Intel International Science and Engineering Fair winners

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held May 8-13, 2011, at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles, Calif. Over 1,500 students from 65 countries, regions and territories competed at the 62nd ISEF. To compete in Intel ISEF, students competed against fellow students at 443 regional Intel ISEF affiliated science fairs around the world. Each affiliated fair selected two individual projects and one team project to travel to the Intel ISEF to compete in 17 different categories: Animal Sciences, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Earth Science, Engineering: Electrical and Mechanical, Engineering: Materials and Bioengineering, Energy and Transportation, Environmental Management, Environmental Science, Mathematical Sciences, Medicine & Health, Microbiology, Physics and Astronomy, and Plant Sciences.

As a Special Awards Organization, APA grants seven awards to the best projects in the psychological sciences. During two days of intense judging, a panel of psychologists selected the top projects related to psychological science. The effort is funded and organized through the Education Directorate.

The following awards were given by APA for the best projects in the psychological sciences. All winners received an award certificate and a one-year student affiliate membership to APA.

First Place Award of $1,250 (tie):

• Adelina Corina Cozma, 15, Bayview Secondary School, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada. Growing Up “In Sync”: Connecting a Bridge to an Autistic Mind’s World.

• Liza Joely Strauss, 18, Mamaroneck High School, Mamaroneck, N.Y. A Study of the Cognitive Neuroscience of Arithmetic Combinatorial Processing Using Magnetoencephalography (MEG)

Third Place Award of $500:

• Olivia A. Dure, 16, The Altamont School, Birmingham, Ala. Brain Plasticity: The Effect of Age (A Two Year Study).

• Neel Sanjay Patel, 16, Oviedo High School, Oviedo, Fla.  An Analysis of Listener Perception and Visual Replication of Sonifications: A Third Year Study.

• Samantha Michelle Phillips, 18, William A. Shine Great Neck South High School, Great Neck, N.Y. Strategies Utilized by People with Autism and Neuro-Typical Individuals to Determine Emotion in Faces.

• Rachel Emily Reon, 17, The Governor’s School for Science and Technology, Hampton, Va. Behavioral Evidence for Cerebral Asymmetry in Green Anoles.

• Heitor Geraldo da Cruz Santos, 16, Colegio GGE, Recife, Pernambuco, Brasil.  Problematizing Pedagogy as a Nutritional Education Strategy: A Social Constructivist Approach.

APA was joined by other special awards organizations Psi Chi, The International Honor Society in Psychology, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Friends of NIDA, National Institutes of Health and the ITT College of Psychology in granting awards to projects focused on psychology and the behavioral social sciences. Additionally, Intel awarded 21 grand awards and one Best of Category award to those with Behavioral and Social Sciences projects.

Left to right: Rachel Emily Reon, Liza Joely Strauss, Olivia Dure, Neel Sanjay Patel,
Heitor Geraldo da Cruz Santos, Adelina Adrina Cozma, Samantha Michelle Phillips, Emily Leary

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held May 9-14, 2010, at the San Jose Convention Center in San Jose, California. Over 1,600 students from 59 countries, regions and territories competed at the 60th ISEF.

The following awards were given by APA for the best projects in the psychological sciences. All winners receive an award certificate and a one-year student affiliate membership to APA.

First Place Award of $1500:

• Adelina Corina Cozma, Bayview Secondary School, Richmond Hill, Ontario, Canada.  Slow It Down to Speed It Up: Breaking through the Window of Autism.

Second Place Award of $1000:

• Joseph Hunter Yagoda, William A. Shine Great Neck South High School, Great Neck, N.Y. Risky Business: What Cognitive Factors Influence Risk Taking in the Academic Setting?

Third Place Award of $500:

• Athman Ramana Adiseshan, Ramana Academy, San Jose, Calif. Ethology of Friendship among Adult Male Bonnet Macaques (Macaca radiata) at Arunachala Hill, India.

• Lindsey Brooke Saunders, Union County High School, Lake Butler, Fla. A Comparative Study of Comprehension Differences in Struggling Readers Using Phrase and Character Spaced Models, Year Three.

