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Departmental Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in an Honours Program (Bachelor of Arts)
Governor General (Silver) Medal
Alumni Gold Medal
Annually, one graduating student from an Honours Bachelor degree program in each faculty is awarded the Alumni Gold Medal for outstanding academic achievement. The ten carat, solid gold medal is embossed with the university crest on the front and the student's name and faculty are inscribed on the reverse. The medals are presented at the June convocation ceremony.
Each recipient and two of his/her convocation guests will be invited to the Chancellor's Lunch.
Those graduating in June as well as the previous October convocation are considered for the award.
Alumni Gold Medal - further details including a list of recipients
Child Language Research Award
Annually, an award valued at $750.00 is provided to one graduating undergraduate student enrolled in any program at the University of Waterloo. Selection will be based on academic excellence, prior research experience related to child language development, and a demonstrated commitment to future postgraduate study in the area of child language development. No application is required. This fund is made possible by a donation from Knowledge in Development Inc.
This award is presented at the department level, and will not be mentioned at the convocation ceremony.
2019 recipient: Bronte Amelia Smith
Bronte will be receiving a Bachelor of Science with a major in Psychology and a minor in Biology at the Spring 2019 convocation. This coming fall she is starting her graduate studies in the Department of Speech-Language Pathology at McGill University.
After graduate school, Bronte hopes to work with children with speech disorders. Besides her experience with child language development during her Honours Thesis, Bronte has also had experience in this area through volunteer work and placements at speech clinics in the community.
Congratulations, Bronte, on your academic achievements and the award, and best wishes for continued success in graduate studies!
Departmental Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in an Honours program (Bachelor of Arts)
Annually, each department in the Faculty of Arts selects the top graduating student from the Honours Bachelor of Arts program to be the recipient of the Departmental Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement.
The award consists of a certificate signed by the Chair of the Department and the Dean for the Faculty of Arts, plus a $50.00 gift card for University of Waterloo Retail Services. These items will be included in the recipients' diploma cases. At the convocation ceremony, the name of the award will be mentioned when the recipient is presented with his/her degree.
Those graduating in June as well as the previous October convocation are considered for the award.
2019 recipient: Abbigail Andrea Kinnear
Degree Received June 2019: Honours Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with the Research Intensive Specialization.
In the fall, Abby will be entering the Clinical Psychology graduate program at Western University, where she will be studying the psychobiology of eating and related disorders with Dr. Lindsay Bodell.
Congratulations Abby on your stellar record and best wishes for success in graduate studies as well as your future career!
Departmental Award for Distinguished Academic Achievement in Honours Psychology (Bachelor of Science)
(effective 2014)
The Department of Psychology chooses one recipient annually for this award. The award is given to the student with the highest academic record, and the recipient must have a cumulative overall average and a cumulative psychology average of no less than 87%. The award consists of a certificate signed by the Chair and Associate Chair of the Department of Psychology.
Those graduating in June as well as the previous October convocation are considered for the award.
This award is presented at the department level, and will not be mentioned at the convocation ceremony.
2017 recipient: Jason Dong Goo lee
Honours Bachelor of Science in Psychology
Thesis title: Promoting Analogical Reasoning with Mental Construal
Jason has a strong interest in mental health and neuroscience, and he plans to pursue an M.D. and become a psychiatrist or a neurologist.
Comments from Jonathan Fugelsang (thesis supervisor):
"Jason is one of the most gifted students I have ever had the pleasure of working with.... He was instrumental in facilitating the research program of my graduate students and myself. He is hard working, motivated, and a quick study.
What stood out most to me about Jason was his technical writing and data analysis skills. He is easily among the top students I have worked with in this regard.
[Jason] is a very genuine and caring person, and has exceptional interpersonal skills. He gets along very well with others in the lab. In addition, after working closely with him, I can confidently say that he is extremely professional, and expresses a level of maturity that sets him apart from many of his peers."
Congratulations Jason on your outstanding academic achievements and best wishes on your future endeavours.
Governor General (Silver) Medal
Medals are presented on behalf of the Governor General along with personalized certificates signed by the Governor General. The medals (3 in 2013) are given to graduating students who achieved the highest academic standing upon graduation from an Honours Bachelor degree program. The medals are presented at the June convocation ceremony. Each recipient and two of his/her convocation guests will be invited to the Chancellor's Lunch.
Those graduating in June as well as the previous October convocation are considered for the award.
Governor General Medal - further details.
Honours Thesis Awards
The Department of Psychology recognizes the achievements of a small number of students who produced the most outstanding Honours Theses (PSYCH 499A/B/C). The Honours Thesis Awards consist of a certificate and the award winners will be announced in June.
