Honors Program
Description
Students in the Psychology Honors Program will have the opportunity to make their
first contribution to the science of psychology and at the same time gain valuable
research, thinking, and writing skills. Honors students can expect responsibilities,
work, challenges, and freedom far beyond what is ordinarily granted psychology majors
in their senior year. Successful completion of the program will hinge upon a student
being capable of both absorbing the additional workload and producing a thesis with
minimal individual guidance. The rewards upon successful completion of the program
include:
1) A student will receive training in designing, conducting, and analyzing research,
all experiences beyond those normally given to psychology majors.
2) Assuming the student is in good standing at the time of application to graduate
or professional school, a letter from the Honors Program Director outlining the
Program's requirements and special characteristics will be sent to each graduate
program to which he/she applies. These sorts of letters are often critical in the
decision about acceptance into a graduate program.
3) The student's transcript and diploma will, upon successful completion of the
Honors Program requirements, state that the student graduated with Honors in Psychology.
4) The student's Honors thesis will be kept in the Psychology Department for posterity.
5) The student will be eligible to wear an Honors sash with a "departmental
honors" emblem at graduation.
Requirements for completion of the Honors Program in Psychology include:
1) Willingness and ability to be available on the Tampa campus during the day both
semesters in order to attend class, meet with an advisor, and prepare and conduct
a study. Honors students should expect to devote between 12 and 18 hours a week
to their projects each semester.
2) Completion of the major requirements in Psychology with a GPA of 3.5 or better.
3) Completion of 6 hours of PSY 4932 (Honors Seminar), 3 each semester.
4) Completion of 6 hours of PSY 4970 (Honors Thesis), 3 hours each semester. With
the permission of the director of the Honors Program, a student may register for
only 1 hour second semester if he/she has already received at least 3 hours of Directed
Study (PSY 4913) credit previously.
The last two requirements involve the preparation and completion of a thesis.
Tentative Program Structure
During the first semester of the program the student will participate in the Honors
Seminar and also register for Honors Thesis. During this time the student will be
required to complete and successfully defend his/her thesis proposal. Failure to
meet this requirement will necessitate dropping the student from the program.
In the first semester, the Honors Seminar often has five main components. The first
component involves the development of skills necessary to design a study and produce
a proposal. Included are practice critically analyzing research and discussions
of what the proposal should contain, lessons in word processing (if necessary),
techniques for doing a literature review, review of APA style, a presentation on
available library resources (e.g., virtual library, WebLUIS, PsycInfo, Social Science
Citation Index, ), and discussions of the ethics of research. A second component
consists of developing topics for the Honors thesis. Students will summarize articles
that they have read and the group will discuss how the available literature might
motivate a study. In the third component of the seminar, students will learn how
to prepare graduate school application materials (e.g., personal statement, resume).
In the fourth component, students finalize their proposals and present them orally
to each other. In this component, they also learn to prepare a proposal for submission
to the Institutional Review Board. Finally, presentations will be made by USF faculty
on their research, including a discussion of where their work fits within the discipline
of psychology and the particular problems and methods associated with designing
and conducting research in their area. The purpose of these presentations is to
provide exposure to a broad range of research areas within psychology as described
by active researchers.
The Honors Thesis aspect of the first semester involves the student working with
his/her advisor in both the preparation of the thesis proposal and in learning the
research techniques necessary to carry out the work. The proposal will consist of
a literature review, a proposed method and set of analyses, references, and an appendix
with instruments (if applicable).
During the second semester, the Honors Seminar usually has two main components.
The first involves the development of skills necessary for conducting and analyzing
research. Students discuss issues and concerns as they learn to conduct their studies,
set up a computer data- base, and use a computerized statistical package to analyze
their data, among other things. Second, students will complete the writing of their
thesis and present their projects for critiques and discussion. Again this semester,
students take Honors Thesis hours. During this semester students collect data, write
up, and defend their theses publicly in front of a committee. Many also prepare
presentations for regional or national conferences in collaboration with their advisors.
The thesis must be an empirical study. However, it need not be an experimental study
and need not involve data collection. Because of the wide range of methods used
by psychologists, students have the option of using any of these methods. Thus,
it would be appropriate for a student to conduct, for example, a needs assessment
or evaluation, a secondary analysis of data already collected, or an experimental
study.
Credit Hours and Graduation Requirements
Participation in the Honors Program does not completely satisfy the elective requirements
in the Psychology major (3 4000-level courses). A student may count up to 3 hours
of PSY 4970 (Honors Thesis) as one of these three electives if he/she has not already
earned 3 hours of PSY 4913. However, a student may not count PSY 4932 (Honors Seminar)
towards these electives at all. Thus, students in the Honors Program will graduate
with more than the required number of hours in psychology and more than the 120
hours required for graduation.
Participation in the Honors Program does not fulfill University Exit Requirements.
Students participating in the University Honors Program are required to register
for 6 hours of PSY 4970. They are not required to register for additional hours
of IDH 4950 or 4970, although they may do so in order to qualify for some scholarships
(see the Director of the University Honors Program).
Admission Criteria and Procedures
Admission to the Psychology Department Honors Program occurs once a year in the
spring and is competitive based upon information contained in the application. The
requirements listed below are minimum ones and do not guarantee admission. Students
typically apply for admission during the second semester of the junior year. Admission
decisions will be made by a committee of Psychology Department faculty members.
Requirements for admission to the Psychology Department Honors Program are:
1) Completion of the following courses by the beginning of Semester I of the senior
year with a grade point average of 3.5: If your GPA is slightly less than 3.5, you
should contact Kevin Thompson (Thompson@cas.usf.edu)
regarding whether it is still advisable to apply.
PSY 2012 or equivalent
PSY 3044 or PSY 3204
PSY 3213 -- Research Methods
1 course each from the Experimental and Social/Applied groups of the 4000-level
requirement.
2) An overall USF grade point average of 3.2.
3) Completion of at least 90 semester hours by the start of the program in Semester
I.
4) Tentative agreement by a Psychology Department faculty member or affiliate (e.g.,
faculty member from FMHI or with a joint appointment in Psychology) to serve as
advisor on the thesis. This individual should indicate his/her willingness in a
letter of recommendation. Under certain circumstances and with permission of the
director of the honors program, a faculty member who is not affiliated with Psychology
may serve as an advisor. Note that graduate students may not serve as advisors.
In addition, there are other factors that will enhance the likelihood of admission
to the program:
1) Completion of PSY 4205 (Experimental Design and Analysis) by the end of Semester
II of the junior year.
2) Prior research experience.
Click here for
an Application Form. Please note the application deadline and the materials
that must be submitted with the application form.
If you have any questions, please contact:
J. Kevin Thompson, Ph.D.
Department of Psychology
PCD 4118
University of South Florida
Tampa, FL 33620-8200
Thompson@chuma1.cas.usf.edu
Phone: 813 974-0367
Fax: 813 974-4617