Awards

The School of Psychology is pleased to award annual scholarships to approximately 12 Honours Psychology students for outstanding academic achievement. The Psychology Memorial Awards honour Dr. Richard H. Walters, Dr. M. Philip Bryden, D. Amoroso, K. Bowers, M. Briedenbaugh, and Z. Kunda.

Bryden Memorial Award for academic excellence in 3rd year

The Bryden Award was named in honour of Professor Philip Bryden, a cognitive neuroscientist with interests in brain laterality and handedness.  He served as Editor of the Canadian Journal of Psychology and was one of the founding Editors in 1996 of the journal Laterality.  Professor Bryden was elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1992.

Our 2025 Bryden Award winners are: 

• Rebecca Brown
• Chloe Champredon
• Dorothy Chan
• Ariana Hadjiyianni
• Brooke Johnston
• Phoenix Rogoz
• Catherine Xu
• Erya Xu

Walters Memorial Award for academic excellence in 4th year

Our 2025 Walters Award winners are: 

• Tara Collington
• Victoria Duscio
• Jacob Grima

Currie Scholarship Award for the top graduating student in Psychology

The Currie Award is based on one of the oldest donations in the university and records from that era do not provide much detail about who gave the award or why, only that it was designated for a Psychology undergraduate student.

The 2025 Currie Scholarship Award was presented to:

• Diana Garcia Soler

Awarded to the top Honours Thesis students from the 2025/26 graduating class. 

Alison Stephens, A Fairness Paradox: The Dual Roles of Overall Fairness Perceptions on Employees’ Support for Diversity Initiatives

Aslan Aydin, Audiovisual Speech Perception: Fill-In Effect and Gaze Behaviour in Adults

Brooke Johnston, Does Speaker Age Impact Preschoolers’ Predictive Use of Disfluencies

Nadya Drury, Sounds of the Past: Music-Evoked Autobiographical Recall in Older Adults with Compromised Cognitive Function

Catherine He, Employees’ Reactions to Cronyism through the Lens of Organizational Justice Theories

Suren Krikorian, Economic Intuitions in Punitive Justice

Jacqueline Laramy, Guesses vs. Gambles: Individual Differences in Children’s Responses to Uncertainty With and Without Stakes

Caleb Lee, Does Algorithmic Bias Drive Polarization? An Agent-Based Model of Online and Offline Opinion Dynamics

Christie Lee, People of Colour’s Responses to Discrimination Disclosures from White-Passing Multiracial People

Caitlin Mask, Asexual and Allosexual Views on Sexuality

Simran Mukkar, Cognitive Predictors of Desire Maintenance: Implicit Beliefs in Women’s Sexual Relationships

Fengwei Pi, Objective Indicators of Instagram Use and Their Psychological Correlates

Awarded annually to the best thesis or major paper in Cognitive Science at the University of Waterloo. The Prize recognizes an original contribution to any field of Cognitive Science; work that transcends disciplines is encouraged but not required. Selection will be based on the originality and excellence of the contribution to our understanding of the mind and on demonstrated independence in making that contribution. 

Jacqueline Laramy was this year's winner for her honours thesis entitled "Guesses vs. Gambles: Individual Differences in Children’s Responses to Uncertainty With and Without Stakes".

This award, presented during the University’s convocation ceremonies, recognizes the top graduating student from each academic plan and celebrates exceptional academic performance and dedication to studies.

This year's award was given to Brooke Johnston. 

This distinguished award is presented annually to the undergraduate students who achieve the highest academic standing upon graduation from a Bachelor’s program, with equitable distribution across Faculties. It is among the most prestigious academic honour for undergraduate students in Canada.

This year's award was given to Caitlyn Mask. 

A scholarship, valued at up to $1,200, awarded annually to a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in Year Four in the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts. Selection is based on academic excellence and extracurricular involvement in the area of mental health.

This year's award was given to Katie Musleh. 

This scholarship is awarded to one student from the School of Psychology in support of fostering the psychology community, who model values of service, kindness, and generosity. 

This year's award was given to Christie Lee.