This term, Form 6 Psychology students were given an egg to look after for a week which included choosing, decorating, and naming it at the Oakham Adoption Centre. The aim was to form an attachment to support their understanding of developmental psychology, a topic that they’re exploring at present.
Students were required to integrate their eggs into their daily life, including taking it with them to lunch, dinner, the gym and more importantly, keeping it safe from the dangers of the world around them. Students quickly displayed stranger anxiety, becoming cautious of those to handled their egg. This is a typical behaviour shown by mammals towards their offspring, including humans, dogs and cats that promotes survival. Unfortunately, there were several casualties along the way…
Unbeknown to students, the project would end with any surviving eggs being smashed by their student-parents. For some, this was a relief, for others separation anxiety presented and there was clear hesitation demonstrating that an attachment had formed.
Hannah gave some insight into her week:
“I named my egg, Gregg. I kept him alive for the whole week and took him to most lessons with me. I was a bit reluctant to break my egg because I had taken care of him and didn’t want to hurt him”
Seth shares his experience:
Seth “I was excited to look after my new child and become a parent to my egg. On adoption day, we had experienced several things together including meeting his new home at Clipsham, eating pizza together and completing prep together. Unfortunately, I dropped him, and he smashed. I was in denial about this and didn’t talk about it out of embarrassment. I enjoyed the project; I definitely became attached to it after a short space of time.”
To see more photos of the egg project and other activities in Psychology, follow us on @OakhamPsychology Instagram.
