Students who entered Tulane in the Fall of 2006 or thereafter follow "the new curriculum," which includes a capstone experience in their major. The following capstone experiences have been approved for Psychology majors.
Project format- The capstone experience is to culminate in a written paper or product, poster presentation or Powerpoint presentation. Exact medium will in most cases be determined by the sponsoring faculty member. Projects are to be done individually.
Content- The project requirement may be satisfied in several ways: by initiating and completing an empirical study; by completing a historical treatment or theoretical integration of a discipline or disciplines within psychology; or applying psychological principles and content to a problem in the community.
Sponsorship- Capstone opportunities are offered by department faculty, which includes regular full-time professors, professors of practice, adjunct faculty and visiting professors. Graduate students and individuals hired on a course-by-course basis do not offer capstone opportunities. The sponsoring faculty member determines whether the completed project fulfills the capstone requirement. The Department will strive to insure that sponsorships are distributed equitably among faculty members. Students should not therefore expect that a particular faculty member need sponsor their capstone project. The Department offers several course options for the capstone experience.
Courses- The capstone experience must be attached to a 3 credit course, preferably in the senior year. Given the large number of majors in psychology, several options are available. The following courses would fulfill the capstone requirement:
Existing courses:
456,457 Internship- application of psychology in the community. Must be approved by service learning and the sponsoring faculty member to be a capstone project.
481,482 Independent study with laboratory- to be arranged as a capstone project with a faculty member. Thiswould generally follow 351,352 research experience. The student would be expected to design the study, gather and analyze the data and write a paper in scientific format.
499,500 Honors thesis- requires defense and completion of the thesis.
618 History and systems- course in which the student will complete a historical or integrative analysis of a topic or discipline within psychology.
657,658 Cognitive neuroscience lecture and lab- the lecture offers an introduction to the study of human behavior and cognition using neuroscience methods. The laboratory course provides training in experimental design and ethical issues, data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation. Students will conduct their own studies using behavioral and brain electrical activity measures.
702 Developmental psychology- Students receive an in-depth overview of major theories and historical and contemporary research in developmental psychology. Readings and discussion are based on assignments of original journal articles and review papers and chapters in the main volumes of the field. Students will do several critiques of journal articles and review papers, in addition to other course work, as the capstone project.
710 Psychopharmacology- Students enrolled in this course as a capstone experience will complete the lecture and laboratory portions of the course, and attend a weekly seminar previously reserved for graduate students. In seminar, each student will read and discuss empirical research articles on current topics in the field of psychopharmacology, and lead one Powerpoint-assisted discussion of a topic of interest.
Approved new courses:
501,502 Senior capstone- lecture/seminar course in which several faculty members present a concentrated and integrated overview of theoretical issues in the diversity of disciplines in psychology (social, biological, developmental, application). Students complete a comprehensive exam and a capstone project. The project would generally be a historical treatment or theoretical integration and not an empirical study. One faculty member is responsible for coordinating the course and would serve as sponsor.
503,504 Senior capstone special topic- lecture/seminar course in which one faculty offers the course and presents a concentrated and integrated overview of theoretical issues in a more specified area or areas of psychology. The project would generally be a historical treatment of theoretical integration and not an empirical study.
505 A no credit number that can be used as a co-requisite with any departmental course when the faculty member offering that course agrees to sponsor a capstone experience. Specific topic would be related to content of the course. Must be added within the usual period for adding courses to insure that thereis adequate time to plan and complete the project. Evaluated on a S/U basis.
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