Honors Program
Eligibility | Mentors | Courses | Directors | Project | Commitment
The Honors Program offers exceptional students the opportunity to gain intensive experience conducting scientific research with a faculty mentor. Not only is participation challenging and intellectually engaging, it offers training that is of considerable value in preparation for graduate school and/or a broad variety of career trajectories. Students typically apply to the Honors Program at the end of their sophomore year (although late applications are sometimes considered under extenuating circumstances).
In addition to working extensively in a research laboratory throughout their junior and senior years, students also participate in the Honors Seminar for at least three semesters. The program culminates in the completion of a written honors thesis, an oral defense thereof, and a poster presentation of the project as part of Psychology Day. Students who successfully complete the Honors Program and maintain an overall GPA of at least 3.3 will graduate with the special designation of either “honors” or “high honors” in their related major.
Eligibility
Students majoring in psychology who have a 3.3 GPA both overall and in their psychology-related major are eligible to apply to the program at the end of their sophomore year. Prior to applying, students must first find a faculty mentor who agrees to supervise their honors research. Ideally, an applicant will have discussed with the faculty mentor a general research and supervisorial plan. Students should complete the online application by the last day of spring classes in their sophomore year.
After the faculty mentor endorses this submission, the co-directors of the Honors Program will review applications and contact students shortly thereafter with their determination. Please note that in some circumstances students who meet the minimum GPA requirements may not be accepted if the student’s transcript or application otherwise raises concerns about his/her ability to complete an honors project.
Faculty Mentors
The faculty mentor is primarily responsible for supervising the student’s progress through the Honors Program. This entails:
- Helping students prepare their applications.
- Exposing students to the full range of activities and skills associated with conducting research.
- Guiding students in appropriately applying these skills to the successful execution of their own honors project from idea generation, to data collection and analysis, through completion of the written thesis.
For training and didactic purposes, mentors will typically ask students to perform a variety of research-related tasks, some of which might not have direct bearing on their specific honors project. These activities can range from the mundane (e.g., photocopying, scheduling subjects, data entry), to the more intellectually engaging and challenging (e.g., data collection, data analysis, or the performance of highly technical laboratory procedures). Mentors strive to make students’ research experiences as educational as possible, and to ensure that student contributions to general lab activities do not interfere with their ability to complete their honors project in the required time frame. Students may also have the opportunity to work with graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and lab staff, but the faculty mentor remains the core mentor throughout the process. The mentor will directly monitor the student’s progress and will meet with the student on a regular basis (individually and/or in group research meetings) to discuss issues related to the project as they arise.
Students can work with a faculty mentor from the A&S Department of Psychology or from Peabody College’s Department of Psychology and Human Development. Under some circumstances, faculty conducting psychological research in other departments may also serve as mentors. These arrangements must be approved by a Director of the Honors Program before the student submits their application.
Course Requirements
Although it is recommended that students register for all four semesters of the Honors Seminar, some students may be able to complete the Honors Program in three semesters. This three-semester option accommodates students with plans to study abroad or who have other academic requirements that conflict with the program. All students are required to register for the Honors Seminar in the spring term of their senior year. However, the other two semesters of the seminar may be taken during any two of the three remaining terms of the junior and senior year. Students who wish to choose the three-semester option must obtain permission from their faculty mentor before they apply to the Honors Program. In some cases, students will need to work with their faculty mentor over the summer of their junior year to make the necessary progress on the honors project.
In the fall of their junior year, students should enroll in PSY 3980 (A&S) or PSY-PC 3980 (Peabody). If a student is completing eligible majors in both A&S and Peabody, they should register in accordance with the college from which they wish to receive the honors designation. During this term, students will focus on information literacy, particularly literature searches and review. By the end of the semester, students will write a brief summary of the research problem they wish to address with their honors project.
In the spring semester of their junior year, students should enroll in PSY (or PSY-PC) 3981. During this term, the focus is on preparing a proposal that outlines in detail the research that the student will undertake. Although supported by activities in the Honors Seminar, this research plan will derive primarily from regular collaboration between the student and the faculty mentor. The research plan must be completed by the start of the student’s senior year, and approved by both the faculty mentor and a director of the Honors Program, in order for a student to advance further in the program.
In the fall of their senior year, continuing students should register for PSY (or PSY-PC) 4998. During this term, students will engage in career development activities, learn how to manage their data, and work on revising their proposals into the introduction and methods section of their thesis.
In the spring of their senior year, students should register for PSY (or PSY-PC) 4999. During this final semester, students will focus on research communication in a variety of forms, including data tables and figures, posters, oral presentations, and the written thesis itself, which is due in the middle of March. Students will defend their thesis in front of a committee of three people: their faculty adviser, another member of the psychology faculty, and a graduate student who is knowledgeable about the area of research. Students will have opportunities in the Honors Seminar to practice their presentation and defense in front of their peers. In April, students present their research project in the form of a poster at Psychology Day, which also serves as a celebration of their accomplishments in the Honors Program.
The Directors of the Honors Program and the student’s faculty mentor will jointly determine student grades each semester based on both laboratory- and classroom-based activities.
Directors
The Honors Program is jointly administered by directors from each of the respective colleges.
College of Arts and Science
Adriane Seiffert
Principal Senior Lecturer of Psychology
534 Wilson Hall
Peabody College of Education and Human Development
Amy E. Booth
Professor of Psychology and Human Development
215A Hobbs Hall
Regardless of whether their major is in A&S or Peabody, honors students spend their junior year under the direction of Adriane Seiffert and their senior year under the direction of Amy Booth. Students may contact either faculty member with questions about the program.
All juniors meet together and all seniors meet together, regardless of major.
The Honors Project
In most cases, the honors project will be derived in some way from the faculty mentor’s ongoing research program. For example, the project might be a distinct facet of a much larger research project, or it might be a new experiment that follows directly from some earlier findings that have emerged from the mentor’s research laboratory. However, as much as possible, the student will be encouraged to take intellectual ownership of his or her honors project.
At minimum, the student must have a clear and deep understanding of what the research project involves and why; that is, the nature and significance of the research questions being asked, how the study’s methods and data map onto these questions, how the data analyses address these questions, the implications of the observed results, and so on. To the extent feasible, the student should make substantive contributions to the design, conceptualization, analysis, and/or interpretation of the aspects of the study comprising their project.
Except in very rare instances, the student should not expect to engage in research activities entirely of their design that have little or no direct connection to the mentor’s research program. Importantly, the student and faculty mentor should work together to ensure that the honors project is feasible and can be successfully completed within the constraints of the students’ planned participation in the program. That said, because research is, by definition, an exploration into the unknown, surprises often arise that slow progress or even force a radical change in research plans. Students should not be overly concerned if this should happen. However, any changes to the originally proposed research project must be discussed by the student and mentor and agreed upon.
Commitment
For students and mentors alike, participation in the Honors Program requires a substantial commitment of time and effort. Students should expect to spend an average of 10-15 hours per week on their Honors-related work, including attending the Honors Seminar, conducting laboratory and/or field work, and reading, writing, and preparing the presentation. Some faculty mentors require an additional commitment of time to laboratory work. This should be discussed explicitly with your mentor before you commit to the program, along with plans for how any extra time will be accounted for (e.g., additional directed study credits, pay). Potential participants should carefully consider whether they are able to, and want to, devote the required time and energy to this program.
Upon admission, the student is not committed to participate for the full program. If the student decides after one or more semesters that the Honors Program is not consistent with their academic goals, they have the option of withdrawing without penalty. In that case, full course credit for the hours taken in the Honors Seminar is given as elective credit for the major.