Statutes and Ordinances of the University of Cambridge
CHAPTER IV
pp. 424–426
PRELIMINARY EXAMINATIONS AND TRIPOS EXAMINATIONS

The Ordinances contained in this Chapter are Ordinances of the General Board

In this section

TRIPOS EXAMINATIONS

PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIOURAL SCIENCES TRIPOS172

General

Three parts.

1. The Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Tripos shall consist of three Parts: Part I, Part IIa, and Part IIb.

2. No student shall be a candidate for more than one Part, or for any Part and also for another Honours Examination, in the same term.

3. No student shall be a candidate for any Part on more than one occasion.

4. No student shall offer any paper which he or she has previously offered in another University examination.

Examiners and Assessors.

5. There shall be three separate bodies of Examiners, one for Part I, one for Part IIa, and one for Part IIb. For each of the three bodies there shall be a Chairman of Examiners, provided that the same person may be appointed Chairman for two or more bodies. For each body there might also be one or more Assistant Chairmen of Examiners. Chairmen and Assistant Chairmen of Examiners shall be appointed on the nomination of the Committee of Management of the Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Tripos; nominations shall be made not later than the last day of Full Easter Term in the calendar year next preceding that in which the examination is to be held. For each of the three bodies, the Committee of Management shall, in consultation with Faculty Boards or comparable authorities, nominate such number of Examiners as they shall deem sufficient to conduct the examination. An Examiner may be appointed to examine in more than one Part of the Tripos in any year.

6. The Chairmen of Examiners shall communicate the marks of all candidates to the Registrary.

7. The Committee of Management shall have power to nominate one or more Assessors to examine in any of the subjects of the Tripos. Assessors shall be required to set the paper or papers in the subjects assigned to them and to present such written reports to the Examiners as may be required. Assessors may be summoned to meetings of the Examiners for the purpose of consultation and advice, but shall not be entitled to vote.

Class-lists.

8. There shall be a separate class-list for each Part of the Tripos. In each list the names of the successful candidates shall be arranged in three classes, of which the second shall be divided into two divisions. The names in the first and third classes, and in each division of the second class, shall be arranged in alphabetical order. In each class-list a mark of distinction shall be affixed to the names of those candidates placed in the first class whose work is of special merit.

9. Before the end of the Easter Term the Committee of Management shall give notice of the Optional Papers for the examinations to be held in the next academical year provided that the Committee shall have the power of subsequently issuing amendments if they have due reason for doing so and if they are satisfied that no student’s preparation for the examination is adversely affected. The Committee shall have power when they give notice of Optional Papers to announce any consequential restriction on the combination of papers that a candidate may choose to offer.

Supplementary regulations.

10. The Committee of Management in consultation with a Faculty Board or comparable authority concerned shall have power to issue from time to time supplementary regulations or Notices defining or limiting all or any of the subjects of examination, and determining the scope, character, and conditions of the papers and the credit that shall be assigned to each, and to amend or withdraw such regulations and Notices; provided that due care is taken to give sufficient notice of any supplementary regulation or of any amendment of an existing supplementary regulation.

Part I

Scheme of Examination.

11. The scheme of examination for Part I shall be as follows.

Section A

 PBS 1.

Introduction to psychology (also serves as a paper in Part Ia of the Computer Science Tripos)

 PBS 2.

Psychological enquiry and methods

Section B

 Optional Papers announced by the Faculty Board in accordance with Regulation 9.

12. A student may be a candidate for honours in Part I if he or she has kept one term, provided that three complete terms have not passed after his or her first term of residence.

13. A candidate for honours in Part I of the Tripos shall offer four written papers as follows:

  1. (a)the two papers in Section A, plus
  2. (b)two papers from Section B.

14. There shall be separate examinations of three hours’ duration set for each paper specified in Section A. Papers in Section B will be examined in accordance with the regulations set down by the Faculty or comparable authority concerned.

Part IIa

Standing of Candidates.

15. A student who has obtained honours in Part I of the Tripos or in another Honours Examination, in the year next after so obtaining honours, provided that twelve complete terms have not passed after her or his first term of residence, may be a candidate for honours in Part IIa.173

16. The scheme of examination for Part IIa shall be as follows:

 PBS 3.

Social psychology (may also serve as a paper in Part II of the Human, Social, and Political Sciences Tripos)

 PBS 4.

