EPPP Cheat Sheet 2026

The 30 highest-yield EPPP facts, distilled from real exam questions. Print it, save it as a PDF, or study it here — free, no sign-up.

1. Which lobe of the brain is primarily responsible for processing visual information? → Occipital lobe
2. The 'availability heuristic' can influence clinical judgment by causing clinicians to: → Underweight base rates in favor of vivid recent cases
3. According to Festinger's social comparison theory, people are most likely to compare themselves to others who are: → Similar to themselves
4. A Type I error in hypothesis testing occurs when a researcher: → Rejects a true null hypothesis
5. Under the APA Ethics Code, a psychologist may disclose confidential client information without consent in which of the following situations? → The client is an adult who is gravely suicidal and refusing voluntary hospitalization
6. According to Erikson's psychosocial development theory, the central conflict of adolescence is: → Identity vs. Role Confusion
7. Which concept describes the tendency to seek information that confirms existing beliefs while ignoring disconfirming evidence? → Confirmation bias
8. Emotional schema therapy (Leahy) targets maladaptive beliefs about emotions. Which belief is considered most problematic? → Emotions are permanent, uncontrollable, and unique to oneself
9. Which attentional phenomenon explains why people tend to notice and remember emotionally threatening stimuli more than neutral ones? → Attentional bias toward threat
10. Ataque de nervios, a recognized cultural idiom of distress involving uncontrollable crying, trembling, and dissociation, is most commonly reported among: → Latino/Hispanic populations, particularly Caribbean groups
11. Which statistical concept describes the proportion of variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the independent variable? → Coefficient of determination (R²)
12. Research on affective forecasting consistently shows that people tend to: → Overestimate both the intensity and the duration of future emotional reactions
13. In Beck's cognitive model, which cognitive distortion involves drawing a sweeping negative conclusion from a single event? → Overgeneralization
14. A test yields consistent results across different occasions but does not measure what it claims to measure. This test has: → High reliability and low validity
15. Piaget's sensorimotor stage starts at. → birth to two years of age
16. Which statistical concept describes the proportion of true-positive results among all individuals who actually have the condition (hit rate for true positives)? → Sensitivity
17. In the context of emotion regulation, cognitive reappraisal differs from expressive suppression in that reappraisal: → Occurs earlier and changes the emotional trajectory itself
18. Which neurotransmitter system is most implicated in the reward and reinforcement pathways affected by substance use disorders? → Dopaminergic system
19. According to the DSM-5, which specifier indicates that a major depressive episode occurs during a biologically distinct period? → With peripartum onset
20. Which of the following patterns does research show the sexes' propensities to seek out companionship to follow? → women tend to seek out companionship more than men
21. Erik Erikson's psychosocial stage for young adulthood (approximately ages 20–40) centers on the conflict of: → Intimacy vs. Isolation
22. A patient repeatedly checks door locks despite knowing they are locked. This behavior is best explained by which cognitive concept? → Inflated responsibility beliefs
23. Cognitive load theory predicts that learning is impaired when: → Intrinsic and extraneous cognitive load exceed working memory capacity
24. In group therapy, 'universality' as a therapeutic factor refers to: → Clients discovering that others share similar problems
25. In which Piaget's phases of cognitive development occur is object persistence. → Sensorimotor
26. The 'hindsight bias' is best described as: → Believing after an event that one had predicted it all along
27. Which therapy specifically targets the connection between avoidance behavior and emotional distress in anxiety disorders? → Exposure and response prevention
28. Which memory system stores general world knowledge and facts independent of personal experience? → Semantic memory
29. Which of the following reinforcement schedules is MOST resistant to extinction? → Variable ratio
30. Emotion regulation strategy known as cognitive reappraisal differs from suppression primarily in that reappraisal: → Changes the meaning of a situation before emotional response peaks