{"id":289,"date":"2016-11-14T08:05:50","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T08:05:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/?p=289"},"modified":"2020-05-28T14:00:54","modified_gmt":"2020-05-28T14:00:54","slug":"jra-memories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2016\/11\/14\/jra-memories\/","title":{"rendered":"JRA Memories"},"content":{"rendered":"

By George Britton<\/p>\n

Once I found out that I got the JRA award, I found myself explaining what the scheme is, and what I was going to do, to countless people.\u00a0 The reality of the project is only sinking in as I carry it out. In the process I have met lots of researchers, attended lab meetings and carried out fieldwork in an exotic location (Eastbourne). I also got to attend a social group for LGBT residents of Brighton and Hove over 50, called Older and Out. They were friendly, interesting and they even gave me lunch. Not every project combines this direct involvement with the community and lab-based psychology, so I feel very lucky.<\/p>\n

My main tasks in the eight-week period were to gather pictures of objects and to show them to people aged 60 to 80 who don\u2019t have any severe memory problems. For every object they recognise, the participants will tell me any memories they have of it. The memory could be nothing more than a name (\u201cthat\u2019s a\u00a0 kettle\u201d) or they could have a different quality- the memory of the specific kettle that was in your <\/em>house. This kind of memory can have all sorts of details, including where it was kept or used and who used it. The objects are common household items from the 50s and 60s which people in our target age range are likely to remember, mostly photographed at the excellent How We Lived Then museum in Eastbourne. For example, a teasmade (have you heard of it?) would have been present in almost every house in the UK at one point, but they\u2019ve been out of fashion for a long time. When presented with this kind of object, there\u2019s a chance that memories which hadn\u2019t been recalled for decades could come back. I\u2019ve found that almost everyone I talk to has something interesting to say about the project, or some useful object to suggest that I hadn\u2019t thought of. People love to reminisce about their favourite things anyway, making the theme and purpose of the project quite easy to engage people with. So the JRA is a good for conversation and<\/em> applying for post-grad courses.<\/p>\n

\"dscf5238\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\"dscf5201\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m around halfway now, and I have gathered my pictures and set up to start interviewing. At every stage I find seemingly small tasks are more complex and time-consuming than I estimate, but knowing that I\u2019m doing something both beyond and for my own education has the strange effect of making it enjoyable anyway. Applying for ethical approval and recruiting participants are good examples of what I\u2019m talking about. I can\u2019t imagine many people would Photoshop over 100 images onto a neutral background just for the fun of it! I think the skills and organisation needed to deal with these tasks are best learned from getting involved, which is partly why I applied for a JRA in the first place. It\u2019s going to make my third-year project smoother and more enjoyable, because I won\u2019t be confronted with all the admin and practical issues for the first time.<\/p>\n

Hopefully, my project will actually contribute to a further research program that investigates the role of various brain structures in the recollection of memories in people who are suffering from Alzheimer\u2019s-related dementia. Pleasant reminiscence for people whose memories are intact, can become a surprise relief from the confusion of dementia in those with Alzheimer\u2019s Disease. This is a cool aspect of my JRA; not only does it concern the treatment of a society-wide and worsening medical problem (maybe helping to improve quality of life for sufferers in the process) but it could contribute, even in a small way, to our understanding of human memory.<\/p>\n

George was a Junior Research Associate\u00a0in\u00a0The Episodic Memory Group<\/a>\u00a0led by Dr Chris Bird<\/a>\u00a0during the summer.<\/em><\/p>\n

You can read other stories about the JRA scheme here:\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

My summer as a Junior Research Associate<\/a> by Alex Earl<\/em><\/p>\n

Dan Goodwin: Junior Research Associate<\/a> by Dan Goodwin<\/em><\/p>\n

Experience with the JRA scheme<\/a> by Ruihan Wu<\/em><\/p>\n

Clara Wilson’s JRA experience<\/a> by Clara Wilson<\/em><\/p>\n

Find out more about our research on Cognitive Psychology<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By George Britton Once I found out that I got the JRA award, I found myself explaining what the scheme is, and what I was going to do, to countless people.\u00a0 The reality of the project is only sinking in…<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more ›<\/a><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":156,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[97947,97956,24,97762,97948,97946],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pafdEV-4F","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":598,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2018\/10\/29\/my-jra-experience-at-the-edge-lab\/","url_meta":{"origin":289,"position":0},"title":"My JRA experience at the EDGE Lab","date":"October 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Alexandra Schmidt Over the summer I had the pleasure to be part of the Junior Research Associate scheme and conduct my first own piece of research in the EDGE lab. I got interested in the scheme when I visited the poster exhibition of the previous year\u2019s JRA students and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2018\/10\/Screen-Shot-2018-10-26-at-17.05.15-723x1024.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":97,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2015\/11\/09\/experience-with-the-jra-scheme\/","url_meta":{"origin":289,"position":1},"title":"Experience with the JRA scheme","date":"November 9, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Ruihan Wu In the spring term of the second year of my undergraduate degree, I applied to the Junior Research Associate (JRA) scheme, with Nicola Yuill of the Children and Technology Lab (insert link) as my supervisor. This scheme, funded by the doctoral school in the University with support\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Child development\"","img":{"alt_text":"Figure 2. 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The JRA enabled me to approach Professor Anna Franklin, leader and coordinator of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Undergraduate research"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2017\/08\/fig-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":611,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2018\/11\/12\/exploring-kindness-as-a-jra\/","url_meta":{"origin":289,"position":3},"title":"Exploring Kindness as a JRA","date":"November 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Alessia Goglio Being a Psychology undergraduate here at Sussex enabled me to explore different domains of interest in this fascinating subject and to develop my passion for \u201cPositive Psychology\u201d, the field that studies what is good in life. \u00a0Among the topic explored in this field, there is kindness: a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2018\/11\/Picture1.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":641,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2018\/12\/10\/junior-research-associate-in-the-chatlab\/","url_meta":{"origin":289,"position":4},"title":"Junior Research Associate in the ChatLab","date":"December 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Madeleine Weaver This summer I took part in the Junior Research Associates (JRA) scheme in the Children and Technology Lab (Chatlab)\u00a0http:\/\/www.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/chatlab\/ with Professor Nicola Yuill.\u00a0The JRA scheme is an 8 week programme designed for students who are considering post graduate study. Amongst other things, the Chatlab looks into how\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Research"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2018\/12\/Doq-udNX4AIcAdF.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":61,"url":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/2015\/10\/05\/my-summer-as-a-junior-research-assistant\/","url_meta":{"origin":289,"position":5},"title":"My summer as a Junior Research Assistant","date":"October 5, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Alex Earl I\u2019ve had the great pleasure over the summer to work as Junior Research Associate with Dr Bonamy Oliver in the Nurture Lab that she codirects with Dr Alison Pike. I was supported throughout by my PhD mentor, Rachel Latham. I\u2019m broadly interested in pre-school children, specifically why\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Award\"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/files\/2015\/10\/Alex-Earl-225x300.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/156"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=289"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":986,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/289\/revisions\/986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sussex.ac.uk\/psychology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}