ABNORMAL CHILD PSYCHOLOGY BY MASH
STUDY GUIDE 2026 MOCK TEST QUESTIONS
ANSWERS VERIFIED GRADED A+
◉ Name several risk factors that compound risk for disability
resulting from psychological problems in racial/ethnic minority
children. Answer: Their access to mental health resources. Ethnic
minorities often have lower socioeconomic status. Cultural
differences, misunderstanding behavior. Exclusion from society's
benefits (marginalization) -- alienation, rejection of the norms of the
larger society.
◉ Why is understanding the developmental appropriateness of a
given behavior at the child's current age important to determine
whether it constitutes a psychological disorder? Answer: Behavior of
children looks different from adults and also from children of
different ages.
◉ How can we prevent mental illness in children who are
particularly vulnerable? Answer:
◉ What role does parenting play in development of childhood
disorders? Answer: Enviornement. Stressors. Consistent parenting.
,◉ How should mental illness be diagnosed in the absence of
"objective" tests? Answer:
◉ How does the pharmaceutical industry influence mental health
care (for better or for worse)? Answer: ADHD. Drug treatments most
common treatment. However, best treatment is med + therapy.
Many disorders are best treated with psychotherapy.
◉ What are the primary tenants of developmental psychopathology?
Answer: -abnormal development is multiple determined
◉ How do children exert influence on their environments? What
role does the child play in the development or maintenance of
psychological problems? Answer: Nature vs nurture.
-transaction: dynamic interaction of child and environment
◉ How do disruptions in early development (e.g., language
development) affect a child's ability to achieve other developmental
milestones? What does this "developmental cascade" imply
regarding the importance of early intervention? Answer: Child's
previous interactions and experiences may spread across other
systems and alter his course of development, like a chain reaction.
-adaptational failure: failure to master developmental milestones.
, organization of development: early patterns of adaptation, such as
eye contact and speech sounds, evolve w/ structure over time and
transform into higher order functions such as speech and language.
Actibe, dynamic process
◉ When is brain plasticity greatest across the lifespan? What does
this imply for the likelihood of resilience at different developmental
stages? Answer: -(motor, sensory) mature first during first 3 years of
life. Includes limbic system, strongly affected by early childhood
experiences.
-major restructuring 9-11 puberty, adolescence prunes some more.
◉ What psychological functions are largely regulated by the frontal
brain lobes? Why are the frontal lobes implicated in so many
psychological problems? Answer: Thinking, reasoning, memory.
Make sense of social relationships and customs
◉ What kind of behaviors would could arise from problems with
emotional dysregulation? What problems could arise from
emotional overregulation? Answer: -Regulation problems: weak or
absent control structures (trouble concentrating).
-dysregulation: existing control structures maladaptive (anxious).
OCD. Strong dysregulation, behavior response.
-over regulation: anxiety.
STUDY GUIDE 2026 MOCK TEST QUESTIONS
ANSWERS VERIFIED GRADED A+
◉ Name several risk factors that compound risk for disability
resulting from psychological problems in racial/ethnic minority
children. Answer: Their access to mental health resources. Ethnic
minorities often have lower socioeconomic status. Cultural
differences, misunderstanding behavior. Exclusion from society's
benefits (marginalization) -- alienation, rejection of the norms of the
larger society.
◉ Why is understanding the developmental appropriateness of a
given behavior at the child's current age important to determine
whether it constitutes a psychological disorder? Answer: Behavior of
children looks different from adults and also from children of
different ages.
◉ How can we prevent mental illness in children who are
particularly vulnerable? Answer:
◉ What role does parenting play in development of childhood
disorders? Answer: Enviornement. Stressors. Consistent parenting.
,◉ How should mental illness be diagnosed in the absence of
"objective" tests? Answer:
◉ How does the pharmaceutical industry influence mental health
care (for better or for worse)? Answer: ADHD. Drug treatments most
common treatment. However, best treatment is med + therapy.
Many disorders are best treated with psychotherapy.
◉ What are the primary tenants of developmental psychopathology?
Answer: -abnormal development is multiple determined
◉ How do children exert influence on their environments? What
role does the child play in the development or maintenance of
psychological problems? Answer: Nature vs nurture.
-transaction: dynamic interaction of child and environment
◉ How do disruptions in early development (e.g., language
development) affect a child's ability to achieve other developmental
milestones? What does this "developmental cascade" imply
regarding the importance of early intervention? Answer: Child's
previous interactions and experiences may spread across other
systems and alter his course of development, like a chain reaction.
-adaptational failure: failure to master developmental milestones.
, organization of development: early patterns of adaptation, such as
eye contact and speech sounds, evolve w/ structure over time and
transform into higher order functions such as speech and language.
Actibe, dynamic process
◉ When is brain plasticity greatest across the lifespan? What does
this imply for the likelihood of resilience at different developmental
stages? Answer: -(motor, sensory) mature first during first 3 years of
life. Includes limbic system, strongly affected by early childhood
experiences.
-major restructuring 9-11 puberty, adolescence prunes some more.
◉ What psychological functions are largely regulated by the frontal
brain lobes? Why are the frontal lobes implicated in so many
psychological problems? Answer: Thinking, reasoning, memory.
Make sense of social relationships and customs
◉ What kind of behaviors would could arise from problems with
emotional dysregulation? What problems could arise from
emotional overregulation? Answer: -Regulation problems: weak or
absent control structures (trouble concentrating).
-dysregulation: existing control structures maladaptive (anxious).
OCD. Strong dysregulation, behavior response.
-over regulation: anxiety.
