Psychology Essay Writing: Professionalism, Creativity and Experience

How to Write a Psychology Essay Appropriately

Writing a psychology essay is considered more interesting than other types of essays. The way of producing such an essay is similar to that of other academic papers. First, one has to make a detailed plan of the whole process. Second, it is required to undertake research on the chosen topic and thoroughly analyze the collected information. As soon as enough material is gathered, you may proceed to producing an outline followed by writing the very paper. Once your work is created, you will need to edit it. This is a brief description of how to write a psychology essay. Down below, the mentioned stages are explained in detail. Additionally, we will highlight the difference between a psychology essay and other kinds of papers.

Before describing each of the stages of the preparation process, it is necessary to state that an introduction is an essential section of your paper. It serves to interest readers in the topic highlighted in your piece of writing. In order to help readers concentrate on the matter in question and show that you have examined it thoroughly, you can provide some statistical data and concrete facts about it. Now, let us devise the best way to write a psychology essay.

Do careful planning

The planning stage starts with reading the guidelines on your assignment. Remember that it is essential to study the directions provided by your professor carefully to understand what is expected from you. If you just look them through, you will not be able to examine each of the aspects of the given topic. At this stage, you should also determine the amount of time necessary for doing research and writing your work.

Collecting and analyzing data

The library relating to your educational establishment is the best place to begin your research. The majority of educational institutions have access to different databases. Therefore, gathering material should not be challenging for you. Additionally, you should browse the Net, as it offers a number of websites providing information about different subjects in Psychology. When surfing the Internet, you will find useful manuscripts, articles and excerpts from journals and other kinds of psychology-related publications. By the way, some sources may also provide links to other resources containing the material relevant to your topic.

When using the articles from some journals, extracts or just the phrases from some publications, it will be easier for you to arrange quotations when creating your paper. In addition, with such information at hand, you will not find it hard to organize references at the end of your work.

Outline: is it necessary to create it?

If you are an experienced writer, you may skip this stage. Nevertheless, when writing a college essay, an outline will help you clearly determine the direction, which you should move in. Moreover, by following an outline, it will be easier for you to structure your writing project and cover all aspects of your topic. In other words, with a detailed outline at hand, writing a worthy paper will not seem challenging.

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Creating your essay

It has already been mentioned above that an outline plays an important role in producing academic papers, as it helps keep the flow of information smooth. If you do not have an outline, you still have to make your essay coherent. Usually, papers consist of the following structural components:

• Introduction

This unit should present the data attracting readers’ attention to the discussed matter. When writing an introductory section, you need to explain readers why the chosen subject is worth being investigated. For example, if the topic of your work is “Teenagers’ depression,” you will be required to provide some basic information about it proving that such a psychological state may lead to serious consequences and, therefore, has to be explored.

• Essay Question

Once the subject matter is identified, you should present the research questions you are going to examine. It should be admitted that the papers based on qualitative analysis demand posing research questions, while those based on the quantitative one require making a hypothesis.

• Literature Review

In this section, you need to present the sources you have browsed when gathering information. The indicated entries should provide the perspective which the subject is currently considered from in the academic area. Remember that you need to highlight your topic first, and then make a summary of the reviewed literature.

• Concluding Section

Here, you need to restate the chief points of your work. Keep in mind that a conclusion should make everything clear meaning readers should not have any questions about the examined issue. It is worth starting this section with the words “To conclude,” “To summarize,” to show readers that your research has reached the final point.

A great number of essays in Psychology are formatted in the APA style. However, other citation modes can be used as well. Thus, once you get your assignment, make sure it is clearly stated what format has to be applied. You do understand that meeting formatting specifications is vital if you desire to get a high grade.

Editing your piece of writing

All papers have to be edited thoroughly even if they are written by highly experienced writers. In order to make certain that your writing project does not contain any flaws, you should use modern spell and grammar checkers. Once the mentioned checks are done, you should read your paper again to make sure it is clear and properly represents the essence of the subject.

Difference between Psychology Essays and Other Papers

Now, when you understand how to write a psychology essay, it is necessary to explain why such a paper is considered specific. The purpose of psychology essays is to show students’ understanding of the assigned topic. Apart from providing information gathered from the sources illustrating a specific subject, you will also need to express your opinion on it what is not demanded when writing papers in Mathematics, Chemistry or Physics, for example.

When do students write a psychology essay? They work on papers of such kind to show their understanding of certain people and groups of individuals via research of certain cases and application of general principles. They also do psychology essay writing to show their understanding of particular concepts or psychological terms.

Experimental papers in the sphere of psychology are written to cover four key objectives:

1. To present the events that have taken place and explain the reasons.
2. To predict the probability of the same event.
3. To change or prevent possible behavior or behavior.

Are these essays time-consuming? Yes, they definitely are! Nevertheless, you can get an essay on any psychological topic from a perfect online service if you contact us!

