PSYC 725 ARTICLE SUMMARY ASSIGNMENT INSTRUCTIONS OVERVIEW

Reading and understanding original research is an important skill for developmental psychologists. Understanding research methodology and the sections of a journal article is critical for doctoral-level psychologists. This assignment will help you learn to objectively evaluate research and to seek and understand scholarly sources of information and to use them as a source of knowledge. This assignment can also help you begin your Research Paper: Topic and References Assignment, as the summary you write may later be used in your Research Paper: Final Submission Assignment. INSTRUCTIONS

You will write two brief summaries of peer-reviewed, research-based journal articles of your choice that pertain to developmental psychology.

Each summary must be 1 to 3 pages in length. A title page and abstract are not necessary. A reference page should be included that lists the APA-formatted reference of the article or chapter you summarized. No additional references are needed other than the reference for the article you are summarizing.

The summary should focus on: Link to Topics: https://www.apa.org/topics

• what was hypothesized. • what was done. • what was found. • what was concluded.

You can find a list of journals affiliated with the American Psychological Association (APA) on the Article Summary Assignment pages under Article Summary Resources. These are not the only acceptable journals – many others are available and may be used for the assignment – but this list is provided to give you examples of scholarly journals. If you click “By Subject” and then click “Developmental Psychology,” you will see journals specific to developmental psychology. Child Development is another well-respected developmental psychology journal that is not affiliated with the APA. Some of the databases have the option to select “peer-reviewed” sources; selecting this option will help you eliminate non-scholarly sources from your search results. The Jerry Falwell Library is a reliable place to conduct your searches. You do not need to pay for articles. Articles that ask you to pay for access can generally be accessed through the Jerry Falwell Library without requiring payment. You may incorporate the summary into your Research Paper: Final Submission Assignment later in the course, if you choose. Be sure to review the criteria on the Article Summary Grading Rubric before beginning this assignment. Note: Your assignment will be checked for originality via the Turnitin plagiarism tool.

https://www.apa.org/topics