PSYC 412 QUESTIONS WITH VERIFIED ANSWERS
When is abnormal behaviour a problem? - Answers - -when it affects quality of life
-pathological
-different degrees of behaviour
-danger to self and others
-using as a coping mechanism
What is within normal range of sibling conflict? - Answers - conflict once ever 10
minutes, any more than this depending ont he degree of aggression is indicative of an
underlying isse
Why do problems arise in adolescence? - Answers - Trying to gain autonomy, parents
getting in the way of this, irritating adults not always done on purpose
What contexts are important to take into account when deciding if abnormal behaviour
is problematic or not? - Answers - -cultural context
-context cues (did they get hit first, for example)
5 classifications of abnormal behaviour - Answers - 1. norm violation
2. statistical rarity
3. personal discomfort
4. maladaptive behaviour
5. deviation from an ideal
Norm violation - Answers - -culturally bound
-ex. women's mean birth age
-canada: 27.6
-variability between mom's who went to university and those who didn't
-challenges of norm violation because there are so many reasons for behaviour
Statistical rarity - Answers - -there's only a small percentage of people that would show
such an abnormal trait
-ex. IQ, average is 100, SD is 15
-ex. Doogie Houser, Sheldon Cooper (more likely case because Doogie didn't have any
social impairment)
Personal Discomfort - Answers - -is it bothering the person or others
-children's behaviours often don't bother them, but they bother others
-they don't have the cognitive ability to understand how they're being perceived
Maladaptive Behaviour - Answers - -stopping them from doing what they're supposed to
be doing at that age
Deviation from an Ideal - Answers - -often seen working with parents
,-hard for parents to understand what's normal because they don't have a lot of
experience with them
-don't know what to expect from children
ex. three year olds can't sit and read a book by themselves for 2 hours
What is abnormal behaviour? - Answers - -a pattern of symptoms
-associated with distress (personal or other), disability (getting int he way of normal
function, increased risk for further suffering or harm (ex. so anxious can't go to school)
Disability and risk is associated with what - Answers - -failure to reach developmental
milestones
-lack of progress along adaptive developmental trajectories
What is the framework of developmental psychopathology? - Answers - Knowing what
is normal in order to understand what is abnormal
Prevalence rate of mental health in children (problem and diagnosis) - Answers - 1 in 8
have a significant mental health problem, 1 in 10 meet criteria for diagnosis
What percentage of these children receive care - Answers - less than 10% receive
services for their issues
-effectiveness unknown fro many treatments
Who ends up with problems (the work of epidemiology)?
-gender
-SES
-culture
-Ethnicity and race - Answers - Gender
-higher in boys in childhood: ADHD, externalizing problems
-females higher in adolescence: depression, eating disorders, internalizing problems
SES
-more likely in low SES
Culture
-different disorders more common in certain cultures depending on norms
-ex. fire setting normal in native culture but abnormal in western culture
-expression of symptoms varies
-social anxiety (fear of evaluation by others) vs. Tajin Kyofusho (fear of offending or
harming others through one's social awkwardness)
-impact of culture varies for certain disorders, less cultural impact on neurobiological
disorders (ex. ADHD)
Ethnicity and Race
-heavily confounded with SES because minorities tend to have lower SES
Diathesis-Stress Model - Answers - -diathesis: underlying vulnerability or tendency
toward disorder (biological, contextual, experience-based)
-ex. abuse in childhood could be a diathesis or it could be a stressor
,-Stressor: can also act as a diathesis, situation or challenge that calls upon the person's
resources
-usually external negative events
-under stress, the diathesis increases likelihood of the disorder
What does the diathesis-stress model affect? - Answers - not just mental disorders,
other disorders as well, ex. genetic liability to thin tooth enamel + poor brushing and
flossing habits to lead to tooth decay
What are some strengths of this model? - Answers - -organizes thinking about nature
vs. nurture
-shows that biology does not always come first
-demonstrates plasticity (brain circuits strengthened or eliminated based on experiences
-behavioural epigenetics (ex. maternal care changes the expression fo genes related to
stress response in rats)
-gives us a simple foundation for complex theories
Multifinality vs. equifinality - Answers - 1. the same event in childhood leads to multiple
outcomes
2. different events lead to the same outcome (ex. multiple ways to develop MDD as an
adult)
What is science? - Answers - Science is a method, systematic method for investigating
questions
The scientific method - Answers - Theory and prior research-->research question--
>hypothesis/predictions-->methods of measurement-->research design-->data
collection/findings-->inferences/interpretation
Main parts of the scientific method - Answers - theory and prior research-->research
question-->hypotheses-->measurement-->research design
Depression example of the scientific method
-theory and prior research
