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Wednesday April 10^th was Honours Thesis Research Day for 52 Honours students in the PSYC 501 course. The presentation day in the Biosciences Atrium was the culmination of a years’ worth of research and extensive lab work.

Presentations were divided into four psychology subcategories – Clinical, Cognitive Neuroscience, Developmental and Social & Personality – with topics ranging from Fidgeting and preschoolers’ learning about theory of mind to Competitive and nurturant motivations underlying multifaceted relationship commitment. Students presented posters detailing their hypotheses, methods and the results of their studies. The students delivered polished and eloquent presentations, defending their theses to members of the review committee made up of course supervisors. The event was well attended with friends, family and passers-by alike taking in the breadth and depth of knowledge put on display by the students. Speaking of the event, Dr. Li-Jun Ji, one of the course coordinators for PSYC 501 said “the undergraduate research day is a day of celebration. Celebrating the students’ hard work throughout the year. It’s a great pleasure to see how the students have mastered research skills and present their research professionally and enthusiastically. I am so proud of each of the students.”

The event also allowed for audience participation for those attending the event to vote for their favourite poster. You can check out the results of the poll

The PSYC 501 course is a highly competitive one with a large demand. It is an intensive course of study, involving a significant amount of commitment from both the student and their Faculty supervisor. As a result, about 60 students are accepted to the program each year. As the basis for the course, students are required to build a research study based on existing theory, and then extend it beyond the previous research. The course provides students with invaluable hands-on experience working in a research lab. They gain experience with research design, data collection, data analysis and knowledge communication. They are also able to build professional skills including project management and the ability to work as part of a larger research team.

The program is a very successful one, with a large portion of the students planning to continue with their education in graduate programs at some of the most esteemed schools across the country, including McMaster, UBC, UofT and of course Queen’s.

More information about the PSYC 501 program at Queen’s can be found here.