The College Honors distinction is awarded with the Bachelor of Arts degree
to students who have demonstrated an outstanding level of scholarship within their major.
To be eligible for College Honors, students must demonstrate a level of excellence based
on the following criteria:
- Attaining an overall grade-point average of 3.25 or better.
- Attaining a grade-point average of 3.5 or better in psychology courses completed at Occidental College.
- Approval of Honors Project paper by two departmental faculty who deem the paper to be of superb quality. (Note: Approval is not granted automatically for completion of the paper.)
Honors Project: An empirical project developed by the Honors candidate that is clearly and appropriately informed by previous coursework and personal intellectual interest. Honors projects must be completed in accordance with the phases described below and meet all deadlines to be eligible of approval for Departmental Honors.
Phase 1)
By April 15 of the Spring semester of the Junior year, submit a research proposal of the highest quality (clear, coherent, and complete) that includes the elements below. Proposals must be written in/adhere to APA format and demonstrate that the candidate is ready to proceed at the start of the following Fall semester. Proposals must include:1; September 2, for Fall 2011.
- Appropriate literature review
- Appropriate methodological framework
- Reference section with 8-10 central references
- Human / Non-human animal subjects protocol draft
- Primary and secondary reader requests (candidate must recruit two readers for the Honors Project)
- Checklist: Honors Proposal Submission Form - Checklist.doc
Alternatively, if the candidate is basing a proposed Honors Project on work done during a summer research project funded by the URC, the proposal containing all of the above elements must be submitted by the first day of class of the Fall semester.
Phase 2)
The Candidate must receive departmental approval to proceed with the proposed Honors Project. The two appointed readers will determine approval by the last day of class of the Spring semester, or by the end of the first week of class for students basing their proposal on summer research work. Students whose proposals are judged by readers to be methodologically sound but below honors standards may elect to continue their work for educational purposes.
Phase 3)
Collect and analyze data, and write the Honors Project paper. Because each
project differs in nature and scheduling, we only provide a calendar of (strongly) recommended dates for the semester:
- By the end of the second week of the Fall semester, the student will have submitted the research proposal for Human/Non-human animal subjects committee review.
- By the last day of the Fall semester, the students will have collected data on at least 25% of the planned number of subjects and will have carried out a preliminary data analysis to insure that the research protocols are working as planned (ceiling or floor effects are not occurring, subjects are fully engaging in tasks, etc.)
Phase 4)
- Data collection will be completed by March 1 of the Spring semester.
- A full draft of the project will be submitted to readers by April 1 of the Spring semester. Students may be asked to make corrections for a final draft.