{"id":11606,"date":"2019-01-18T04:49:29","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T19:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/?p=11606"},"modified":"2019-01-18T04:49:29","modified_gmt":"2019-01-17T19:49:29","slug":"essay-writing-advice-do-we-need-a-counter-argument-in-every-essay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.themantic-education.com\/ibpsych\/2019\/01\/18\/essay-writing-advice-do-we-need-a-counter-argument-in-every-essay\/","title":{"rendered":"Essay Writing Advice: Do we need a counter-argument in every essay?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do we need a counter-argument in every essay? This is a common question that has different answers depending on who you ask, so I want to make my position on this question very clear. In my advice to students I say that yes,\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>they should have a counter-argument in every essay. In fact, they should aim for three<\/strong> counter-arguments to show their full range of critical thinking abilities. If you don’t like the term counter-argument, then you can say “critical thinking point;” I am using these terms synonymously and I’ll explain why that is below.<\/p>\n

If using counter-arguments in every essay doesn’t sound right to you then it might be because we have different opinions on what constitutes a “counter-argument,” and that’s fine.\u00a0<\/em>\"Screen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Let’s first establish what a counter-argument is. To quote the Harvard writing center: “<\/em><\/strong>When you write an academic essay, you make an argument: you propose a thesis and offer some reasoning, using evidence, that suggests why the thesis is true. <\/em>When you counter-argue, you consider a possible argument\u00a0against\u00a0your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning.”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

In an IB Psychology essay, for every topic you should develop a thesis, a central argument, that shows your conceptual understanding of the topic. This is then followed by one or two studies that support your thesis (i.e.your central argument). For example, you might be asked to “Discuss the effect of one or more neurotransmitters on human behaviour.” Your central thesis could be that a serotonin deficiency could affect antisocial behaviour and explain why this occurs by looking at the links between serotonin, the PFC, and antisocial behaviour. You support this with studies like Passamonti et al.’s (read more here<\/a>). This is showing your conceptual understanding of how neurotransmitters can influence behaviour.<\/p>\n

In order to show critical thinking, I argue, you have to change the\u00a0direction of your central argument – you need to critically reflect on the validity of your argument and\/or the evidence upon which it’s based<\/strong><\/em>. This is why I consider the IB critical thinking points to be all examples of counter-arguments because they\u00a0are encouraging you to argue “…against<\/em>\u00a0your thesis or some aspect of your reasoning”:\"Screen<\/p>\n