Whatever level of the essay you need (high school, college, or university), you should take the same steps to follow the same major stages:

• Understanding of the aim
• Deciding on the topic of a psychology essay
• Collecting information
• Developing an outline: introductory part, body sections, conclusion
• Making the format right
• Writing a rough draft
• Editing
• Working on the final essay

Aim

What is the main aim of writing a psychology essay? It is the description or explanation of a particular concept.
Have a look at the examples of good topics for psychology essay papers:

1. What are reasons for phobias and anxiety?
2. What causes hallucinations?
3. Key characteristics of autonomic nervous system
4. Analysis of behavior

Students may sometimes give diagnoses in psychology essays with detailed descriptions and explanations. They present their point of view and tell the reasons why they believe a certain person has a particular disorder.

Topics for Psychology Essays

Topics for your psychology papers are typically given by professors or teachers. However, if you are free to choose the topic, you can make use of our advice and recommendations.

Choose a topic that belongs to a certain psychological branch. It is pretty simple to select an excellent topic for a good psychology paper. You should choose a topic which is sufficiently narrow; in that case, you can concentrate on a definite subject. However, the topic cannot be too narrow either; otherwise, you will not be able to find reliable sources for your research. Do you need an example? For instance, you might be interested in writing about a   cognitive disorder; however, this topic is too broad. Thus, you may choose such topics as ‘Parkinson's disease and cognitive impairment’ or similar ones which will benarrow.

Present a certain disorder. When you learn how to write a psychology essay, you will get to know that mental disorders can be defined as certain patterns of psychological or behavioral symptoms with significant impact on various life spheres. Use one of the following ideas to excel.

Anxiety disorders(with excessive continuous worries which interfere with normal daily life)

• Fear of public places or agoraphobia
• Disorder of social anxiety (people feel discomfort and are afraid of possible embarrassment, humiliation, or rejection)

Bipolar disorders(with rapid swings of energy and mood)

• Episodes of depression (with feeling of guilt, sadness, fatigue, and irritation)
• Mania (with overexcitement)

Disorders related with stress and trauma(caused by some traumatic events)

• Disorders related to adjustment (as a response to abrupt changes, in particular job loss, divorce, disappointment, or end of relationships)
• Disorder of post-traumatic stress (after a stressful event)

Dissociative disorders

• Disorder of dissociative identity (feeling someone else in one’s own body)
• Dissociative amnesia (memory loss for a certain period)
• Derealization or depersonalization disorder (with feeling somewhere outside of the body without any connection with reality

Eating disorders

• Pica (eating non-eatable substances: glass, soap, etc.)
• Anorexia (limited consumption of food with loss of weight and extremely low body weight)

Disorders of sleep

• Parasomnia (with abnormal behavior in the course of sleep)
• Narcolepsy (excessively strong need in sleep)
• Insomnia (inability to get sufficient sleep)

Impulse-control disruptive disorder

• Pyromania (with admiration of burning and fire)
• Kleptomania (with strong desire to steal)

Choose a topic of a psychology paper in the sphere of cognition. Cognition sphere is the field of mental functions such as memory, learning, language, attention, reasons, perception, development of concepts, and process of making decisions. What topics can you choose?

• Perception
• Dreams
• Moral judgment

Choose the topics for psychology essays about human development. What is a psychology essay in the sphere of human development? Select a topic related to early childhood, for example social learning, language learning, and others. You may find it exciting to write about:

1. Child abuse in the families
2. School bullying
3. Gender roles of girls and boys

Make your paper related to an academic journal or book. Do profound analysis of a famous study or experiment. If you relate your essay to an experiment of revolutionary significance, you can gain insight into the sphere. Select one particular aspect and give descriptions or explanations about its functioning and contribution.

• Robbers cave experiment
• Stanford prison study
• Asch conformity experiment
• Conditioning experiment of Pavlov

Common Questions Related to Psychology Essay Writing

Nature versus Nurture

It is one of the main problems in the sphere of social science. What is the most important aspect: hereditary characteristics and biology or the environment? It is a common view that people are made by a combination of the two, and the students find it interesting to defend their own view in their papers.

Can Psychology Be Defined as a Science?

It is a debatable question that does not have one universal answer. Some claim that psychology is not a science as the concepts and theories are frequently not confirmed. The counter-argument of researchers is that such sciences as biology and chemistry are the basis for psychology. Thus, the subject cannot give solid explanation why angry young people slam the doors, but can give description of reasons for anxiety and depression.

Why Psychology?

If psychology is chosen as a major, there is a question about the reasons why it is selected. The paper should demonstrate your enthusiastic attitude and passionate hope that the classes of psychology can be of great use.

Child Psychology

Psychology essay writing also deals with developmental psychology applied for understanding the metal development from the stage of infancy to the stage of adolescence. Research famous works of Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Vygotsky can be helpful for such essays. Explore different psychology topics and choose the one you like among theories of attachment, language acquisition, important development periods, and others.

Personality

Explain why the people are so different, and explore the topics related to theories of personality types, humanistic theories, and psychoanalytic concepts.

Psychology in Daily Life

The topics deal with a wide variety of every day practices related to applied psychology in terms of counseling, medical sphere, education, and clinical field. Pick the most exciting area and show your genuine interest in writing.

Forensic Psychology

This is the sphere between the system of justice and psychology. Thus, researchers handle issues related to trials and law and cover such subjects as validity of testimonies, sexual harassment, antisocial behavior, and others.