Those who completed their Honours thesis in Spring 2018, Fall 2018, or Winter 2019 are considered for the June 2019 awards.
These awards are presented at the department level, and will not be mentioned at the convocation ceremony.
2019 recipients
The Psychology Honours thesis award is presented to students who have produced exceptional thesis projects.
The following 14 students received an Honours Thesis Award for their outstanding projects:
Alexander
Moore
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
and
Arts
and
Business
Co-op
Thesis
Title:
Consequences
of
leader
metamotivational
accuracy
Thesis
Supervisor:
Abby
Scholer
Emily
Amira
Bissada
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Predicting
first
offers
in
negotiation
with
speech
rate
and
spatial
context
dependence
Thesis
Supervisor: Wendi
Adair
Emma
Tran
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Co-op
Thesis
title:
The
impact
of
social
anxiety
on
memory
biases
for
imagined
social
and
non-social
successes
and
failures
Thesis
Supervisor:
David
Moscovitch
Hannah
Lightfoot
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Relationships
and
the
body: Social
safeness
as
a
protective
factor
against
body-concealment
Thesis
Supervisor:
Allison
Kelly
Huitian
Valerie
Chen
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Science in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Third-party
reactions
to
non-forgiveness: The
role
of
amend
strength,
victim
gender
and
dyad
gender
composition
Thesis
Supervisor:
Ramona
Bobocel
Katrina
Chini
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Science in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Physiological
and
behavioural
responses
to
loot
box
openings
in
Overwatch
Thesis
Supervisor:
Mike
Dixon
Laura
Anne
Paula
Howes
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Staying
in
the
zone: Flow
and
sustained
attention
Thesis
Supervisor:
Dan
Smilek
Maahum
Ahmad
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Science
in
Psychology
Thesis
title: Investigating
the
link
between
inflammation
and
attention
Thesis
Supervisor:
Dan
Smilek
Mackenzie
Morgan
Burnett
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Examining
the
roles
of
self-esteem
and
agreeableness
in
saying
"I
love
you"
for
the
first
time
Thesis
Supervisor:
Joanne
Wood
Mane
Kara-Yakoubian
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Thesis
Title:
Examining
the
two-stage
model
of
donation
decisions: What
about
the
proportion
dominance
effect?
Thesis
Supervisor:
Evan
Risko
Molly
Layne
Scarfe
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Thesis
Title:
Investigating
sound
in
multi-line
slot
machine
play
Thesis
Supervisor:
Mike
Dixon
Rachel
Doreen
Thorburn
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
and
Arts
and
Business
Co-op
Thesis
Title:
Do
children
think
more
openly
about
tool
uses
than
other
unusual
events? Re-examining
children's
possibility
thinking
Thesis
Supervisor:
Ori
Friedman
Savannah
Marie
Heintzman
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Arts
in
Psychology
Thesis
title:
Examining
the
roles
of
self-esteem
and
agreeableness
in
saying
"I
love
you"
for
the
first
time
Thesis
Supervisors:
Liz
Nilsen
and
Heather
Henderson
Varsha
Devi
Gobin
Degree:
Honours
Bachelor
of
Science in
Psychology
Co-op
Thesis
Title:
The
restorative
effects
of
greenspace
and
spiritual
environments
Thesis
Supervisor:
Colin
Ellard
A note about the thesis awards from PSYCH 499 coordinator, Dr. Richard Eibach:
"Congratulations
to
all
of
the
students
who
completed
a
Psychology
Honours
thesis
this
past
year.
This
accomplishment
required
dedicating
many
hours
of
your
time
investigating
the
background
literature,
formulating
an
original
hypothesis,
designing
and
executing
a
study
(or
studies),
and
analyzing
and
reporting
your
results.
This
work
involved
synthesizing
what
you’ve
learned
about
psychological
theory
and
methodology
in
your
previous
courses
to
make
your
own
original
contribution
to
psychological
knowledge.
Thanks
to
each
of
you
for
carrying
forward
our
department’s
rich
tradition
of
undergraduate
research.
I’d
like
to
extend
special
congratulations
to
the
thesis
award
winners
for
the
exceptional
quality
of
your
work.
This
year
the thesis
projects covered
a
broad
range
of
interesting
topics
and
used
a
variety
of innovative
methods. Several
of
your
supervisors
and
reviewers
noted that
your
research
was
at
the
level
of
a
graduate
student,
which
really
shows
the
advanced
skills
and
dedication
that
you
brought
to
your
work.
Well
done!"
-(Dr.
Richard
Eibach,
Psych
499
Coordinator)