An approved fourth year of study in psychology is essential for students considering professional work in psychology. The Honours year is one of the options. (At Macquarie, the other option is the Graduate Diploma of Advanced Psychology). For those students aiming towards postgraduate study in clinical psychology at Macquarie University, an Honours degree in psychology is required. All three Honours degrees are fully accredited by the Australian Psychological Society, and there is not intended to be any difference in prestige between the BPsych(Hons) and the BA-Psychology/BSc-Psychology(Hons).

Note that it is students’ responsibility to familiarise themselves with the degree rules stated in the Handbook of Undergraduate Studies (www.handbook.mq.edu.au) and to seek academic advice if appropriate. Students with credit for previous study often require academic advice when planning their programs. For additional information, please visit: http://www.psy.mq.edu.au/courses/c_4year.htm

The BPsych(Hons) requires students to take 24 credit points of psychology at 300-level, whereas the BA-Psychology/BSc-Psychology(Hons) requires only 16 or 18 (depending on 1st year of enrolment) credit points of psychology at 300-level. This provides an opportunity for students to pursue other disciplines of interest, say linguistics or philosophy or biology etc through to 300-level

The BPsych(Hons) requires students to complete 72 credit points at the end of 300-level, whereas the BA-Psychology/BSc-Psychology(Hons) requires students to complete 68 credit points

The honours program consists of 24 credit points made up of an Empirical Research Thesis (12 credit points, which accounts for 60% of the total mark) and four coursework units. Two of the coursework units are compulsory:

• PSY418 Research Design IV 3cp, and
• PSY431 Professional Practice & Ethics 3cp

Students are required to take another two units from a varying selection of advanced topics in psychology. All units are 3 credit points. Note that not all units are available each year. Unit availability depends on staff commitments

• PSY420 Advanced Issues in Social and Personality Psychology
• PSY421 Advanced Topics in Physiological Psychology
• PSY422 Advanced Cognitive Processes
• PSY423 Advanced Visual Perception
• PSY424 History and Theory in Psychology
• PSY425 Introduction to Theories of Counselling
• PSY426 Advanced Issues in Health Psychology
• PSY428 Advanced Issues in Developmental Psychology: Challenges across the Lifespan
• PSY432 Advanced Issues in Developmental Psychology: Child Abuse and Neglect
• PSY434 Psychology at Work: Theory, Research and Application
• PSY435 The Psychology of Voodoo Science
• PSY436 Advanced Issues in Personality
• PSY437 Advanced Issues in Thinking and Reasoning
• PSY438 Instrumental Hypnosis: Putting Hypnosis to Work
• PSY439 Evolutionary Psychology
• PSY440 Psychology of Driving
• PSY441 Psychology of Reading

Students carry out work for the empirical thesis under the supervision of a staff member. It is necessary for you to take note of staff available to supervise, and their research interests, to make sure that the area in which you wish to work can be supervised. Please check the Psychology website: http://www.psy.mq.edu.au for this information.

On the supplementary application form, you are asked to list three areas of interest in which you might like to do your empirical thesis. Please try to be flexible in listing these areas in order to maximize the chances of working in an area of choice. The policy is to try to match as much as possible a student’s interests with those of a member of staff. This is not always possible, but students should be assured that any lack of matching is not a disadvantage to a successful thesis. The Department policy is such that staff are not expected to supervise topics outside their areas of expertise and interest, but it is the case that some will.

Although you can approach academic staff to discuss supervision possibilities, no commitment to supervise can be made by individual staff members.

No, it is not available by external study. Students are required to attend classes. It requires one year full-time study or (by special permission) two years of part-time study. Students enrolling full-time are advised not to take on extensive part-time work commitments as the Honours program makes far greater demands on time throughout the year than does the undergraduate program

A change in status from full-time to part-time candidature is unlikely to be approved after the first few months of the course.

Part-time enrolment is available only to applicants who can provide satisfactory reasons on the application form for not electing to take the one-year full-time course. Part-time study is normally approved on the basis of employment in excess of 25 hours per week, but extraordinary family commitments may also be considered.

Please note that part-time students may have to attend late afternoon or daytime classes and that they will have to make appropriate arrangements to do so. They will also have to be prepared to attend daytime meetings with their supervisor by arrangement. Supervisors cannot undertake to be available only for evening supervisory sessions.

All applicants for fourth year must fill out an application form, including students who entered the BPsych(Hons) in their first year and have now completed the third year.

The Application Form is available on http://www.studentadmin.mq.edu.au/honours/apply.html and the required Supplementary Form on http://www.psy.mq.edu.au/courses/pdf/2011Supplementaryform.pdf

You can also obtain forms from the Student Enquiry Service (+61 2 9850 6410) or from Ms. Donna Keeley in the Faculty of Human Sciences Undergraduate Services Centre. She can be reached on +61 2 9850 8113 or via email donna.keeley@psy.mq.edu.au

On your supplementary form, you are asked to list three different areas/topics which would be of interest to you as your Honours thesis. Consult the list of research projects on: http://www.psy.mq.edu.au/courses/list_research_projects.htm which have been nominated by Psychology Department staff as potential areas of Honours projects. See also list of potential topics from Macquarie Centre for Congnitive Science (MACCS) staff on http://www.psy.mq.edu.au/courses/pdf/MACCSHONOURSSUPERVISORS.pdf

Additionally, staff from the Department of Computing, Faculty of Science have provided a list of topics within Psychology that they would be able to supervise. This can be found on: http://www.psy.mq.edu.au/courses/pdf/DeptofComputingPsychResearchTopics.pdf

Many students are able to choose which of the three degrees they enter (BA-Psych(Hons), BSc-Psych(Hons), or BPsych(Hons)). Please write your order of preference on the application form. Changes after mid-December will not be allowed.

Applications from students who have completed their degree elsewhere will only be considered under exceptional circumstances (e.g. re-location to Sydney or a desire to work in an area not well supported at the student's home university) and such applications will only be successful where grades are high enough and there has been sufficient breadth of study of psychology.

Please note that we require our own students to have studied at least 24 credit points in second- and third-year psychology, plus 6 credit points in second- and third-year psychological statistics. (24 credit points = 1 year full-time) Note that this study must be spread across the various areas of psychology.

Decisions on applications are made in the 2nd week of December. During this time, students are also allocated to supervisors. In case some students do not get allocated supervisors, a convener will be assigned to them so that they will have someone to talk to about their research plans until such time that a supervisor is allocated.

All new students will be contacted and are expected to attend a briefing in preparation for the coming year. This is normally held in the 3rd week of December.