sight of several toy policeman – all of the children were very good at this! Another task required the children to pretend they were farmers and move a chicken, cat and horse around a farmyard. Lots of interesting findings emerged: One finding was that 7 to 8 year-olds prefer to choose a same-sex playmate for most play activities. Girls said that they would invite a girl to their house for tea or to play after school, whilst boys chose a boy. However, when they were asked who they would like to ask for help with their schoolwork, both boys and girls said that they would ask a girl for help. The Year 13 students also found that – without exception – the Butcombe children were more advanced in their moral reasoning than most theories of moral development would predict. Both boys and girls tended to give altruistic answers to a hypothetical dilemma even if it would mean they would be told off. For example, Butcombe children would always help a child who was hurt even if they knew they would be told off for being late to school.

The children who took part were enthusiastic and helpful and the projects gave the A level students a real insight into doing research with 5 to 8 year-olds. All of the Upper School students learnt a lot from the younger children and had a great time!

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