Undergraduate Psychological Writing

Abstract

There is no comprehensive guide for teaching psychological writing, and little is known about how often instructors teach the topic. We present a best practices guide for teaching psychological writing beyond just American Psychological Association style, discuss psychology-specific writing assignments, and examine psychological writing instruction. In an online survey, 177 psychology instructors across the United States reported on psychological writing instruction and their writing assignments. In general, we found that instructors reported using many best practices. Comparisons between courses revealed that instructors use course-specific writing instruction such that it becomes progressively complex across courses. However, instructors might not provide students with enough training to successfully complete assignments. Instructors assign diverse assignments, though, suggesting that students get varied practice at psychology-specific writing.