Free EPPP Practice Test: 50 Questions with Answers and Explanations

Answer: C

Standard 4.06 lets psychologists consult, but they don't disclose information that could reasonably identify the client without prior consent (unless disclosure can't be avoided), and they share only what the consultation needs. In a small town, ordinary details like an employer or a recent event can identify someone, so the de-identifying has to be deliberate.

• A fails because the colleague's own confidentiality duty doesn't license an unnecessary identifying disclosure.
• B overcorrects. Consultation is permitted and often wise; the Code regulates how you do it, not whether.
• D is irrelevant. The stem gives the spouse no authority to consent on the client's behalf.

Source: APA Ethics Code (2002, amended effective 2010 and 2017), Standards 4.05(a)–(b) and 4.06.

Answer: B

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including ibuprofen, can reduce renal lithium clearance and raise serum lithium. Coarse tremor, gastrointestinal upset, and confusion are classic signs of lithium toxicity. For a psychologist, the practical response is urgent medical evaluation and contact with the prescriber, not waiting for the next session.

• A needs serotonergic drugs; ibuprofen isn't one.
• C mixes things up. Lithium itself can cause hypothyroidism over time, but the acute symptoms after starting an interacting drug point more directly to lithium toxicity.
• D has the mechanism backwards. The problem is too much lithium, not too little.

Sources: FDA-approved lithium carbonate prescribing information, §§5.1, 5.7, and 7.1; ibuprofen prescribing information, Precautions > Drug Interactions > Lithium.

Answer: C

Standard error of measurement (SEM) = SD × √(1 − reliability) = 15 × √.09 = 15 × .30 = 4.5. A 95% interval is about ±1.96 SEM = ±8.8, so roughly 91 to 109.

• B is ±1 SEM, which is only about a 68% interval.
• D is ±1 SD of the score distribution, which confuses the spread of people's scores with the error around one person's score.
• A is far too narrow for this level of reliability.

Sources: derived classical-test-theory calculation; Andrew Johnson, Reliability (PDF), pp. 1–2 (SEM and the observed-score ±1.96 SEM interval); Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (2014) (PDF), Chapter 2, p. 39, “Standard Errors of Measurement.”

Answer: D

Behavior maintained on an intermittent schedule is more resistant to extinction than behavior reinforced every time: the partial reinforcement extinction effect. An extinction burst—a temporary rise in the behavior—may occur, but it is not inevitable.

• A and B predict the opposite of the partial reinforcement effect.
• C recommends continuing intermittent reinforcement, which is exactly what makes the behavior so durable.

Sources: Harris (2024), “The sequencing of trials during partial reinforcement affects subsequent extinction,” abstract; Lerman & Iwata (1995), “Prevalence of the extinction burst and its attenuation during treatment,” abstract, pp. 93–94.

Answer: C

Ambivalent/resistant infants are highly distressed by separation and, on reunion, mix contact-seeking with anger or resistance and are hard to soothe.

• A Secure infants may be distressed but are comforted fairly quickly on reunion.
• B Avoidant infants show little distress and ignore or avoid the parent on return.
• D Disorganized attachment involves contradictory or disoriented behavior such as freezing, stilling, or apprehension toward the parent, not the organized seek-then-resist pattern described here.

Source: OpenStax, Psychology 2e, §9.3, “Stages of Development,” attachment and Strange Situation discussion.

Answer: A

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) has substantial trial support for OCD and is recognized as a first-line psychological treatment. The client approaches feared cues (touching a "contaminated" surface) while refraining from the ritual (washing), so anxiety can fall without the compulsion.

• B Relaxation is often used as a control condition in OCD trials. It doesn't target the obsession-ritual cycle.
• C Thought stopping isn't an established first-line treatment for OCD.
• D Supportive therapy alone does not include the exposure and response prevention used to target the obsession–compulsion cycle.

Sources: NIMH, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, psychotherapy section (revised 2023); Defense Health Agency, Exposure and Response Prevention for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, pp. 1–2 (December 2023); ERP versus stress-management randomized trial, Introduction and intervention procedures (2024).

