Honors Program
Overview of the Honors Program
Students with a 3.5 grade point average overall in their major may apply for admission to the Honors program. Students must identify a faculty sponsor to supervise a thesis project. While the honors project is completed during the student's final year, most of the students in the program begin to prepare during their junior year, either by working as a research assistant under a potential sponsor or by contacting a potential sponsor to begin developing a project.
The award of departmental Honors is contingent upon submission of a thesis of high quality, based upon independent study with a member of the Psychology Department's faculty and marked by satisfactory completion of Psychology H195A-B. Evaluation of the thesis is the primary responsibility of the faculty sponsor, as well as second reader as assigned by the Chair or Vice Chair. The sponsor and second reader will decide whether the thesis is of Honors quality and if so, which level of Honors is to be assigned: Honors or Highest Honors. Departmental Honors designations will be included in the student's permanent UC Berkeley record. The Student Services Office maintains a file of completed Honors theses, which are available for review.
Courses
Students are required to enroll in Psychology H195A-B during their thesis year. Many honors students also enroll in Psychology 199 during their junior year as part of the preparation for a thesis project.
Psychology H195A-B
Psychology H195A-B is offered for 1-3 units per semester and is mandatory in order to receive Honors in the major. The course is sequential with a grade of In Progress for the
"A" portion and the final grade assigned for both semesters at the end of the "B" portion.
Psychology H194A-B
We strongly suggest that Honors students also concurrently enroll in Psychology H194A-B (2 units per semester), the Honors Seminar, in their senior year, as this course provides excellent supplemental background for preparing the thesis. However, enrollment in H194 is
not mandatory in order to obtain Honors. Students may enroll in H194A only in the fall, and each semester must be taken in sequence. During the fall semester, the seminar will concentrate on issues of research design, ethics, and data analysis using statistical packages. The spring semester will focus on oral and written presentations of the thesis projects and feedback on thesis drafts.
Application
Students must complete an application to enroll in Psych H195A-B units and Psych H194A-B.
[Download H194A-B application]
[Download H195A-B application]
On the Psychology H195A-B application the student will outline the thesis proposal and submit it for approval to one of the full-time faculty of the Department who will serve as their faculty sponsor. The signed application is to be returned to the Student Services Office. Upon approval, a course control number will be given to the student to enroll in the course through Tele-BEARS. Applications should be submitted by the University deadline to add courses both semesters of enrollment (generally the Friday of Week 3).
Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects Approval
Students who are planning to use human subjects for the Honors thesis must apply for approval from the Committee for Protection of Human Subjects at the end of the junior year. This process can take up to six months. Faculty should be consulted for help in making the request.
Faculty Sponsor
Students should maintain close contact with their faculty sponsor to ensure clear communication on direction of the thesis project and expectations of the professor. It would be wise for the student to submit a draft of the honors thesis to the instructor mid-semester of enrollment in H195B for criticism and comments before the final copy is produced.
Content
The honors thesis may be an original, empirical study of a topic in psychology, or a critical analysis of the work of other researchers on a topic in psychology chosen by the student.
Style
The thesis should be organized and written according to APA style, found in the APA Publication Manual. The thesis must include an abstract of approximately 200 words or less. The title page should take the following
format.
Title:
Author:
Submitted in Satisfaction of the Requirements for the
Honors Program in Psychology
University of California at Berkeley
Date:
Approved:
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Deadline
The thesis should be submitted to the faculty sponsor no later than two weeks prior to the end of the semester in which the student files to graduate. A bound copy of the thesis must be submitted simultaneously to the Undergraduate Advisor for assignment of the second reader. If the student is not able to meet the above noted deadline date for submission of the thesis, s/he should confer with the Undergraduate Advisor.
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