PSYC 435 ABNORMAL PSYCHOLOGY QUESTIONS WITH ANSWERS
2025/2026
What three ways can developmental psychopathology contribute to practice? - Assisting
professionals to determine the level of cognitive, social and personal development of a
child
Assisting professionals to explain behaviour within a developmental framework and
consider probable reasons for behaviour at a given time
Predict what a child may need to foster their development and test those predictions
(probablistic epigenisis - we dont have a chrystal ball)
How do you determine whether it is a phase or psychopathology? - Determine the
continuity between child and adult disorders HOWEVER
Linkage varies widely across diagnostic categories (bed wetting vs schizophrenia)
Specific indicators of childhood adjustment difficulties do not always predict adult
disorders
Broad indicators of adult childhood adjustment difficulties predict adult adjustment
difficulties (CASCADE EFFECTS)
What are cascade effects - Spillover effects on later adjustment
What is adaptational failure - failure to master or progress in accomplishing
developmental milestones
When should you intervene in childhood psychopathology - When it creates difficulty for
both current and future functioning
what is development effected by - Development is affected by risk-vulnerability (neglect)
and protective factors (attachement)
What did Rutter 1987 say about adversity and resilience - Opposite poles of individual
differences in peoples responses to adversity
EG: Some people have money or family to deal with stress
What is the overarching goal of developmental psychopathology - determine the
interplay between biological, pychological and social-contextual aspects in typical and
atypical development
developing methods to prevent maladaptive development
,Why is it critical to adopt a developmental perspective in terms of psychopathology -
Because psychopathology develops over time, and a D.P allows you to understand the
processes underlying individual development to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes
What does a developmental perspective presupposse? - Change and novelty also
highlighting the importance of timing in the organization of behaviour
Does developmental psychopathology reduce dualisms? - Yes in
empirical research/ clinical study
BEHAVIOURAL/ biological sciences
Why is a D.P unique? - Focuses on typical, atypical development and adaptive,
maladaptive developmental processes
How do you understand psychopathology more fully? - Understand how developmental
milestones are accomplished helps us understand how the process can go awry.
Must understand normal functioning that is different to the distortion in functioning
observed in psychopathology to investigate what went wrong
Can d.p help us understand resilience - Yes can study the developmental pathways of
individuals who achieve adequate development in the presence of significant adversity
or trauma
Why is developmental psychopathology revolutionary - Moves past descriptive facts to
understanding the processes underlying adaptive and maladaptive development
How can one progress to a disorder - Through multiple pathways as oppossed to one
(D.P investigation)
How can maltreated and nonmaltreated be resileint in reaching adequate development -
Maltreated: ego overcontrol, reserved approach
restraining emotional reactivity in volatile family environments good for maltreated
childen, however bad for non maltreated children
Same protective factors may lead to different outcomes for different children EPB!
Does DP look for predictors of later maladaptive development? - No it aims to
investigate the the interactive processes that lead to the emergence of psychopathology
Are neurobiological development and experience mutually influencing? - Yes
Conduct disorder: genetic and attachment (harsh family atmosphere)
How are neurobiological development and experience mutually influencing - Plasticity
due to experience dependent synaptogenesis
,pertubations that occur in the developing brain can trigger a cascade of growth and
changes that lead the neural system down a path that deviates from that usually taken
in normal development
Why is interdisciplinary integration important - Can be used to fully understand the
complexity in psychopathology (cognitive, behavioural, emotional, etc)
because these processes are interactive and this influences development
Improtant future scholars are educated in all of these areas
Can the D.P be racist? - Yes difference versus defecti
Minority populations may develop differently but this does not mean it is a defecit
D.P matured to be more integrative amongst more cultures
Although d.p discovers important phenomenon, what must occur? - Be translated into
practical applications
What in infancy can lead to ADHD - Proper caregivers who understand when their baby
is too aroused (looks away) by slowing reading and building up again when baby is
ready help baby cope with increasing arousal
If you intensely stimulate an infant who is over aroused, diminish the childs ability to
cope with arousal.