Biological and cognitive psychology

 PBS 5.

Experimental psychology (the subject Experimental Psychology in Part Ib of the Natural Sciences Tripos)

 PBS 6.

Research project, as prescribed in Regulation 19

 PBS 1.

Introduction to psychology (Paper PBS 1 from Part I of the Tripos)

 PBS 2.

Psychological inquiry and methods (Paper PBS 2 from Part I of the Tripos)

Optional Papers from the list published in accordance with Regulation 9.

17. A candidate for Part IIa shall offer four papers as follows:

  1. (a)PBS 3;
  2. (b)either(i)PBS 4 and two further papers chosen from the list of Optional Papers published in accordance with Regulation 9,174
  3. or(ii)PBS 5, PBS 6, and one further paper chosen from the list of Optional Papers published in accordance with Regulation 9,174

subject to Regulation 4, and provided that any candidate who has not previously completed Part I of the Tripos must, except with the permission of the Committee of Management, offer PBS 1 and PBS 2 if he or she has not previously offered this paper within another Tripos.

18. There shall be separate examinations of three hours’ duration set for Papers PBS 3 and PBS 4. Other papers will be examined in accordance with the regulations set down by the Faculty or comparable authority concerned.

19. Candidates offering PBS 6 shall submit a research project of not more than 5,000 words including footnotes and appendices but excluding any bibliography, in an area approved by the Committee of Management not later than the division of the Michaelmas Term, in printed or typewritten form to the Secretary of the Committee of Management not later than the end of the second week of the Full Easter Term in which the examination is to be held.

Part IIb

20. A student who has obtained honours in Part IIa of the Tripos and has kept seven terms may be a candidate for honours in Part IIb provided that twelve complete terms have not passed after her or his first term of residence.173

21. The scheme of examination for Part IIb shall be as follows.

 PBS 7.

Research dissertation as prescribed in Regulation 24

 PBS 8.

Development and psychopathology

 PBS 9.

Experimental psychology 1 (the first Psychology paper for the subject Physiology and Psychology in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos)

 PBS 10.

Experimental psychology 2 (the second Psychology paper for the subject Physiology and Psychology in Part II of the Natural Sciences Tripos)

 PBS 11.

A paper in psychology 1

 PBS 12.

A paper in psychology 2

Optional Papers from the list published in accordance with Regulation 9.

22. A candidate for honours in Part IIb shall be required to offer PBS 7, the research dissertation, and three further papers, provided that:

  1. (i)any candidate who has not previously offered PBS 5 at Part IIa of the Tripos must offer PBS 8;
  2. (ii)any candidate who offers PBS 9 must also offer PBS 10.

23. There shall be separate examinations of three hours’ duration for each paper specified. Candidates may be called for viva voce examination.

Dissertations.

24. Candidates for Part IIb shall submit a research dissertation in an area of Psychology.

(a) Each candidate must obtain the approval of the Committee of Management for the proposed topic not later than the division of the Michaelmas Term. The application shall be in accordance with any instructions issued by the Committee of Management and will include the topic of the proposed dissertation and a brief account of its scope. After the Committee of Management have approved a topic no substantial change may be made in it without the further approval of the Committee of Management.

(b) The research dissertation shall contain full references to any sources used in its composition, and shall be of not less than 6,000 words and not more than 10,000 words in length, including footnotes and appendices but excluding any bibliography.

(c) The research dissertation shall be submitted in printed or typewritten form to the Secretary of the Committee of Management not later than the end of the second week of the Full Easter Term in which the examination is to be held. Each dissertation shall bear the candidate’s examination number but not the candidate’s name and shall be accompanied by (i) a brief synopsis on a separate sheet of paper of the contents of the dissertation, and (ii) a certificate signed by the candidate that it is her or his own original work, and that it does not contain material that has already been used to any substantial extent for a comparable purpose.

Temporary Regulation

25. The examinations for the Psychological and Behavioural Sciences Tripos shall be held for the first time as follows:

Part I in 2014

Part IIa in 2015

Part IIb in 2016

Footnotes

  1. 172. These regulations will come into effect in accordance with the timetable in Temporary Regulation 25.a
  2. 173. See also the regulations for Affiliated Students.a b
  3. 174. Provided that no pair of papers from the Optional Papers list with the same number, a and b are offered (e.g. HPS1a or HPS1b).a b