A psychology essay is an essential part of many student’s education. It can cover various topics, from the history of theories to the reflective analysis of dreams or behavior. Whether a student taking Advanced Placement (AP) Psychology needs to complete a short paper or writing an IB (International Baccalaureate) extended essay to pass the exam, the structure and format are the same: introduction, body, and conclusion.
However, the choice of the topic will define the issue in the body and essay’s corresponding depth and volume. On this page, you can find examples of different psychology essays, understand their differences, and choose the appropriate topic for your level of assignment.
Where to Start
Before deciding on the topic of an essay about psychology and getting started, you need to complete several preparatory steps. First, you need to answer a few questions to determine the direction of writing:
- Is this an essay for a class discussion or an exam?
- Is this a short essay, an extended report, or one of a series of papers?
- Is it a persuasive essay, reflection, or analysis?
- Which branch of psychology should be considered?
- What level of knowledge does the assignment require?
The answers to these questions will help you understand how complex and multifaceted the topic must be so that the information will be sufficient to cover the requirements of the instructions. Typically, university faculty or writing centers provide prompts and rubrics that indicate details required for discussion in an essay.
Can you start now?
No. The next step is to find sources and write an outline to help you build and organize a good essay and not get lost in large amounts of information. The choice of reliable scientific sources and their proper citation in APA, MLA, or other styles significantly affects the quality of the essay and the positive assessment of the work. Moreover, searching for sources will help sort out difficult, inappropriate, or incomprehensible topics and determine the main issue to study.
As a result, you will have a general picture of the future essay and a work plan that will help you focus on the arguments and write a good essay without difficulty.
Types of Essay on Psychology
Psychology is a science that studies various aspects of human behavior, mental aspects, and brain functions. Hence, science covers thousands of different topics that can be grouped into specific types or categories. From these categories, you can choose a topic for your essay.
Essays on the behavior and interaction of people in everyday life. In this case, the topics can include patterns of verbal and non-verbal communication, working relationships, types of temperaments, types of psychological resilience, or even study on dreams.
Essay on abnormal behavior. In this category, you can examine the signs, causes, or symptoms of deviant behavior, and analyze specific theories or case studies.
Essay on human development. Human development is also a broad topic as it is divided into lifetime periods and influenced by external factors. For this reason, you can choose one of the developmental theories or apply it to a case study to write an extensive paper.
Now you have an idea of how to write an essay on psychology and how to choose the right topic. If you have not decided yet, look at the titles of the sample essays and use them directly or paraphrase on a topic that is convenient for you. In any case, using our tips, you can quickly write a paper, save it in PDF, send it to your professor, and earn a high grade. Our other academic writing tips articles will help you with this challenging assignment.