Psych Essays - They should be essays

Psychology essays should be essays. This means they should include:

An Introduction
 This should rephrase the essay question and provide a roadmap for the essay as a whole.
 Ideally it will have a ‘hook’. Something that grabs the reader’s attention.
 The introduction doesn’t have to be, and arguably shouldn’t be, written first.
 Might be ~10% of the word count as a rule of thumb

Body paragraphs
 There should be as many of these as you need.
 Each paragraph should work on developing a single topic/idea
 New idea = new paragraph
 Generally your paragraphs should follow the SEE structure (statement, example, explanation)
 They should follow a logical order
 Each paragraph should flow on from the last
 Your paragraphs should occur in a logical order
o Typically this order involves covering broad questions first and more precise questions later. This is often referred to as the inverted pyramid model
o Often the order/structure will be supplied in the question you are given.
 Your paragraph order should match the roadmap supplied in your
introduction (this is why it can be a good idea to write your
introduction last).

A conclusion
 This should mirror the introduction.
 It should summarise your key points.
 Ideally it will not include any new information.
 Might be ~10% of the word count as a rule of thumb



Also, Psych essays
o Are not Sarcastic
o Are not emotional
o Don’t use informal language
o Avoid generalisations
o Are gender & culturally appropriate/sensitive/inclusive (i.e. they’re not racist/sexist)
o Don’t use exclamation marks to prove their point!
o Answer the question that has been asked.

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