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Program: B.A., Psychology

Honors

Program Description

The purpose of the Honors in Psychology program is to recognize and support the development of exceptional Psychology students. The Honors in Psychology program allows students the opportunity to engage in advanced-level coursework to better prepare for graduate coursework and/or careers in the field of Psychology. Interested students should consult the Department of Psychology website for details and an application.

Admission to the Honors in Psychology program: granted by approval of the Department of Psychology Honors Committee.

Program Requirements

A. Eligibility

To be eligible to apply for the Honors in Psychology program, a student must:

  1. Be a declared Psychology major.
  2. Have completed or be currently enrolled in PSY 320/L.
  3. Have a minimum CSUN GPA of 3.5.
  4. Have a minimum 3.5 GPA in all upper division Psychology courses taken at CSUN (first-semester transfer students should report grades from their prior university/college).

B. Program Requirements

If admitted, students in the Honors in Psychology program must:

  1. Complete honors sections of the following courses with a “B+” or better:
    1. PSY 321H/L Research Methods in Psychology and Lab (3/1)
    2. One of the Psychology capstone courses (see list of capstone courses under “Requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Degree”) (3/2)
  2. Successfully complete PSY 492H Honors Professional Development (1).
  3. Complete a second honors section of a Psychology capstone course (3/2) or one of the following graduate-level courses with a “B+” or better (note that enrollment in 500-level courses requires permission of the instructor):
    1. PSY 420/L Advanced Statistical Methods and Lab (3/1)
    2. PSY 485US/USS Advanced Inquiry Univariate Statistics (3/2)
    3. PSY 512 Seminar in Developmental Psychology (3)
    4. PSY 519 Seminar in Autism Spectrum Disorders (3)
    5. PSY 524/L Multivariate Analysis Computer and Lab (3/1)
    6. PSY 540 Seminar in Social Psychology (3)
    7. PSY 591A Seminar in Cognitive Psychology (3)
    8. PSY 591B Seminar in Emotion and Motivation (3)
    9. PSY 592B Seminar in Research Methodology (3)
    10. PSY 593A and PSY 593B Community Research Seminar I and II (must complete both courses if choosing this option) (3/3)
  4. Maintain a portfolio of their honors assignments from the required courses above.
  5. Present a project at the Department of Psychology’s Honors Forum. The project must be conducted under the supervision of a faculty member in Psychology and may be an empirical research project, a literature review project or a community project.
  6. Maintain a minimum 3.5 GPA in all of their upper division Psychology coursework.

If an honors student fails to meet or maintain any of the requirements of the program, he or she will be immediately dropped from the program.

Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive an honors designation on their diploma and transcript.

More information

For more information about this program, please contact psychology@csun.edu.

Contact

Department of Psychology
Chair: Jill Razani
Sierra Hall (SH) 376
(818) 677-2827

Student Learning Outcomes
  1. Students will demonstrate sufficient communication skills by:
    1. Communicating thoughts, arguments and research work in writing using the tone, grammar and organization appropriate to professional work in psychology and
    2. Demonstrating effective oral communication skills in group discussions and class presentations.
  2. Students will demonstrate effective collaboration with team members in group activities, such as projects, recruiting research subjects, collecting data, presenting research findings and/or working in research labs.
  3. Students will demonstrate competence in electronic and information technologies by:
    1. Using computational and statistical software,
    2. Using computers to review abstracts appearing in relevant databases and obtaining full-text versions of the literature relevant to a research topic,
    3. Paraphrasing, quoting and citing appropriate sources to avoid plagiarism and
    4. Sufficient use of the American Psychological Association (APA) Style Manual.
  4. Students will demonstrate critical-thinking skills and skeptical inquiry by evaluating the strengths and weaknesses of current research literature and/or their own research using psychological research methodology.
  5. Students will demonstrate sufficient use of statistical analysis, interpretation and presentation of psychological data.
  6. Students will demonstrate appropriate and ethical use of subjects by going through the process of subject recruitment and debriefing the human subjects involved in psychological research.
  7. Students will demonstrate knowledge of the theories, concepts and empirical approaches from diverse perspectives of psychology, including biological processes, developmental processes, individual and social processes, and learning and cognitive processes.
  8. Students will demonstrate personal, sociocultural and international awareness.
  9. Students will demonstrate and apply appropriate knowledge and skills in professional practice through community service and/or research practica.

Additional Student Learning Outcomes of the Honors Program

  1. Students will demonstrate understanding of the various career fields and graduate degrees related to Psychology.
  2. Students will demonstrate the ability to work independently on academic projects.
  3. Students will demonstrate effective and appropriate oral communication skills in professional settings.