Answer: B

The actor-observer bias is the tendency to explain our own behavior by the situation and others' identical behavior by their disposition. The giveaway is the same behavior explained two different ways.

• A Self-serving bias concerns taking credit for success and blaming circumstances for failure; skipping a party isn't framed as a success or failure.
• C False consensus is overestimating how many people share our views.
• D The halo effect is letting one positive trait color overall judgments.

Source: OpenStax, Psychology 2e, §12.1, “What Is Social Psychology?”, “Actor-Observer Bias” and “Self-Serving Bias.”

Answer: D

Alpha is the selected Type I error level, so raising it to .05 increases the tolerated risk of that error. A more lenient rejection threshold also makes it easier to detect a real effect, so power rises and the Type II error rate (β) falls.

• A, B, C each get at least one direction wrong. With the same test and all other conditions fixed, increasing alpha raises power and lowers beta.

Source: Minitab, “Increase power,” “Increase the power of a hypothesis test” > higher significance level; β = 1 − power.

Answer: C

Standard 10.08(a) sets a floor of at least two years after termination. Under 10.08(b), even after two years such a relationship is acceptable only in the most unusual circumstances, judged against factors like the nature and intensity of therapy, the circumstances of termination, and the client's history and current mental status.

• A Who initiates doesn't matter.
• B The nature of therapy is a factor considered after the two-year floor, not a way around it.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standard 10.08.

Answer: B

Sensitivity = true positives ÷ everyone with the disorder = 45 ÷ 50 = .90.

The distractors are the other three numbers you can build from the same table:

• A .47 is positive predictive value: 45 ÷ (45 + 50 false positives) = 45 ÷ 95.
• C .95 is (about) specificity: 900 ÷ 950 = .947.
• D .99 is negative predictive value: 900 ÷ (900 + 5 false negatives) = .994.

Source: derived calculation; sensitivity = true positives ÷ (true positives + false negatives), per FDA, Statistical Guidance on Reporting Results from Studies Evaluating Diagnostic Tests, §7.1.

Answer: A

Fluent but meaningless speech, poor comprehension, and lack of awareness describe Wernicke (receptive) aphasia, classically from damage to the posterior superior temporal gyrus of the dominant hemisphere, which is the left in nearly all right-handed people.

• B is Broca's area: nonfluent, effortful speech with relatively preserved comprehension.
• C is classically linked to conduction aphasia: fluent speech and fairly good comprehension, with repetition disproportionately impaired.
• D Right parietal damage is associated with neglect, not this aphasia.

Sources: NIDCD, “Aphasia,” “What are the types of aphasia?” (updated April 16, 2025); NLM MeSH, “Wernicke Area,” Scope Note; Knecht et al. (2000), “Handedness and hemispheric language dominance in healthy humans,” abstract; StatPearls, “Wernicke Aphasia,” classical model discussion (updated November 8, 2025).

Answer: B

In blocking (Kamin), prior conditioning to one stimulus prevents learning about a new stimulus added later, because the shock is already fully predicted by the tone. The light adds no new information.

• A Overshadowing happens when two novel stimuli are trained together from the start and the more salient one dominates.
• C Latent inhibition is slower conditioning to a stimulus that was pre-exposed without consequence.
• D Sensory preconditioning involves pairing two neutral stimuli before either is conditioned.

Source: Mark E. Bouton, “Conditioning and Learning,” Noba, “The Learning Process” (blocking and prediction error).

Answer: D

Failing conservation of liquid, by centering on one dimension (height) and not mentally reversing the pour, is the signature of the preoperational stage (roughly ages 2 to 7).

• A Sensorimotor infants are mastering object permanence, not conservation tasks.
• B Conservation is the achievement that marks concrete operations.
• C Formal operations involves abstract, hypothetical reasoning.

Source: OpenStax, Psychology 2e, §9.2, “Lifespan Theories,” Cognitive Theory, Table 9.2 and the discussion of conservation and reversibility.

