Six students from Morningside College presented at the 27th Annual Great Plains Student Psychology Convention held March 16-17 at Friends University in Wichita, Kan.

Two students received a first-place award and two students received second-place awards for presentations. First and second-place awards were given for the best paper and poster project in each session.

The convention provided a forum for undergraduate and graduate psychology students to exchange ideas, discuss relevant topics, and gain experience in presenting papers. The students could submit empirically based or non-empirically based research, literature reviews, or theoretical papers, in oral or poster presentation formats. Students were required to submit an abstract of their work for acceptance into the convention.

First-place award recipients, hometowns, and titles of presentations included:
Jenny Armstrong, Coin, Iowa, and Sabrina Higgins, Des Moines, Iowa, “Perceptions of Foster and Adopted Children,” poster presentation.

Second place award recipients, hometowns, and titles of presentations included:
Jennifer Ball, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa, “The Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Students’ Ability to Perform Complex Tasks,” poster presentation.
A. Joelle Stout, Sioux City, “The Influence of Video Game Playing on Gender Roles and Hypermasculinity,” poster presentation.

Other students who participated, hometowns, and titles of presentations included:
Amanda Fangmeier, Hebron, Neb., “An Examination of Bullying in Adolescence in Two Midwestern Schools,” poster presentation.
Brandilynn Shipler, Algona, Iowa, “Drug Use Devastation: An Examination of the Influence of Drug Use on Hopelessness and Relationship Experiences,” poster presentation.

Other students who attended the conference include Jacob Jorgensen, Forest City, Iowa; James Schmidt, Fremont, Neb.; and Kayo Nakaguchi, Osaka, Japan.

Dr. John Pinto, professor of psychology at Morningside, was the faculty sponsor for the students.