PSYC1029 Psychology of Sex, Love and Attraction, T3 2022
Essay Instructions
A single, 750-1000 word essay must be submitted through the Turnitin portal on the
PSYC1029 Moodle page by 11:59 pm AEST on Friday 11th November 2022 (Week
9). The essay will be worth 28% of the total course mark.
In many species, including our own, males are often uncertain of the paternity of
potential offspring. Address option A or B below:
Option A
Choose three species with varying mating strategies. Compare and
contrast the strategies adopted by the males of those species to
mitigate paternity uncertainty (i.e., what distinct behaviours or
biological tools have they evolved to maximise their odds of
passing on their genes?).
Option B
Evaluate the impact of paternity uncertainty on human behaviour
(e.g., sexual jealousy, mate preference, and/or parenting).

What to keep in mind:
• In addressing one of the above questions, you are encouraged to discuss a
theory that attempts to explain how paternity uncertainty affects mating,
sexual, romantic, and/or parenting behaviour.
• If you choose Option A, you should address the question of how the males of
the species mitigate paternity uncertainty. An excellent essay will compare the
strategies across species.
• If you choose Option B, pick some behaviour(s) listed above to focus on as,
given the word limit, it is unlikely you will be able to make a strong argument if
you try to discuss all the examples of human behaviour.
• You need to select appropriate literature to cite in your essay (i.e., websites,
blogs, etc. are not considered appropriate sources; published scientific
literature is appropriate). You should use empirical evidence (e.g., published
journal articles) to support your evaluation.
• You should not simply list a general description of facts. Instead, you need to
clearly discuss important concepts in the literature and evidence from
research, and then provide a detailed explanation of how/why these points are
relevant in answering the essay question. You might also consider the
strength of evidence that you have used in your essay (e.g., by identifying
potential weaknesses in the experimental design).
Online Library tutorial on searching using databases:
• UNSW librarians have built a short, online Library tutorial on effectively
searching databases tailored for this assignment topic.
• The link to this activity is on Moodle in the essay session. We encourage
students to complete the short tutorial individually in Week 4.
• The Week 5 Zoom session is an opportunity to ask questions about
conducting literature searches. Please complete the short tutorial prior to
attending the Zoom session.
• You can also do your own literature search using databases. Try searching in
Web of Science, Scopus, and/or Google Scholar. Be specific in your search
terms.
• Need quick access to full-text articles using internet off campus? Try a
browser extension or signing into myLibrary.
Essay Format:
• You should include a title that you form yourself (i.e., do not repeat the essay
topic word-for-word). Near the title indicate if you are addressing Option A or
B.
• The 750-1000 word limit is strict. There will be a 2.5% penalty for a word
count of 1001-1100, plus a further 2.5% penalty for every 50 words thereafter.
• In-text citations and subheadings (if used, but often these are not required)
are included in the word count.
• The reference list itself does not form part of the word count, nor does the
title, or other peripherals such as your name and student ID number.
• If you choose to include figures or tables within your essay, make sure that
the figure caption contains sufficient information to understand its content.
Avoid presenting new information or arguments in your figure captions that
are not mentioned within the main body of your essay (figure captions/
headings do not contribute to the word count).
• Do not include an abstract or appendices in your essay.
• The flow of ideas and arguments presented in your essay is important. You
may choose to approach the essay how you like, but your ideas should link
together and flow in a logical fashion.
• Please use Arial or Times New Roman font size 12 and double-spacing.
• Referencing (both in-text citations and the reference list) should be completed
using APA style (as per the APA manual’s 7th edition; see:
https://apastyle.apa.org/instructional-aids/reference-guide.pdf) or Harvard
reference style.
• It is expected that submissions adhere to the standard format of all academic
essays (i.e., introduction with a thesis statement, body, and conclusion). It is
assumed that students have polished academic essay writing skills, but if that
not the case, then it is highly recommended that students seek assistance
with essay writing skills prior to submitting this assessment. Poor academic
writing skills will negatively impact the mark achieved in this piece of
assessment. Resources for help with academic writing are included under the
‘Help with academic writing’ section below.
• Brief researching and writing skills resources are also on the course’s Moodle
page to provide further help to students on how to approach this essay.
Submission Guidelines and Late Penalty:
• The essay will submitted online via Turnitin.
• Unless an extended deadline has been granted, late submissions
submitted within five days (120 hours) after the initial deadline will incur
a penalty of 5% of the essay mark per day (including weekends) – we
suggest submitting ahead of the deadline to avoid last minute complications.
• The overdue submission deadline is five days (120 hours) after the initial
deadline. Therefore, the last day for Essay submissions is Wednesday in
Week 10 (at 11:59 PM). Any essay submitted after the overdue
submission deadline will not be marked and will receive a mark of zero.
In determining whether an assignment is overdue, the date it was submitted
online via Moodle will be used.
• Deduction of marks for late submissions will be in accordance with UNSW
and School policy. Should accident/illness/misadventure prevent you from
submitting your essay on time, you need to apply formally online for special
consideration and provide appropriate supporting documentation with your
application.
• Students with Equity Learning Plan adjustments for written assessments
need to notify the course coordinator via email (k.baker@unsw.edu.au) of
their intention to exercise their support within the notification period
established in their individual Equity Learning Plan.
Feedback:
• Marks and feedback will be returned to students 10 working days from the
due date.
Plagiarism:
• Please familiarise yourself with UNSW’s policy on plagiarism. This is very
important because plagiarism is a serious academic offence. This course
takes all forms (e.g., inappropriate citation and/or paraphrasing, excessive
quoting, copying, self-plagiarism etc.) of plagiarism seriously and action will
be taken if plagiarism is identified in your work. For more information see:
https://student.unsw.edu.au/plagiarism
• Originality reports may be available to students. However, it is the student’s
responsibility to ensure that their work is original and free of plagiarism prior
to submission. If there are issues with your originality report you will be
contacted by the School of Psychology in due course.
Things to consider – What makes a good essay?
• The number of references you use is not important or an indication of essay
quality. A high-quality response can achieve a strong argument by carefully
selecting a few good research papers and discussing them in sufficient detail
to effectively support the argument. On the other hand, a characteristic of a
poor-quality response is not having described sufficient scientific research to
back up the arguments in the essay.
• The quality of essays will be judged on the clarity of the information provided,
and the integration of empirical evidence into a persuasive argument.
• The marking will be based on the strength of your argument and the clarity of
your expression of ideas. With this in mind, the audience you are writing for is
an intelligent person who is not an expert in evolutionary psychology.
Help with academic writing:
• For general help with academic writing see: https://student.unsw.edu.au/skills
• For help identifying and supporting arguments complete the online interactive
modules in Communication Coach. A link to the activity is available in the
Communication Coach section in Moodle.
• For comprehensive feedback on your writing, submit drafts of your essay to a
Smarthinking tutor. Details of this UNSW sanctioned service are provided in
the Smarthinking section in Moodle.