Psychology 236 - Human Growth & Development: APA Style Basics

In APA style you can use the first person point of view when describing your research, or for this assignment, personal events (I discovered...). 

Using scientific style writing does not mean your paper has to be dull. You can still aim for an interesting tone that reflects your involvement with the problem while writing your paper. One way to do this is to imagine you are writing for a specific audience, for example, someone you are familiar with that does not know the technical jargon (APA, 2011). 
 
Best practices state to avoid sarcasm, exaggeration, rhyming, poetic expressions, and clichés in APA style writing. Don't use metaphors and analogies unless they are helping to convey a complex idea (Purdue OWL, 2015). 

Show respect for your subjects by recognizing bias in your paper. Demeaning attitudes toward persons on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, racial or ethnic groups, disability, or age is not acceptable.  

Conciseness in writing uses the most fitting words to covey the message. Using this style of writing helps to eliminate unnecessary words and phrases. 

This handout from the Purdue Owl is an excellent resource about concise writing. 

Using transitional words will help to maintain the flow of your paper. 
Here are some examples of transitional words:

• Time links - then, next, after, while, since
• Cause or Effect links - therefore, consequently, as a result
• Contrast links - but, conversely, nevertheless, however, although

It's best to be clear-cut in your approach to writing.  Use words that mean what you want to say, the APA manual gives some excellent examples:

• feel broadly substitutes for think or believe
• like is used when such as is meant

Colloquial expressions are the use of informal words or expressions, and slang. Colloquial expressions should only be used in creative writing papers.

Be careful when using pronouns such as: this, that, these, and those, when they refer to something or someone in a previous sentence. Instead be specific and use, for example, this test, that trial, these participants, and those results. (APA, 2011).