-research questions
-hypotheses - Answers - -depression is associated with greater victimization and poorer
social skills
-do social skills explain the association between depression adn victimization
-depression-->decreased assertiveness-->increased victimization, depression--
>increased interpersonal aggression-->increaesd victimization
Reasons for public skepticism of research - Answers - -fraud
-error
-common sense logic
-changing findings
, -complicated conclusions (ex. different parenting styles work differently depending on
the neighbourhood)
-Exceptions to rules
When is it better to employ a stricter parenting style? - Answers - in low income
neighbourhoods
Why are changing findings, complicated conclusions, and exceptions to rules not good
reasons to not believe research? - Answers - -findings SHOULD change, we're bettering
science
-we shouldn't oversimplify findings
-just because something doesn't work for someone doesn't mean it won't work for you
(ex. why didn't it work, what do you mean it didn't work)
Nosology - Answers - organization of behavioural emotional dysfunction into meaningful
groups
Categorical approach to nosology - Answers - -kind of framework found in the DSM
-outlines diagnoses with criteria
-discrete categories
-based on the medical model
-advantage (helps synthesize info, aids communication)
-disadvantage: children often do not fit into categories
-current categories prove inadequate for genetic and neuroscience research
Why do many children don't fit diagnostic categories? - Answers - -comorbidity
-significant impairment but not showing all symptoms needed
-loss of info: same diagnosis for children with different symptoms
Dimensional criteria (RDoC) - Answers - -assessing disorder symptoms on dimensions
-ex. negative emotionality, temper loss, everybody lies somewhere on these dimensions
-advantages: allows us to retain valuable info and provides measures of severity
-disadvantages: which dimensions do we use? becomes complicated very quickly
What are the two different assumptions of the categorical approach and the dimensional
approach - Answers - Categorical: someone who has this disorder is fundamentally
different from someone without it
Dimensional: present in everyone to varying degrees (one population)
Issues in measurement - Answers - -need to define construct
-difference in definitions leads to different results
-how do you measure
Methods of measurement - Answers - -rating scales and interviews
-behavioural observation
-psychophysical measurement
When is abnormal behaviour a problem? - Answers - -when it affects quality of life
-pathological
-different degrees of behaviour
-danger to self and others
-using as a coping mechanism
What is within normal range of sibling conflict? - Answers - conflict once ever 10
minutes, any more than this depending ont he degree of aggression is indicative of an
underlying isse
Why do problems arise in adolescence? - Answers - Trying to gain autonomy, parents
getting in the way of this, irritating adults not always done on purpose
What contexts are important to take into account when deciding if abnormal behaviour
is problematic or not? - Answers - -cultural context
-context cues (did they get hit first, for example)
5 classifications of abnormal behaviour - Answers - 1. norm violation
2. statistical rarity
3. personal discomfort
4. maladaptive behaviour
5. deviation from an ideal
Norm violation - Answers - -culturally bound
-ex. women's mean birth age
-canada: 27.6
-variability between mom's who went to university and those who didn't
-challenges of norm violation because there are so many reasons for behaviour
Statistical rarity - Answers - -there's only a small percentage of people that would show
such an abnormal trait
-ex. IQ, average is 100, SD is 15
-ex. Doogie Houser, Sheldon Cooper (more likely case because Doogie didn't have any
social impairment)
Personal Discomfort - Answers - -is it bothering the person or others
-children's behaviours often don't bother them, but they bother others
-they don't have the cognitive ability to understand how they're being perceived
Maladaptive Behaviour - Answers - -stopping them from doing what they're supposed to
be doing at that age
Deviation from an Ideal - Answers - -often seen working with parents
,-hard for parents to understand what's normal because they don't have a lot of
experience with them
-don't know what to expect from children
ex. three year olds can't sit and read a book by themselves for 2 hours
What is abnormal behaviour? - Answers - -a pattern of symptoms
-associated with distress (personal or other), disability (getting int he way of normal
function, increased risk for further suffering or harm (ex. so anxious can't go to school)
Disability and risk is associated with what - Answers - -failure to reach developmental
milestones
-lack of progress along adaptive developmental trajectories
What is the framework of developmental psychopathology? - Answers - Knowing what
is normal in order to understand what is abnormal
Prevalence rate of mental health in children (problem and diagnosis) - Answers - 1 in 8
have a significant mental health problem, 1 in 10 meet criteria for diagnosis
What percentage of these children receive care - Answers - less than 10% receive
services for their issues
-effectiveness unknown fro many treatments
Who ends up with problems (the work of epidemiology)?