Answer: B

The 2025 guideline strongly recommends three trauma-focused cognitive behavioral approaches: cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, and prolonged exposure.

• A, D EMDR and narrative exposure therapy are conditionally recommended (APA says "suggested"). Suggested isn't the same as strongly recommended.
• C is the trap if you studied older materials. Cognitive therapy was strongly recommended in APA's 2017 edition but is conditionally recommended in the 2025 update.

Sources: APA, Clinical Practice Guideline for the Treatment of PTSD — Treatments (2025 edition); Monitor on Psychology, July/August 2025. Historical comparison: APA, “PTSD guideline ready for use”, November 2017, first recommendation bullet.

Answer: A

This is Festinger and Carlsmith's insufficient-justification finding. With only $1, participants couldn't explain the lie by the payment, so they reduced the discomfort of saying one thing and believing another by deciding the task wasn't so bad.

• B predicts the opposite result.
• C concerns performance in front of others, not attitude change.
• D is a compliance tactic: a small request first raises agreement with a larger one.

Source: Festinger & Carlsmith (1959), "Cognitive consequences of forced compliance," Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology 58, 203–210. See “How Enjoyable the Tasks Were,” Table 1, and the discussion.

Answer: B

Standard 1.04 directs psychologists to try informal resolution by bringing a possible violation to the colleague's attention when that seems appropriate and doesn't violate confidentiality. Standard 1.05 (further action such as a board referral) applies when the violation has substantially harmed or is likely to substantially harm someone and isn't suited to informal resolution, or informal resolution fails.

• A skips the informal step that the stem identifies as appropriate and compatible with confidentiality.
• C ignores the Code's expectation that psychologists address colleagues' apparent violations.
• D isn't the initial response indicated by these facts. The Code supports raising the concern with the colleague when an informal approach is appropriate and preserves confidentiality.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standards 1.04 and 1.05.

Answer: D

With sensitivity and specificity held constant, predictive values depend on the base rate. Per 1,000 people:

In the community, most positive results are false positives. Actual sensitivity and specificity can differ across populations; this calculation holds them fixed.

• A, B Sensitivity and specificity are held constant by the assumption in this question.
• C NPV actually rises when the disorder is rarer.

Source: derived 2×2-table calculation with sensitivity and specificity fixed at .90; FDA, Statistical Guidance on Reporting Results from Studies Evaluating Diagnostic Tests, §§4.2, 5 (“Reporting the context of the study”), and 7.1.

Answer: A

Proactive interference: older learning disrupts recall of newer learning. The old number intrudes on the new one.

• B Retroactive interference runs the other way: new learning disrupts recall of old information (he'd struggle to recall the old number).
• C Trace decay refers to weakening over time; intrusion of the old number specifically points to interference with the newer learning.

Sources: Underwood (1957), "Interference and forgetting" (PDF), Psychological Review 64, 49–60; Bjork (1992), "Interference and Forgetting" (PDF), pp. 283–284.

Answer: B

Heritability is a population statistic about variance. It's specific to one population in one environment and can change as circumstances change.

• A is a common misreading: heritability says nothing about how much of one individual's trait comes from genes.
• C High heritability doesn't mean unchangeable; environments can shift a trait's average even when heritability is high.

Sources: MedlinePlus Genetics, "What is heritability?"; NCI Dictionary of Genetics Terms, "heritability".

Answer: C

The zone of proximal development is the gap between independent performance and performance with help from a more skilled person.

• A Scaffolding is the support given within that zone, gradually withdrawn as competence grows. The question asks for the range itself.
• B Private speech is self-directed talk that helps children regulate their thinking.
• D Assimilation is a Piagetian process of fitting new information into existing schemas.

Sources: Vygotsky, Mind in Society (1978) (PDF), p. 86; Wood, Bruner & Ross (1976) (PDF), pp. 90, 98–99; APA TOPSS, Life Span Development (2012) (PDF), pp. 10–11.

