This assignment will help you complete the following course objectives:
• Articulate how sport and physical activity participation influences psychological factors of the participant.
• Critique the ways in which sport, exercise, and physical activity impact the psychology of participants.
For this assignment, you are going to summarize and analyze recent research on a physical activity psychology topic from the first unit, exploring the influence of exercise on different psychological factors. You will select one original research article from the options below, read and annotate the article, and write a report that summarizes the research article and integrates the research findings with course content. It is expected that you will cite the research article and the textbook/class notes in your report.

1. Introduction paragraph on exercise and your chosen psychological factor. You should introduce the topic of your report, indicate why this topic is important, and clarify the purpose of your report. (~.5 page)
2. Article Summary: For your chosen research article, answer the following questions in paragraph form (multiple questions can be integrated into a single paragraph, but paragraphs should still be cohesive). Your summary should be a condensed version of the article rather than an article abstract. It will contain more information than the article’s abstract and will require you to read and understand the entire research article. Your article summary should be approximately 1-1.5 pages and include in-text citations for the research article.
◦ What was the purpose of the article?
◦ Who were the study participants? How were they recruited? What were the inclusion/exclusion criteria?
◦ What type of research design was used?
◦ What was the independent (exposure) variable(s)? How was it measured (or manipulated if research was an experimental design)?
◦ What was the dependent (outcome) variable(s)? How was it measured?
◦ What were the main study findings? What are the conclusions of this research article?
3. Evaluation of article and connection to class content: How do the study findings connect to content covered on that topic in class? What findings are similar? What findings are different? Where discrepancies lie, what might be the reason for this? **Incorporate critical thinking and substantive connections to class content on the psychological topic of focus in your article*  (~.5 to 1 page)
4. Application of findings and conclusion: What are the practical applications of these findings? How would the findings of the research article and class content be used when working as an exercise, health, or fitness professional? Summarize key points of report and provide a strong take home message. (~.5 page)
5. Reference page in APA format (should include chosen article, and textbook/class notes)