PSYC 485 (Supervised Research) is designed for students who wish to acquire experience doing psychological research. PSYC 488 (Supervised Readings) is designed for students who wish to pursue a particular topic in psychology in depth. Both may be repeated for credit. Students are limited to no more than 12 hours credit in PSYC 485, 488 or their combination.
Prerequisite: Permission of instructor; course override required in order to enroll
Before registering for either course, students must speak with a faculty member in the Department of Psychological Sciences to obtain permission to register for the class. The faculty member will be responsible for supervising the student's work. The faculty member and student will sign a contract that specifies the student's responsibilities; a research report/paper is one of the requirements. The signed contract will be kept on file.
Students interested in earning PSYC 485 credit for work done at the Texas Medical Center should use the external supervised research contract rather than the standard one. Students should also meet with the TMC undergraduate research liaison, Dr. Bryan Denny, to discuss requirements.
Students may either receive pay or earn research credit for their work in a lab during a given semester, but not both simultaneously. If a student is involved in research across two different labs during the same semester, they may select different forms of compensation for each lab. For instance, they can be paid for one lab while earning research credit for the other, or they may opt for the same compensation in both labs. Students will have the opportunity to switch their choice of compensation at the beginning of each new semester. Should any student wish to request an exception to this policy, they are encouraged to contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies for review by the Undergraduate Committee.
Students interested in enrolling in PSYC 485 should review our list of current supervised research opportunities.