Answer: A

He recognizes a problem but isn't committed to change: contemplation in the transtheoretical model. Motivational interviewing is designed for ambivalence, drawing out the client's own reasons for change.

• B Confrontation tends to increase resistance and doesn't match where he is.
• C Relapse-prevention planning does not directly address the stated ambivalence about whether to change.
• D Ambivalence is the work, not a reason to turn him away.

Source: NIDA-funded Project START, Motivational Interviewing manual (PDF), pp. 6–7 on phases and stages of change and pp. 8–11 on MI strategies.

Answer: D

Group polarization: discussion pushes a group's average position further in the direction members already leaned.

• A Groupthink is a breakdown in decision-making in highly cohesive groups (illusion of unanimity, self-censorship, suppressed dissent), not simply a shift toward the extreme.
• B Social loafing is reduced individual effort in groups.
• C Deindividuation is loss of self-awareness and restraint in crowds.

Sources: Myers & Lamm (1976), "The group polarization phenomenon," Psychological Bulletin 83, 602–627; APA TOPSS, Social Psychology unit (PDF), pp. 8–9. Myers & Lamm, original paper (PDF).

Answer: C

When dropout differs between groups and is related to the outcome, the remaining groups can become systematically different. Here the treatment group lost its sickest members, which alone could make it look better.

• A History is an outside event that affects outcomes between pretest and posttest.
• B Maturation is natural change over time within participants.
• D Testing is the effect of taking a pretest on later scores.

Source: Campbell & Stanley, Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Designs for Research (1963) (PDF), pp. 12 and 16, experimental mortality.

Answer: B

Under Standard 9.04(a), psychologists provide test data (raw and scaled scores, client responses, and notes about the client's statements and behavior) to the client or to persons named in a client release. They may refrain to protect against substantial harm or misuse, recognizing that law often governs. Portions of test materials containing the client’s responses are also test data. Test materials (manuals, instruments, protocols, stimuli) are a separate category protected under 9.11.

• A The current Code has no "qualified psychologist only" restriction for test data released by the client.
• C Sending manuals and blank protocols would compromise test security.
• D Without a client release, Standard 9.04(b) allows release only as required by law or court order. Here, the client has provided a release.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standards 9.04 and 9.11.

Answer: A

Predictive validity is a type of criterion-related validity in which the criterion is measured later.

• B Concurrent validity collects the predictor and criterion at about the same time.
• C Content validity is about whether items adequately sample the domain, usually judged by experts, not by a correlation with an outcome.
• D Incremental validity is how much a measure adds beyond predictors already in use.

Source: Standards for Educational and Psychological Testing (PDF) (AERA, APA, NCME, 2014), Chapter 1, pp. 17–18, Test–criterion relationships; glossary, p. 222, predictive validity evidence.

Answer: D

In the commonly taught Yerkes–Dodson relationship, the optimal arousal level depends on task difficulty; harder tasks have a lower optimum.

• A ignores the downturn at high arousal.
• B reverses it: simple tasks tolerate higher arousal.
• C The model does not claim that well-learned tasks are unaffected by arousal.

Sources: Yerkes & Dodson (1908), Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology 18, 459–482; OpenStax Psychology 2e, §10.1, Motivation, arousal theory.

Answer: C

Phenelzine is a nonselective, irreversible monoamine oxidase (MAO) inhibitor. Tyramine in aged, fermented, and cured foods is normally broken down by MAO; when the enzyme is inhibited, tyramine triggers a surge of norepinephrine and a potential hypertensive crisis. This is a medical emergency.

• A Serotonin syndrome can follow combining serotonergic drugs (for example, an MAOI with an SSRI), not tyramine-rich food.
• B NMS is linked to antipsychotics and features rigidity and hyperthermia.
• D No anticholinergic exposure is described here; the food–phenelzine interaction points to excess tyramine.

Sources: Nardil US prescribing information, Contraindications and Warnings (revised November 2026); Nardil SmPC, §5.1 for mechanism; Emsam US prescribing information, §12.2, Interaction with Tyramine for the general MAO–tyramine mechanism.

