EPPP research study questions and materials question

[HealthPsycDoc]

Hi! For those who are studying or have passed the EPPP, I had a couple of questions --

I'm using hand-me-down study materials, which are the PsychPrep 2015 chapters. I'm noticing when I take practice tests, there's a lot of questions that are not even covered in these materials - has anyone else noticed this? Are these materials too old/insufficient? I'm not entirely sure who produced the practice tests to be honest (I just know they're old - DSM-IV questions).

Also, I've noticed on the practice tests, there are a lot of research study questions (e.g. Research on infants who were raised by multiple changing caregivers until at least two years old were found to...) - are these kinds of questions on the actual EPPP and do they "update" them (newer studies?) I'm noticing also none of these research studies are covered in PsychPrep so I usually have no idea how to answer them unless I happen to know the research broadly or take a lucky guess.

Thanks!

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[forcefive17]

Hi! For those who are studying or have passed the EPPP, I had a couple of questions --

I'm using hand-me-down study materials, which are the PsychPrep 2015 chapters. I'm noticing when I take practice tests, there's a lot of questions that are not even covered in these materials - has anyone else noticed this? Are these materials too old/insufficient? I'm not entirely sure who produced the practice tests to be honest (I just know they're old - DSM-IV questions).

Also, I've noticed on the practice tests, there are a lot of research study questions (e.g. Research on infants who were raised by multiple changing caregivers until at least two years old were found to...) - are these kinds of questions on the actual EPPP and do they "update" them (newer studies?) I'm noticing also none of these research studies are covered in PsychPrep so I usually have no idea how to answer them unless I happen to know the research broadly or take a lucky guess.

Thanks!

I primarily relied on audio lectures from 2010 and lots of what was covered was almost verbatim on the exam. You'll probably want to try and do a little legwork to get some updated materials for the psychopathology bit. However, if you're a recent grad or working clinically, a lot of that stuff is second nature and doesn't require dedicated study (in my experience). May be beneficial to purchase a few of the practice exams from AATBS or psychprep if it's not cost-prohibitive for the exposure to different questions. The EPPP is about passing, not about perfection. You will get many questions that you just don't know how to answer. This is probably a function of how broad our field can be. It's just not possible to know all concepts, studies, etc. I found that the most beneficial part of studying for me was radical acceptance of that fact.

 

[forcefive17]

I primarily relied on audio lectures from 2010 and lots of what was covered was almost verbatim on the exam. You'll probably want to try and do a little legwork to get some updated materials for the psychopathology bit. However, if you're a recent grad or working clinically, a lot of that stuff is second nature and doesn't require dedicated study (in my experience). May be beneficial to purchase a few of the practice exams from AATBS or psychprep if it's not cost-prohibitive for the exposure to different questions. The EPPP is about passing, not about perfection. You will get many questions that you just don't know how to answer. This is probably a function of how broad our field can be. It's just not possible to know all concepts, studies, etc. I found that the most beneficial part of studying for me was radical acceptance of that fact.

Edit: Yes, they're on the exam. Lots of them.

 

[proudvegan]

I was told that recent research articles can be found on APA website. Not sure how helpful it can be for the actual exam.

 

[WisNeuro]

I was told that recent research articles can be found on APA website. Not sure how helpful it can be for the actual exam.

Super recent stuff, especially if it's not just a rehash of a fairly well established finding, is most likely not all that helpful to study. Back when I took it, I don't remember anything surprising in terms of super recent research. Remember that the test questions are all written and vetted in a fairly lengthy process. If you run into anything within the past year, research question wise, chance are that it's an experimental question.

 

[proudvegan]

I had a lot of those “recent research” questions on questions that were not in the study materials and completely out of our scope of practice. It was difficult to answer the questions. I can see that it may be something related to old research but “newer” findings can contradict old ones that we find in the study materials.

Thanks for the input.

 

[InternHopeful2015]

I had a lot of those “recent research” questions on questions that were not in the study materials and completely out of our scope of practice. It was difficult to answer the questions. I can see that it may be something related to old research but “newer” findings can contradict old ones that we find in the study materials.

Thanks for the input.

I am using ATTBS 2019 materials and I am also surprised at how outdated the referenced material is and I also ran across one that was a poster finding! It somewhat undermines my studying as to whether to answer questions based on older findings.

 

[InternHopeful2015]

Edit: Yes, they're on the exam. Lots of them.

Has anyone found that AATBS materials overemphasized the I/O content? I am lacking motivation to want to comprehensively study the I/O section in very much detail and we didn't have I/O courses in program so this is definitely a weak area.

 

[forcefive17]

Has anyone found that AATBS materials overemphasized the I/O content? I am lacking motivation to want to comprehensively study the I/O section in very much detail and we didn't have I/O courses in program so this is definitely a weak area.

I used the 2018 AATBS written/exams along with Psychprep 2010. I/O on the exam is fairly straight forward, it requires you to understand all of the big theories in the areas covered in written materials. I'd recommend thoroughly reviewing I/O as it was pretty heavily emphasized on the exam. I shared your thoughts about motivation, but found it was due to actually having to sit down and learn the stuff, rather than just review it like abnormal or clinical. AATBS written materials prepared me well for this aspect of the exam.

 

[sweetnlo393]

I just took the exam two days ago and passed on the first try (650). I used the 2019 AATBS comprehensive volumes (which I'm now selling - here, or happy to set something up if you message me) and found that there were some differences between materials from 2010-2015. Because of the DSM-5 changes, I felt like it was worthwhile to get the 2019 materials. As far as I/O goes, basic review of the bolded concepts in the study volumes will be sufficient.

As far as "updated" research questions, I told myself (although I'm not sure how accurate this is) that any "updated" questions would likely be the unscored items since they would likely be considered "new material". I had the same question while studying, and it was not as big of an issue as I thought on the real exam.

Hope this helps!

 

[Psych1118]

I just took the exam a few days ago and Found many research questions just like what you are saying. I used psychprep originally (didn’t pass) then prep jet materials and aatbs test master exams. Of all the materials aatbs was the most accurate in terms of information And similarity of test questions. If I had to do it all over I would have just purchased aatbs for materials and tests.
If anyone needs materials message me - I’m selling mine

 

[InternHopeful2015]

I just took the exam two days ago and passed on the first try (650). I used the 2019 AATBS comprehensive volumes (which I'm now selling - here, or happy to set something up if you message me) and found that there were some differences between materials from 2010-2015. Because of the DSM-5 changes, I felt like it was worthwhile to get the 2019 materials. As far as I/O goes, basic review of the bolded concepts in the study volumes will be sufficient.

As far as "updated" research questions, I told myself (although I'm not sure how accurate this is) that any "updated" questions would likely be the unscored items since they would likely be considered "new material". I had the same question while studying, and it was not as big of an issue as I thought on the real exam.

Hope this helps!

Thanks so much this is good to know! I am scoring in the high 50/low 60 range for I/O and I am tempted to just be content with that then