Winners of the TOPSS Essay Competition

The APA TOPSS Committee congratulates the student winners of the 2011 APA TOPSS Poster Competition for High School Students. 

• Corie Schwabenland of Central West High School (Fresno, Calif.)

• Zackery Perkins of Oscar F. Smith High School (Chesapeake, Va.)

• Andrew Branstetter of Solon High School (Solon, Ohio)

• Laura Wetzel of Stevens Point Area High School (Stevens Point, Wis)

Each received $250 scholarships for their winning posters and written components.

The 2011 poster question asked students to focus on the theme “Psychology is a Science.” Students were asked to select one or more theme(s) or topic(s) within psychology that demonstrate(s) that psychology is a science. Students were asked to design an original visual poster that included the phrase “Psychology is a Science.” The poster needed to illustrate at least one psychological concept, theory, or research discovery, or an application of psychology in the community. In addition, students had to submit a written component explaining the concepts presented in the poster and stating how the poster illustrates that psychology is a science. Students were also asked to explain how they developed the idea for their posters, and to discuss how the poster topic or theme was researched, citing all the sources used.

The APA TOPSS Committee congratulates the student winners of the 2010 APA TOPSS Essay Competition:

• Sabina Babar of Colonia High School (Colonia, N.J.)

• Rachael J. Erickson of Sutton Memorial High School (Sutton, Mass.)

• Allison Gutworth of Colonia High School (Colonia, N.J.) 

• Alexis Suskey of Grandville High School (Wyoming, Mich.)

Each received $250 scholarships for their winning essays.

The 2010 essay question asked students to focus on the effects human behavior has had on the current environmental crisis. Students were asked to create and describe a community service project that could be carried out in their local communities to encourage environmentally-friendly behavior, explaining how human behavior affects a specific environmental issue. Students had to use three principles of learning theory from a choice of five: reinforcement, schedules of reinforcement, shaping, observational learning and generalization-to encourage this behavior change in their communities.  Finally, students were asked to use research findings on these principles to support their plans.

  Sabina Babar

  Rachael J. Erickson

  Allison Gutworth

  Alexis Suskey

The APA TOPSS Committee congratulates the student winners of the 2009 APA TOPSS Essay Competition.

• Arzina Alam of Avenel, N.J.

• Sharon Hecker of Sparta, Mich. 

• Meghan Christine Zeitter of Grand Rapids, Mich.

Each received $500 scholarships for their winning essays. Sara Berlin of Miami, Fla., received an honorable mention award for her essay.

The 2009 essay question asked students to focus on techniques advertisers use to encourage consumers to purchase their products. Students were asked to create an advertising campaign on behalf of a fictitious company that sells new athlete shoes, explaining how principles of compliance and techniques of persuasion were used. Students also had to discuss at least two potential ethical issues in using compliance in advertising, and develop a conclusion on the value of using psychological principles and techniques in adversing in general. Finally, students were asked to make a recommendation for prospective consumers that would aid them in making good decisions about future purchases.

Information about the 2010 TOPSS Essay Competition was included in the Fall 2009 PTN  (PDF, 472KB).

The APA Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) is pleased to announce the winners of 2008 TOPSS Scholars Competition. 

• Mira Vale from Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School (Sudbury, Mass.)

• Rebecca Joy from Arlington Catholic High School (Arlington, Mass.) 

• Rohit Mehta from Colonia High School (Colonia, N.J.)

This year’s competition generated a record number of entries. A panel of college and university level psychology faculty selected these three students based on their ability to complete a critical analysis and synthesis of empirical research. The essay question posed for this year's competition focused on the portrayal of psychological disorders in movies. The students were asked to choose a psychological disorder and use the DSM-IV-TR to summarize the salient characteristics of the disorder. The psychological disorders were based on three movies, As Good As It Gets (1997) — Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, A Beautiful Mind (2001) — Schizophrenia, and The Mosquito Coast (1986) —Bipolar Disorder.