Answer: B

Authoritative parenting combines high demandingness with high warmth and responsiveness.

• A Authoritarian: high demands, low warmth, "because I said so."
• C Permissive: warm but few demands.
• D Uninvolved: low on both.

Sources: Baumrind (1966), "Effects of authoritative parental control on child behavior" (PDF), Child Development 37, pp. 889–891; OpenStax Psychology 2e, §9.3, parenting styles.

Answer: A

Linehan developed DBT for chronically suicidal people with borderline personality disorder. It combines individual therapy, skills training (mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation, interpersonal effectiveness), between-session coaching, and a therapist consultation team. In the cited 2006 trial of women with borderline personality disorder, DBT reduced suicide attempts more than expert community treatment; both groups improved in nonsuicidal self-injury.

• B Systematic desensitization targets specific fears and phobias.
• C, D Neither was developed specifically for chronic suicidal and self-injurious behavior in borderline personality disorder.

Sources: NIMH, Borderline Personality Disorder, Treatment (revised 2025); Linehan et al. (2006), Archives of General Psychiatry 63, 757–766, Methods and Results.

Answer: D

Integration means keeping one's heritage culture and participating in the larger society.

• A Assimilation: adopting the new culture while letting go of the heritage culture.
• B Separation: keeping the heritage culture while avoiding the larger society.
• C Marginalization: little connection to either.

Source: Berry (1997), "Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation" (PDF), Applied Psychology 46(1), pp. 9–10 and Figure 1.

Answer: C

Standard 3.07 requires psychologists working at a third party's request to clarify at the outset the nature of each relationship, their role, who the client is, the probable uses of the information, and that confidentiality may be limited. Standard 3.10 and 9.03 add the informed-consent obligations for the evaluation itself.

• A The roles and disclosure arrangements must be clarified; the referral does not establish blanket confidentiality from the employer.
• B puts the clarification too late.
• D Third-party evaluations are permitted; they just require this clarity.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standards 3.07, 3.10, 9.03.

Answer: B

Under the classical-test-theory attenuation model, measurement error limits the observable correlation. The ceiling is √(predictor reliability × criterion reliability) = √(.64 × 1.00) = .80, reached when the true scores correlate perfectly.

• A .41 is .64 squared, the wrong operation.
• C .64 is the reliability itself, not the validity ceiling.
• D would require a perfectly reliable predictor.

Source: Schumacker, "Disattenuating Correlation Coefficients", Rasch Measurement Transactions 1996, 10(1), p. 479. Derived calculation using the classical attenuation formula.

Answer: C

Two-factor theory holds that emotion requires both physiological arousal and a cognitive label for it. The theory predicts that, when arousal has no clear explanation, people use situational cues to label it.

• A James–Lange says emotion is the perception of a distinct bodily response, which doesn't explain the same arousal producing opposite emotions.
• B Cannon–Bard says arousal and emotion occur simultaneously and independently.
• D Opponent-process theory explains how an emotion is followed by its opposite over time.

Source: Schachter & Singer (1962), "Cognitive, social, and physiological determinants of emotional state" (PDF), Psychological Review 69, pp. 379–381, theoretical propositions.

Answer: C

Postconventional reasoning judges laws against self-chosen universal ethical principles (justice, the value of human life) rather than authority or social order.

• A Preconventional reasoning centers on punishment and personal reward.
• B Conventional reasoning centers on approval, duty, and maintaining law and order. Respecting laws is part of it, but it doesn't subordinate law to universal principle.

Source: Kohlberg, "Moral Stages and Moralization: The Cognitive-Developmental Approach" (PDF), pp. 172–177 and Table 2.1.

Answer: A

The focus is a case, but the target is the consultee's difficulty (here, lack of objectivity), with the goal of improving the consultee's future work.

• B Client-centered case consultation focuses on the client's problem and recommendations for how the consultee can help.
• C, D Administrative consultation concerns programs or organizational functioning, not a single case.

