Psychology Honors Thesis Program

What is the Psychology Honors Thesis Program?

The Psychology Honors program in Psychology is a two-semester sequence offering advanced and highly motivated students additional academic challenges and an opportunity to engage in scholarly research under close faculty mentorship. student work with a faculty mentor to prepare and write a senior thesis.

The Honors Thesis is an empirical research project, planned and conducted with the student's faculty mentor, commonly in the lab's area of research. Because Psychology as a discipline is based on data collection and analysis, the honors thesis is expected to include data (either from an existing data set or collected by the student) and statistical analyses.

What courses do I take?

All Psychology Honors students must complete a two-semester registration sequence: typically, this will be PSYC 495 (3 credit hours of work on the Thesis proposal) and PSYC 496-WR CUE (3 credit hours of work writing the Thesis). Under special circumstances and with the agreement of the mentor, the Undergraduate Coordinator and the department Chair, students may substitute a PSYC 491 (3 credit hours minimum) experience for the PSYCH 495 registration (see Research Opportunities for information about PSYC 491.) In this case, the student's two-semester sequence will be PSYC 491 followed by PSYC 496 WR CUE. This may require uncredited extra work for the student who will be preparing the thesis proposal without the coverage of registration hours for that work, as PSYC 491 covers research assistantship work in the faculty lab, rather than preparation of the Thesis proposal. Note that following the 491-496 sequence will also mean that the student's transcript will show only one semester of "Honors Research," as PSYC 491 is not an Honors class.

Why do a Psychology Honors Thesis?

The Psychology Honors Program is intended to provide outstanding students majoring in Psychology with opportunities to become involved in original research and scholarship, in close collaboration with a faculty mentor. This experience gives students an opportunity to integrate what they have learned by designing their own projects. The Psychology Honors Program contributes to the development of skills that will be useful in a broad range of later endeavors and is an advantage for entrance into graduate and professional schools. While it is not often formally required for admission, very few doctoral programs in Psychology admit students who have not completed an honors thesis or other significant research project. Above all, the Psychology Honors Program gives qualified and motivated students an intensive exposure to scholarly work.

Students who complete a Psychology Honors Thesis will you will have earn the notation With Distinction on both their diploma and their transcript.

Requirements for admission into the Psychology Honors Thesis Program

• Formal acceptance as a Psychology major
• At least 18 credit hours in psychology (students may apply while completing the final hours toward this total; they must be registered for the hours that will complete this total at the time of application and admission will be conditional on the completion of 18 hours with the required GPA)
• Have a GPA in Psychology classes of 3.4 or higher
• Have an overall University of Louisville GPA of 3.0 or higher
• Have made arrangements with a faculty research mentor to serve as the Thesis mentor. The mentor must have a doctoral degree and be affiliated with the Psychology department.
  The student is responsible for finding a mentor; making these arrangements is considered to be an important part of the Psychology Honors Thesis Program. The Undergraduate Coordinator can offer guidance and support, but a student who cannot make arrangements for a thesis mentor will not be able to participate in the program. Finding a mentor may require several contacts with a number of labs over a period of weeks or more; this is a selective process and not all students can be guaranteed to find mentors.

How does an A&S Honors Thesis fit in with the Psychology Honors Thesis?

There are two honors programs available to qualified psychology majors: the A&S Honors thesis Program and the Psychology Honors Thesis Program. Please note that these programs are different and have slightly different criteria for acceptance.

Students who complete an A&S Honors Thesis can concurrently complete a Psychology Honors Thesis with the same thesis project. The key difference between completing A&S Honors or Psychology Honors only is that the deadlines are earlier for A&S Honors and that A&S Honors will assign one of the student’s thesis committee members.

Questions about the A&S Honors thesis program should be directed to AS_SRTH@louisville.edu

Timeline for the Psychology Honors Thesis

This is the standard timeline; some variability may be possible. Students who cannot complete this standard sequence may need to meet with the Undergraduate Coordinator to determine whether their circumstances will permit completion of the Honors Thesis. It is highly desirable, and required by some faculty mentors, that a student intending to complete the Psychology Honors Thesis Program will have completed both PSYC 301 and 302 by the end of the junior year and before beginning the Honors sequence. Normally, these classes are completed by the end of the sophomore year by Psychology majors. Students coming late in their academic plan to the Psychology major may find it impossible to complete the Psychology Honors Thesis Program without taking additional semesters to do so.

By junior year first semester: Send emails to potential mentors, schedule and complete interviews, formalize arrangements for PSYC 491 in the spring.

Junior year second semester: Work in faculty research lab for PSYC 491 credit, discuss with lab mentor the possibility of completing Honors thesis in the lab, formalize arrangements for mentorship, apply for Honors Program. At this point, some students will choose to apply for the Honors Program; others may choose instead to work for another semester (or two) in the research lab without participating in Honors.

Prior to beginning thesis: Submit an application for acceptance into the honors program at this link.

Senior year first semester (first semester of Honors Thesis Program): Register for PSYC 495, complete the thesis proposal and submit it for approval to mentor and department by deadline (note that the A&S Honors Thesis proposal deadline is in September for the fall semester and February for the spring semester; this often requires completing most of the work on the proposal prior to the start of 495.)

Senior year second semester (second semester of Honors Program): Register for PSYC 496 WR CUE, write the thesis and obtain approval of the mentor and department by deadline (note that the A&S Honors Thesis deadline is in early March for the spring semester and early October for the fall semester; this may require completing some of the written thesis during the 495 semester), schedule and pass the oral defense of the thesis.

Apply for the Psychology Honors Thesis Program

Complete the application at this link and look out for an e-mail response within a few days. This application must be completed before students can enroll in PSYC 495.

For questions not addressed above, contact: