Psychology majors are required to complete a research project over two consecutive semesters. The research project must be a data-gathering project, and students are encouraged to base their project on a published study from the experimental, cognitive, personality, social, developmental, or clinical literature. Details of the Senior Independent Study Project can be found in Section III of this handbook.
As part of the College graduation requirement, each student is to complete two units of I.S. Thesis. Completion of one 300-level laboratory course, Psychology 299, and Psychology 401 is normally required before a student is permitted to enroll in Psychology 451. The thesis is to be completed during the first and second semesters of the senior year; exceptions to this rule must be approved by the Dean of the Faculty.
Psychology majors are required to complete a research project over two consecutive semesters. The research project must be a data-gathering project, and students are encouraged to base their project on a published study from the experimental, cognitive, personality, social, developmental, or clinical literature.
Selection of Topic. The selection of a topic should be done in conjunction with the faculty advisor. Choice of I.S. projects is limited by the availability of subjects, equipment, and library materials. In addition, some projects are too complex (either in design and-or data analysis) to complete adequately within two semesters. Consideration also needs to be given to the cost of the project; if the necessary equipment and test materials are not available in the department, the student must assume the cost. The department does not pay for library material obtained through interlibrary loan, xeroxing, and the like. The college provides a mechanism for granting funds to students with special needs in conducting their I.S. Money can be made available for some forms of equipment, payment of subjects, and travel. A proposal must be written and submitted within the first month of the Fall Semester. Because the fund is easily depleted by the number of projects needing assistance, not all requests are fully funded. As well, the fund will rarely, if ever, be available to students starting their I.S. in the spring semester.
Following is a list of I.S. projects which were completed by psychology majors in the past few years. Students are encouraged to browse through the I.S. collection, which is located in the psychology department, for additional ideas.
Chronmetric analysis of the alerting and selective stages of attention in younger and older adults
Effects of television viewing on self-concept and racial group concept development in African American children
The Stroop-color word test in a multiple personality
Demonstration of a general functioning deficit in arachnophobics while in the presence of a tarantula: Implications for attention bias studies
Intentional versus unintentional memory in young children: Its effects on mnemonic strategy development
The effects of controllable and noncontrollable noise and light stress on plasma glucose levels of streptozoticin-induced mice
Eyewitness memory: Simulating weapon focus and the misleading effect
The effects of computer-assisted instruction on the self-esteem of African American and European American fourth and fifth grade children
The effects of mood induction on depth of processing in depressed and nondepressed subjects.
The subcomponents of competitive state anxiety and their relationship to gymnastic and wrestling performance
Differences in leaders' perceptions of effective male and female leadership
Suggested Schedule. I. S. research has to be carried out on a regular basis. It is considered to be one-fourth of the student's work load; a minimum of 12 hours a week should be devoted to I.S. A suggested timetable is provided below. There may be individual and project differences, but in general the schedule should be followed. Students who fall behind have difficulty catching up and usually find themselves in a panic at the end of the period in which the thesis is due. Keep in mind that the schedule is equally important to your advisor. If you get behind, the advisor may not have the time to supervise your work.
Week
1 |
2 | Topic exploration and literature search
3 |
4 |
5 First draft of research proposal
6 Second draft of research proposal
7 Third draft of proposal and ethics review completed
8 |
9 | Pilot studies and preparation of experimental materials
10 |
11 |
12 | Data collection
13 |
14 COMPLETE INTRODUCTION AND REVISED METHOD SECTION AT END OF
FIRST SEMESTER
15 |
16 | Data Analysis
17 |
18 FIRST DRAFT OF RESULTS SECTION
19 REVISED RESULTS SECTION
20 FIRST DRAFT OF DISCUSSION SECTION
21 REVISED DISCUSSION SECTION
22 FINAL COPY OF ENTIRE THESIS
Spring Recess: printing and binding
Thesis is due in registrar's office on the Monday after Spring
Break.
Note: The thesis is to be completed for the Psychology Department
BEFORE spring break. Advisors will not provide feedback for work
completed after the last day of classes before spring break.
Sources of Information About Tests. Many I. S. projects
involve the use of tests to measure subjects' performances on
either an independent or dependent variable. Before selecting
a test, the student should be sure that the instrument is reliable
and valid for the intended purpose. There are several texts that
provide such information (see Selected Reference Sources in Psychology
compiled by Julia Gustafson and available in the library). Some
tests, by law, may not be administered by students until they
have taken a course in psychological testing. Other tests are
only available to licensed professionals. Make sure that you are
qualified to administer the tests that you have chosen.
Library Resource Material. Selected Reference Sources in Psychology contains a list of psychology journals, selected reference materials, and literature search procedures available in Andrews Library. This information should be valuable in locating relevant literature for your thesis project.
Committee Assignments. Each student is assigned a committee of two faculty members. The first member of the committee serves as the major advisor; the second member serves as the reader-examiner for the final thesis report. If you have a specific choice of an advisor, you should notify the chair of the psychology department at the end of your Junior year. The department attempts to satisfy students' preferences. However, other considerations (e.g., the teaching load of the faculty) have to be taken into account. Throughout the year, you will meet with your advisor on a regular basis. The reader only begins your evaluation after you have completed your I.S. thesis. You may, of course, seek assistance and advice from other faculty members both within and outside of the department throughout your project. However, the reader's role is to evaluate the final thesis, not to take part in its development.
Final Copy of the Thesis. Two bound copies of the I. S. Thesis are due in the Registrar's Office by 4:00 p.m. on the first day of classes following Spring Recess or four weeks prior to the end of classes for Spring Semester, whichever date is sooner. Any delay in turning in a thesis beyond the deadlines specified above automatically establishes the grade of I for the thesis. The conditions for changing the I to a passing grade will be established by the Dean of the Faculty after consultation with the student's advisor. The I automatically becomes NC two weeks after the deadline for the submission of the thesis unless prior approval for an extension of the I has been given by the Dean. No thesis turned in after the deadline will receive a grade of Honors without the unanimous vote of the department and the approval of the Dean. The student may not expect editorial comment, guidance, and advice on drafts of the thesis submitted after the eighth week of the Spring Semester.
Oral Examination. After the final copy of the student's thesis has been submitted to the Registrar, the student is to schedule an oral examination to be conducted by the I.S. committee. The examination lasts about 50 minutes; the student is expected to answer questions regarding the thesis and broader questions of the discipline. On the basis of the examination, the committee may require that minor changes in the I.S. thesis be made. Major changes in the thesis are not permitted. Major changes differ from minor changes in various ways. Major changes are defined as substantial changes rather than typographical or other superficial and minor changes. The number of words needing changed, for example, is not a criterion for distinguishing major from minor revision. Consider the case of the student who simply had to remove the word "not" from all of her conclusions in order to be conceptually correct. The oral examination is to be completed before the last day of classes of the Spring Semester.
Grading Procedures. I. S. Thesis are graded:
HONORS--outstanding in all aspects of content, method, and form;
GOOD--significantly above average in terms of content, method, and form;
SATISFACTORY--acceptable overall in terms of content, method, and form, though consideration may be given to balancing weakness in one area by strength in another;
FAIL-- a deficiency in content, method, or form with no compensating strengths in other areas.
For this academic year, the psychology faculty has agreed to use the following grading procedures:
(1) Letter grades will be assigned independently by the faculty advisor and reader to the following aspects of the thesis research, and each component will be weighted as indicated to determine an overall grade.
Written Thesis adviser .30 reader .30
Other aspects of thesis research --adviser .30(e.g., independence.
reliability, effort)not reflected in written thesis
Oral examination reader .05 adviser .05
(2) The final grade for Psychology 451-452 will be determined
by using the following conversion scale:
Overall Grade Equivalent College Grade Scale
11.00 or better Honors
9.00 to 10.99 Good
5.00 to 8.99 Satisfactory
Below 5.00 No Credit
The advisor will immediately inform you after the oral examination
if you have passed or failed. However, your advisor will not provide
you with a grade at that time. Sometime after the oral examination
is completed, the advisor will provide you with a written evaluation
of your work which takes into account the criteria of content,
method, and form.
Grades will not be calculated until all oral examinations within the department have been completed. Readers and advisors will independently submit their grades to the chair of the department and the chair will calculate the final grades. Your advisor will not know what your grade will be until all grades have been submitted by all advisors and readers and the calculations performed. This is true even if your advisor is chair of the department.
Writing the Thesis Report. Except where noted below, the I.S. thesis should follow APA style. As part of the I. S. thesis requirement, each student is required to purchase a copy of the PUBLICATION MANUAL OF THE AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION (3rd ed.). Copies are available in the College Bookstore. The appendix includes a copy of the College's policy on plagiarism. This is an excellent document and should be read carefully.