Source: Caplan, Caplan, & Erchul (1994), “Caplanian Mental Health Consultation: Historical Background and Current Status (PDF),” section “Promote consultee-centered consultation” (PDF p. 3).

Answer: D

d = (60 − 52) ÷ 16 = 8 ÷ 16 = 0.50, a medium effect by Cohen's conventional benchmarks (0.2 small, 0.5 medium, 0.8 large).

• A, B come from dividing by the wrong quantity.
• C is the benchmark for a large effect, not this result.

Source: Cohen, Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences (PDF), 2nd ed. (1988), §2.2, pp. 20–27. Derived calculation using the means and pooled SD supplied in the question.

Answer: B

Standard 10.01(c) is explicit: when the therapist is a trainee and legal responsibility rests with the supervisor, the client is told the therapist is in training and supervised and is given the supervisor's name.

• A, C Both withhold information the Code requires up front.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standard 10.01(c).

Answer: C

A T score of 70 is 2 SD above the mean. About 97.7% of a normal distribution falls below +2 SD, so roughly the 98th percentile.

• A treats the T score as a percentile.
• B is +1 SD (T = 60).
• D is about +3 SD (T = 80).

Source: NIST/SEMATECH e-Handbook, §1.3.6.6.1, “Normal Distribution,” cumulative distribution function. Derived calculation: z=(70−50)/10=2; Φ(2)≈0.97725.

Answer: D

In Cattell and Horn's framework, crystallized intelligence (accumulated knowledge and vocabulary) holds up well into late adulthood, while fluid intelligence (novel reasoning) declines earlier.

• A A typical age pattern isn't diagnostic on its own. A meaningful decline from her own baseline, or functional problems, would still warrant evaluation.
• B reverses the typical order.
• C Practice effects would raise, not lower, scores on repeated tasks.

Sources: APA TOPSS, Life Span Development unit (PDF) (December 2012), Unit VI, “Major cognitive changes,” p. 27; Salthouse (2009), “When does age-related cognitive decline begin? (PDF)”, Neurobiology of Aging 30(4), 507–514.

Answer: A

Benzodiazepines are positive allosteric modulators of the GABA-A receptor: they bind a separate site and increase the receptor's response to GABA, increasing chloride influx and neural inhibition.

• B describes SSRIs.
• C describes antipsychotics.
• D describes drugs such as ketamine.

Source: World Health Organization, Neuroscience of Psychoactive Substance Use and Dependence (PDF) (2004), “Sedatives and hypnotics: Mechanism of action,” p. 74.

Answer: D

Erikson's final stage, late adulthood, centers on accepting one's life as lived (integrity) versus regret that time is running out (despair).

• A is adolescence.
• B is young adulthood.
• C is middle adulthood, focused on guiding the next generation and contributing.

Source: APA TOPSS, Life Span Development unit (PDF) (December 2012), content outline p. 13, Erikson’s psychosocial stages.

Answer: B

Secondary prevention uses early detection and prompt treatment of an existing disorder to reduce its duration and prevalence. The key facts are that depression is newly diagnosed and treatment begins promptly.

• A Primary prevention aims to prevent new cases of a disorder, such as a universal resilience program intended to reduce depression incidence.
• C Tertiary prevention reduces disability and relapse in people who already have the disorder.

Source: Institute of Medicine, Reducing Risks for Mental Disorders: Frontiers for Preventive Intervention Research (1994), chapter 2, pp. 19–22 and 24–25.

Answer: A

In Zajonc's account, the presence of others raises arousal, which strengthens dominant responses. For a well-practiced task the dominant response is correct, so performance improves; for a new task it's often an error, so performance suffers.

• B Social loafing is reduced effort when individual contributions are pooled.
• C Deindividuation is loss of self-awareness and restraint in crowds.

Sources: Zajonc (1965), Social Facilitation (PDF), University of Michigan Institute for Social Research Technical Report No. 30, pp. 5–6 and 17–18; APA TOPSS, Social Psychology: Social Cognition and Social Influence (PDF) (October 2024), p. 9.