This can disrupt growing capabilities for regulation and lead to ADHD.
Does childhood predict adult depression - No (trait model) thereby suggests two distinct
phenomena
What predicts depression more than co-morbid disorders and preceeding disorders -
developmental antecedents such as early abuse
What can influence adolescent depression - Maternal depression (environment) but this
interacts with gender (nature)
- greater for girls
What influences childhood depression - Environment: abuse, family stress
What are savants - Autistic people with great talents in narrow areas
What the important of EBP - Helping is the goal
Finite resources (should put money into things that are shown to work)
Cost of getting peoples hopes up
- learned helplessness (depression)
, - dissonance of child not being smart
- sunk costs
Bias
What do professional writings in clinical psychology espouse? - a scientist-practitioner
model of practice
What is the scientist-practitioner model of practice? - Scientists should produce good
emipircal research and practitioners Be a good consumer of empirical research and
learn how to apply it in clinical practice
What is a core competency for clinical psychology - Discipline and knowledge of
scientific foundations and research
This competency covers the integration of science and practice in clinical psychology
What does the ongoing use of invalidated practices insinuate - Bad practice and
unethical Ollendick & Davis 2004
What did the NZ ministry of health want to do - Move away from opinion based practice
to ebp
What is the research to practice gap - There is a gap between best practice and actual
practice
Typical professional psychologists dont
engage in research
publish
have positive attitude toward research
Survey of psychologists in 2013
What issues are important when discussing the research to practice gap - Are research
and practice culturally congruent
Is the research within the practitioners capabilities
How are research and practice driven - Research is endogenously driven - lack of
literature
Practice is exogenously driven - deal with what comes through the door
What are ideological issues with the research-practice gap - clients preference
Researchers and practitioners anchor onto things they have found useful in the past
When has EBP become popular - Yes EBP has surged in past ten years accompanied
by improvements in clinical research and the connection of practice with the latest
research
What are issues with EBP - How will it be delivered? (modality, content, etc)
2025/2026
What three ways can developmental psychopathology contribute to practice? - Assisting
professionals to determine the level of cognitive, social and personal development of a
child
Assisting professionals to explain behaviour within a developmental framework and
consider probable reasons for behaviour at a given time
Predict what a child may need to foster their development and test those predictions
(probablistic epigenisis - we dont have a chrystal ball)
How do you determine whether it is a phase or psychopathology? - Determine the
continuity between child and adult disorders HOWEVER
Linkage varies widely across diagnostic categories (bed wetting vs schizophrenia)
Specific indicators of childhood adjustment difficulties do not always predict adult
disorders
Broad indicators of adult childhood adjustment difficulties predict adult adjustment
difficulties (CASCADE EFFECTS)
What are cascade effects - Spillover effects on later adjustment
What is adaptational failure - failure to master or progress in accomplishing
developmental milestones
When should you intervene in childhood psychopathology - When it creates difficulty for
both current and future functioning
what is development effected by - Development is affected by risk-vulnerability (neglect)
and protective factors (attachement)
What did Rutter 1987 say about adversity and resilience - Opposite poles of individual
differences in peoples responses to adversity
EG: Some people have money or family to deal with stress
What is the overarching goal of developmental psychopathology - determine the
interplay between biological, pychological and social-contextual aspects in typical and
atypical development
developing methods to prevent maladaptive development
,Why is it critical to adopt a developmental perspective in terms of psychopathology -
Because psychopathology develops over time, and a D.P allows you to understand the
processes underlying individual development to adaptive and maladaptive outcomes
What does a developmental perspective presupposse? - Change and novelty also
highlighting the importance of timing in the organization of behaviour
Does developmental psychopathology reduce dualisms? - Yes in
empirical research/ clinical study
BEHAVIOURAL/ biological sciences
Why is a D.P unique? - Focuses on typical, atypical development and adaptive,
maladaptive developmental processes
How do you understand psychopathology more fully? - Understand how developmental
milestones are accomplished helps us understand how the process can go awry.
