Psychology in Suriname

Paramaribo, the capital city of Suriname, has hosted an international psychology conference this week. It has been focused on Caribbean issues, but to some extent this also includes Latin American issues. Although interestingly, Suriname is one of the few places that is in South America, but not Latin America, being mainly Dutch speaking. Although most delegates were from Suriname or Caribbean islands, there were a few international visitors from Europe, the USA, Asia, and me from Ecuador. In fact this was the first presentation credited to the newly formed Quito Brain and Behavior Lab.

The Caribbean Psychology Conference, opening ceremony being blessed by an Amerindian shaman.

I was presenting some of my work on neuropsychological function of 'street children', this is an issue relevant to several Caribbean nations. I've presented my data on PTSD previously (and also it's just been published), but this was the first presentation of the neuropsychological data. It was generally well received with a packed room of 40 delegates to hear my presentation. Although mine was one of only two or three neuropsychological presentations, indeed it was of only a handful that included data, the majority being mainly rhetoric driven. Nevertheless, I met some people doing interesting work and making such connections is the most important aspect of academic conferencing.