Answer: C

The 1976 California Supreme Court opinion required reasonable care to protect the intended victim in these circumstances. It described warning the intended victim, notifying police, or taking other reasonable steps as possible precautions. This item concerns that historical holding; actual clinical duties must be determined under applicable current law.

• A The court held that the therapist–patient relationship could support a duty to protect a threatened third person even without a therapist–victim relationship.
• B Overstates Tarasoff. This California opinion described a duty to protect; it did not impose a direct-warning requirement in every U.S. jurisdiction.
• D Terminating therapy is not the protective action described by the court.

Source: Tarasoff v. Regents of the University of California, 17 Cal.3d 425 (1976), pp. 431–432, 435–436 and 439–442.

Answer: A

Acute onset (hours to days), a fluctuating course, impaired attention, and a plausible medical cause point to delirium, which needs urgent medical evaluation.

• B Alzheimer's disease begins insidiously and progresses over months to years, with attention typically preserved until later stages.
• C Depression can impair concentration but doesn't usually produce this abrupt, fluctuating confusion tied to an infection.
• D Nothing suggests delusions or hallucinations as the primary problem.

Sources: NICE, Delirium (CG103), recommendations 1.3.1, 1.5.1 and 1.6–1.7 (updated January 18, 2023); Merck Manual Professional Edition, “Delirium”, Symptoms and Signs and Diagnosis (reviewed February 2025).

Answer: B

"I'm not smart" is internal, "never will be" is stable, and "everything I try" is global. This attributional style for negative events is the one the model ties to vulnerability to depression.

• A, C, D each mislabel at least one dimension. Check each phrase against one dimension at a time.

Source: Abramson, Seligman, & Teasdale (1978), “Learned Helplessness in Humans: Critique and Reformulation (PDF),” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 87(1), 49–74; pp. 56–59 and the reformulated depression model beginning p. 64.

Answer: D

Holland's RIASEC model (Realistic, Investigative, Artistic, Social, Enterprising, Conventional) predicts that satisfaction and stability are highest when a person's type matches the environment's type.

• B Career maturity is central to Super's life-span, life-space theory.
• C Self-efficacy is central to social cognitive career theory (Lent, Brown & Hackett).
• A isn't the organizing construct of any of these theories.

Sources: O*NET Interest Profiler Manual (PDF) (Version 1.0, March 2021), chapter 1, pp. 6–10, and chapter 7, pp. 125–127; Lent, Brown, & Hackett (1994), “Toward a Unifying Social Cognitive Theory of Career and Academic Interest, Choice, and Performance (PDF),” pp. 79–83; Naidoo (1998), Career Maturity: A Review of Four Decades of Research (PDF), p. 1.

Answer: A

The coefficient of determination is r² = .60² = .36, so 36% of the variance is shared.

• B confuses r with r².
• C is 1 − r², the unshared variance.
• D is √.60, the wrong operation.

Source: OpenStax, Introductory Statistics, §12.3, “The Coefficient of Determination.” Derived calculation: r²=.60²=.36.

Answer: D

Standard 8.07(c) requires explaining deception as early as feasible, preferably at the end of participation but no later than the end of data collection, and permitting participants to withdraw their data. Separately, 8.07(b) bars deceiving people about research expected to cause physical pain or severe emotional distress.

• A would defeat the design the IRB approved.
• B, C delay or skip a required step.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standards 8.07 and 8.08.

Answer: C

Standards 9.02(b) and (c) call for instruments with validity established for the population tested and methods suited to the person's language preference and competence. Standard 9.06 requires accounting for linguistic and cultural factors and stating significant limitations of interpretations.

• A would likely measure English proficiency rather than cognitive ability.
• B Using a child as interpreter raises competence, confidentiality, and role problems; 9.03(c) also requires consent and attention to test security when any interpreter is used.
• D withholds a needed service when appropriate adaptations exist.

Source: APA Ethics Code, Standards 9.02, 9.03(c), 9.06.