-gender
-SES
-culture
-Ethnicity and race - Answers - Gender
-higher in boys in childhood: ADHD, externalizing problems
-females higher in adolescence: depression, eating disorders, internalizing problems
SES
-more likely in low SES
Culture
-different disorders more common in certain cultures depending on norms
-ex. fire setting normal in native culture but abnormal in western culture
-expression of symptoms varies
-social anxiety (fear of evaluation by others) vs. Tajin Kyofusho (fear of offending or
harming others through one's social awkwardness)
-impact of culture varies for certain disorders, less cultural impact on neurobiological
disorders (ex. ADHD)
Ethnicity and Race
-heavily confounded with SES because minorities tend to have lower SES
Diathesis-Stress Model - Answers - -diathesis: underlying vulnerability or tendency
toward disorder (biological, contextual, experience-based)
-ex. abuse in childhood could be a diathesis or it could be a stressor
,-Stressor: can also act as a diathesis, situation or challenge that calls upon the person's
resources
-usually external negative events
-under stress, the diathesis increases likelihood of the disorder
What does the diathesis-stress model affect? - Answers - not just mental disorders,
other disorders as well, ex. genetic liability to thin tooth enamel + poor brushing and
flossing habits to lead to tooth decay
What are some strengths of this model? - Answers - -organizes thinking about nature
vs. nurture
-shows that biology does not always come first
-demonstrates plasticity (brain circuits strengthened or eliminated based on experiences
-behavioural epigenetics (ex. maternal care changes the expression fo genes related to
stress response in rats)
-gives us a simple foundation for complex theories
Multifinality vs. equifinality - Answers - 1. the same event in childhood leads to multiple
outcomes
2. different events lead to the same outcome (ex. multiple ways to develop MDD as an
adult)
What is science? - Answers - Science is a method, systematic method for investigating
questions
The scientific method - Answers - Theory and prior research-->research question--
>hypothesis/predictions-->methods of measurement-->research design-->data
collection/findings-->inferences/interpretation
Main parts of the scientific method - Answers - theory and prior research-->research
question-->hypotheses-->measurement-->research design
Depression example of the scientific method
-theory and prior research
-research questions
-hypotheses - Answers - -depression is associated with greater victimization and poorer
social skills
-do social skills explain the association between depression adn victimization
-depression-->decreased assertiveness-->increased victimization, depression--
>increased interpersonal aggression-->increaesd victimization
Reasons for public skepticism of research - Answers - -fraud
-error
-common sense logic
-changing findings
, -complicated conclusions (ex. different parenting styles work differently depending on
the neighbourhood)
-Exceptions to rules
When is it better to employ a stricter parenting style? - Answers - in low income
neighbourhoods
Why are changing findings, complicated conclusions, and exceptions to rules not good
reasons to not believe research? - Answers - -findings SHOULD change, we're bettering
science
-we shouldn't oversimplify findings
-just because something doesn't work for someone doesn't mean it won't work for you
(ex. why didn't it work, what do you mean it didn't work)
Nosology - Answers - organization of behavioural emotional dysfunction into meaningful
groups
Categorical approach to nosology - Answers - -kind of framework found in the DSM
-outlines diagnoses with criteria
-discrete categories
-based on the medical model
-advantage (helps synthesize info, aids communication)
-disadvantage: children often do not fit into categories
-current categories prove inadequate for genetic and neuroscience research
Why do many children don't fit diagnostic categories? - Answers - -comorbidity
-significant impairment but not showing all symptoms needed
-loss of info: same diagnosis for children with different symptoms
Dimensional criteria (RDoC) - Answers - -assessing disorder symptoms on dimensions
-ex. negative emotionality, temper loss, everybody lies somewhere on these dimensions
-advantages: allows us to retain valuable info and provides measures of severity
-disadvantages: which dimensions do we use? becomes complicated very quickly
What are the two different assumptions of the categorical approach and the dimensional
approach - Answers - Categorical: someone who has this disorder is fundamentally
different from someone without it
Dimensional: present in everyone to varying degrees (one population)
Issues in measurement - Answers - -need to define construct
-difference in definitions leads to different results
-how do you measure
Methods of measurement - Answers - -rating scales and interviews
-behavioural observation
-psychophysical measurement