Must understand normal functioning that is different to the distortion in functioning
observed in psychopathology to investigate what went wrong
Can d.p help us understand resilience - Yes can study the developmental pathways of
individuals who achieve adequate development in the presence of significant adversity
or trauma
Why is developmental psychopathology revolutionary - Moves past descriptive facts to
understanding the processes underlying adaptive and maladaptive development
How can one progress to a disorder - Through multiple pathways as oppossed to one
(D.P investigation)
How can maltreated and nonmaltreated be resileint in reaching adequate development -
Maltreated: ego overcontrol, reserved approach
restraining emotional reactivity in volatile family environments good for maltreated
childen, however bad for non maltreated children
Same protective factors may lead to different outcomes for different children EPB!
Does DP look for predictors of later maladaptive development? - No it aims to
investigate the the interactive processes that lead to the emergence of psychopathology
Are neurobiological development and experience mutually influencing? - Yes
Conduct disorder: genetic and attachment (harsh family atmosphere)
How are neurobiological development and experience mutually influencing - Plasticity
due to experience dependent synaptogenesis
,pertubations that occur in the developing brain can trigger a cascade of growth and
changes that lead the neural system down a path that deviates from that usually taken
in normal development
Why is interdisciplinary integration important - Can be used to fully understand the
complexity in psychopathology (cognitive, behavioural, emotional, etc)
because these processes are interactive and this influences development
Improtant future scholars are educated in all of these areas
Can the D.P be racist? - Yes difference versus defecti
Minority populations may develop differently but this does not mean it is a defecit
D.P matured to be more integrative amongst more cultures
Although d.p discovers important phenomenon, what must occur? - Be translated into
practical applications
What in infancy can lead to ADHD - Proper caregivers who understand when their baby
is too aroused (looks away) by slowing reading and building up again when baby is
ready help baby cope with increasing arousal
If you intensely stimulate an infant who is over aroused, diminish the childs ability to
cope with arousal.
This can disrupt growing capabilities for regulation and lead to ADHD.
Does childhood predict adult depression - No (trait model) thereby suggests two distinct
phenomena
What predicts depression more than co-morbid disorders and preceeding disorders -
developmental antecedents such as early abuse
What can influence adolescent depression - Maternal depression (environment) but this
interacts with gender (nature)
- greater for girls
What influences childhood depression - Environment: abuse, family stress
What are savants - Autistic people with great talents in narrow areas
What the important of EBP - Helping is the goal
Finite resources (should put money into things that are shown to work)
Cost of getting peoples hopes up
- learned helplessness (depression)
, - dissonance of child not being smart
- sunk costs
Bias
What do professional writings in clinical psychology espouse? - a scientist-practitioner
model of practice
What is the scientist-practitioner model of practice? - Scientists should produce good
emipircal research and practitioners Be a good consumer of empirical research and
learn how to apply it in clinical practice
What is a core competency for clinical psychology - Discipline and knowledge of
scientific foundations and research
This competency covers the integration of science and practice in clinical psychology
What does the ongoing use of invalidated practices insinuate - Bad practice and
unethical Ollendick & Davis 2004
What did the NZ ministry of health want to do - Move away from opinion based practice
to ebp
What is the research to practice gap - There is a gap between best practice and actual
practice
Typical professional psychologists dont
engage in research
publish
have positive attitude toward research
Survey of psychologists in 2013
What issues are important when discussing the research to practice gap - Are research
and practice culturally congruent
Is the research within the practitioners capabilities
How are research and practice driven - Research is endogenously driven - lack of
literature
Practice is exogenously driven - deal with what comes through the door
What are ideological issues with the research-practice gap - clients preference
Researchers and practitioners anchor onto things they have found useful in the past
When has EBP become popular - Yes EBP has surged in past ten years accompanied
by improvements in clinical research and the connection of practice with the latest
research
What are issues with EBP - How will it be delivered? (modality, content, etc)
