The tasks of the assignment are as follows:

1. Choose an empirical article from a professional journal where the author(s) describes the purpose,method, and results of a scientific investigation. Some examples of relevant journals in Developmental

Psychology are:

a. Developmental Psychology

b. Human Development

c. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly

d. Child Development

e. Adolescence

f. Journal of Youth and Adolescence

g. Journal of Early Adolescence

h. Journal of Black Psychology

i. Developmental Review

j. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

k. Journal of Marriage and the Family

l. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences

m. Death Studies

Note that not all research articles are complicated reading. As a novice, it might help to browse through the journals until you come upon one that is of interest, as well as readable. Students may use one from above or approve another one with the Professor.

2. Identify the article chosen by including a full APA style reference of it at the top of the assignment.

3. Briefly summarize the research article using the headings most common to such empirical reports.

a. These include:

i. Introduction

1. Generally, the introduction states a rationale for the investigation and the purpose of the study. The introduction also reviews relevant research.

ii. Method

1. Includes a description of the participants, instruments, and procedures.

iii. Results

1. Addresses the significant findings of the study.

iv. Discussion and Conclusion

1. This is where the author(s) summarize(s) the findings and future directions.

4. Type your one-page abstract. Note that in writing an abstract student does not want to reproduce or summarize the entire article. Rather, students want to provide the most salient information, as succinctly as possible in each of the aforementioned areas. Further, in some instance's students might choose to

replicate or incorporate part of the original text. In these cases, students MUST put quotation marks around the words they are copying, followed by the page number in parentheses.