The Psychology Student Writer's Manual and Reader's Guide

Book excerpt: The Psychology Student Writer's Manual 3/E is a practical guide to research, reading, and writing in the discipline. Ideal as either a companion or stand-alone text for any psychology course that requires students to write papers. This clear and functional handbook shows how to research and write in psychology as well as improve one's overall writing ability. Covering every fundamental aspect of writing (from content to form, grammar, tracking sources of information, and citing sources), it assists students in preparing two specific types of papers: research reports and term papers. Comprehensive source—Contains all the information needed to write most types of papers typically assigned in the discipline of psychology. Provides students with a complete, one-stop, easy-to-follow reference source on how to research and write papers—including how to conduct research in psychology, how to find information on topics related to psychology, how to incorporate citations, and more. Thorough review of writing basics and formatting instructions—Addresses fundamental concerns of all writers, exploring the reasons why we write, describing the writing process itself, and examining those elements of grammar, style, and punctuation that cause the most confusion among writers in general. Shows students the key elements of good writing and effective communication, gives students a quick and handy grammar reference source, and provides them with a detailed, easy-to-follow guide to preparing papers according to accepted formats. Creative writing assignments—Offers practical writing exercises with step-by-step instructions. Heightens students' interest in the study of psychology, and frees professors from the duty of teaching students to write the papers most often assigned in psychology classes. APA standards—Complies with all APA style requirements, displays formats for text, title pages, reference pages, tables of contents in APA format, details the APA citation system, and discusses the crucial responsibility of every psychology writer to use source material ethically. General analysis of psychology -◦Helps students obtain a deeper understanding of what constitutes the discipline of psychology so that they will become better and more educated writers on the subject.