The Carpenter Medal was awarded by the Senate of the University of London once every three years.
The recipient was a former student who had submitted a thesis (resulting in the award of a doctorate) of exceptional distinction in statistical, genetic, comparative or experimental psychology during the three-year period.
This could include work on the physiology of the central nervous system and "special senses".
[1] The medal was named after William Benjamin Carpenter, registrar of the university from 1856 until 1879.
[2] The medal need not be awarded if the Senate did not consider that a sufficiently good thesis had been submitted during the three-year period.