• Revanth Kosaraju, The Harker School, San Jose, Calif. The Predictability and Abstractness of Language: A Study in Understanding and Usage of the English Language through Probabilistic Modeling and Frequency.

• Diane Elizabeth Schulze, Cherry Creek High School, Greenwood Village, Colo. Error in MRI: Bias, Random Error, and the Power of Suggestion.

• Mariah Bruns, Saint Mary's Academy, Portland, Oregon; Annelise Cummings, Cleveland High School, Portland, Ore.; Alexander Eskil Harding, Cleveland High School, Portland, Ore. Ask PEAT: Determining if Online Music Videos are Safe for Teens with Photosensitive Epilepsy.

The Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) was held May 10-15, 2009, at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center in Reno, Nevada. Over 1,500 students from 49 countries competed at the 59th ISEF.

The following awards were given by APA for the best projects in the psychological sciences. All winners receive an award certificate and a one-year student affiliate membership to APA.

First Place Award of $1500:

• Trisha Paige Nussbaum, Roslyn High School, Roslyn Heights, N.Y. How Harry Potter Can Help You Get a Higher SAT Score: The Effects of Context and Familiarity on Vocabulary Retention in Adolescents.

Second Place Award of $1000:

• Nicole Traci Goldbaum, Plainview Old-Bethpage John F. Kennedy High School, Plainview, N.Y. The Impact of Grade-Level and Gender on High-School Students Self-Regulated Learning Strategies.

Third Place Award of $500:

• Elliot E.A. Prince, Wilsonville High School, Wilsonville, Ore. Efficacy of Peer-Delivered Sleep Hygiene Education on Sleep Hygiene Practices, Sleep Quality, and Mood in Evening-Type Adolescents.

• Jonathan Dean Loucks, Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy, Aurora, Ill. Socioeconomics and Public Education: An Examination of Factors and Policies that Narrow the Achievement Gap.

• Alessandra Fellin Rossi, The Academy of Science and Technology, The Woodlands, Texas. Give Us a Sign.

• Gina Mamdouh Gayed, Dar El Tarbiah American School, Cairo, Egypt. Secret Factors Affecting the Doctor-Patient Relationship in Egyptian Governmental Hospitals.

• Estefania Arand and Cristhian Emmanuel Fink, Escuela de Comercio No. 2 "Gral M.M. de Guemes," Concordia, Entre Rios, Argentina. Burnout Syndrome at School

The APA Education Directorate was pleased to recognize ten high school students for their outstanding research in the behavioral and social sciences during the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), held in Atlanta, Georgia. 

During two days of judging, a panel of volunteer judges from local universities selected the top seven finishers from 86 projects in the areas of Behavioral and Social Sciences. 

First Place Award of $1,500:

• The Effect of Visually Enhanced Medicine Labels on Recall Ability
  Reed Hurdle Falkner, 18, Oxford High School, Oxford, Miss.
  Taylor Michael McGraw, 18, Oxford High School, Oxford, Miss.
  Bradley Douglas Shields, 18, Oxford High School, Oxford, Miss.

Second Place Award of $1,000:

• A Study of Varying Harmonic Spectrum Exposure on Students' Concentration
  during Spatial Reasoning Examination as Assessed via Fourier Analyses
  Vivian Alice Lee, 17, Vista Ridge High School, Cedar Park, Texas

Third Place Award of $500:

• What's In and What's Out: High Schoolers' Perceptions of Coolness
  Shelby Marie Raye, 15, Manatee High School, Bradenton, Fla.

• The Ability to Learn: Learning and Communication between Comet Goldfish
  Kaleigh Anne Eichel, 17, Strongsville Sr High School, Strongsville, Ohio

• The Devolution of Cooperation: An Examination of Excessive Noise in the Iterated Prisoner's Dilemma
  Thomas McLean Burr, 16, South Fork High School, Stuart, Fla.

• It's A Guy Thing: How Fathers Affect Daughters' Dating Habits
  Emily Rose Summerbell, 16, Collins Hill High School, Suwanee, Ga.

• A Discussion About Equality: A Gender Study in the Classroom
  Mary Alysandra Patzel, 18, West Salem High School, Salem, Ore.
  Jessica Rae Cummins, 17, West Salem High School, Salem, Ore.