PSYC2500B/V: FOUNDATIONS OFCHILDDEVELOPMENTCRITICALREVIEWPAPER
Due: Wednesday,March 18, 2020no later than11:59pm, (submitted via the drop-box in cuLearn).
Purpose: The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with the opportunity to learn more about a specific area of interest within child development by having youselect, read, and critically commenton aprimary-sourceresearch article.
Topic: You must select anappropriateresearch article (see below for details) on any topic covered in class or raised in the textbook, with the caveat that itmust include research involving human children.If your article is not about research with human children, your paper will receive a score of zero.
Length:Between850 - 950 words(not including the reference page, the title page, or the abstract of the article you’ve chosen). Assignments that are too short, or too long, will lose marks. Make sure to include a word count on the cover page. While this is not a long paper, it does require some time and careful consideration to do well. Plan accordingly.
Your submitted Critical Review Paper must include:
(a) acover pagewith your name, the course code, the instructor’s name, the word count (including everything from the first word of the introduction to the last word of the discussion; not including the reference page, the title page, or the abstract of the selected article), and the title of your topic;
(b) a briefintroduction to the topicthat contextualizes it (explains the significance of the topic, situates it within the area of child development, defines the main terms, etc.);
(c) a briefintroduction to your selected articlethat makes clear the study’s goals and defines any additional key terms;
(d) a concisesummaryof your chosen article (this includes information about the participants, the method, the findings, and the author(s)’ interpretation);
(e) acritical commentaryon your research article (keep in mind thatcriticalcan include bothnegativeandpositiveaspects), making sure to include justifications for comments;
(f) areference pagelisting all cited sources; and
(g) theabstractof your selected article (cutting and pasting is fine, as is a screen shot of the
abstract) – the abstract isnotincluded in the word count of your assignment.
The paper must be in current APA format. Make sure to include: a running head, page numbers, in-text citations, and references. You may use sub-headings if you wish (make sure they are in
APA format), but keep in mind that sub- headings are not a substitute for a clear structure and good transitions between sections. For basic information about the APA style, please see:
Format:https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/paper-formatReferences:https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/referencesIn-Text Citations:https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/citations
Late penalty: You must submit the thought paper by the due date. After that, it will be considered late and a late penalty will apply (15% per day, or any portion thereof), unless there is appropriate documentation to support the late submission.
Important: Your thought paper should reflect your own work.Be very careful to not plagiarize.
WHAT COUNTS AS ANAPPROPRIATERESEARCHARTICLE FOR THIS ASSIGNMENT?
The research article your select for this assignment must present the results of a study (studies) or experiment(s). To help you understand the topic selected, you are encouraged to consult additional sources such as books, book chapters, other research articles, and review articles.
The research article must be published in a peer-reviewed, scientific journal. Some good research journals that cover development include:Developmental Psychology, Developmental Science, Child Development, Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, Journal of Educational Psychology, Cognitive Development, British Journal of Developmental Psychology, Social Development, Infant and Child Development, Personality and Individual Differences,andJournal of Cognition and Development.This is not an exhaustive list.
The article you select onmustbe a report of empirical work(e.g., not just describing a theory) and must be a report of a study (or studies) that the authors conducted. Itcannotbe a meta-analysis or discussion of others' work. Additionally, itcannotbe a chapter in a book nor can it be a thesis dissertation. Make sure that the selected article was published in the last 10 years (i.e., the publication date is2010 or later). It is, however, fine if you consult older work to familiarize yourself with your topic.
If you select an article that reports more than one study or experiment, you are encouraged to write your paper on only one of them (due to length considerations). If you do this, you must indicate that you are doing this in your paper.
PsychInfo is a valuable database for finding the necessary article – make sure you know how to use it. If you don't, please attend the scheduled library session during the class time or contact the library staff for assistance. Many recent development articles are available digitally through the Carleton system.
If you would like feedback as to whether an article meets the requirements, please come and talk to TAs or me by March 11, 2020(e.g., office hours or by appointment; please include a copy of
the abstract and other relevant information, such as the journal, publication year, etc.). Note that
no feedback will be given after March 11, 2020.
WHAT WILL THE THOUGHT PAPERS BE EVALUATED ON?
In grading this assignment, we will be evaluating the inclusion all components, and their quality. Here is a list of what we will be evaluating (theboldeditems are more heavily weighted, but all of them contribute to the final grade):
Cover Page (including word count)
Introduction to topic
Introduction to selected article
Summary
Justified Critical Commentary
Writing Quality throughout (e.g., clarity, flow, spelling, etc.)
APA Throughout
Reference Page
Abstract of selected article is included
Article was published in 2010 or later
Staying within the required word count (depending on the overage, this could be a
significant penalty)
SOME GUIDELINES TO KEEP IN MIND:
1) Use VERY few quotes (ideally none, but if necessary, use one or two short quotes, making sure to cite them properly).
2) Do NOT report the statistics – report results in meaningful sentences (especially if you don't understand them). For example, instead of reporting mean scores and t-values, report something like, “While the 6-year-olds performed significantly better on the single-addition task than did the 4-year-olds, there was no difference between the 6- and the 5-year-olds on this measure.”. Typically, the beginning of an article’s discussion section will report the main findings clearly.
3) Do not write article summaries with too much detail – you should be writing a summary such that when we read it, it is clear to us that you understand: (a) what question(s) the researchers wanted to answer; (b) who participated; (c) what the participants did; (d) what the researchers found; and (e) what the researchers interpret the results to mean. You should not present enough detail to replicate the study.
4) Report the dependent variable – spell it out (e.g., "Researchers measured ...")
5) Do not need to mention that participants didn't know about the purpose of the study unless you have reason to think otherwise (i.e., a concern).
6) Make your critical comments about meaningful aspects of the study. For example, were the tasks selected problematic in some way? Were there reasons to be concerned about the generalizability of the findings? Were there aspects of the study that were particularly well done? In all cases, justify/explain your critical comments.