EPPP General 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A psychologist is working with a client who discloses they are having thoughts of harming a specific, identifiable third party. Under the Tarasoff duty, the psychologist is MOST obligated to:
- Maintain confidentiality and increase session frequency
- Warn the potential victim and notify law enforcement (Correct answer)
- Hospitalize the client immediately without further assessment
- Document the threat and wait for the next session
Correct answer: Warn the potential victim and notify law enforcement
The Tarasoff ruling established a duty to protect identifiable third parties from credible threats, which includes warning the potential victim and notifying authorities.
Question 2: Which statistical concept describes the proportion of variance in the dependent variable that is explained by the independent variable?
- Statistical power
- Effect size (Cohen's d)
- Coefficient of determination (R²) (Correct answer)
- Standard error of the mean
Correct answer: Coefficient of determination (R²)
R² (coefficient of determination) represents the proportion of variance in the outcome variable accounted for by the predictor variable(s).
Question 3: A client with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder engages in repeated hand-washing to reduce anxiety about contamination. The hand-washing behavior is BEST conceptualized as a:
- Classical conditioning stimulus
- Negative reinforcer (Correct answer)
- Positive punisher
- Discriminative stimulus
Correct answer: Negative reinforcer
Compulsive hand-washing is negatively reinforced because it reduces the aversive anxiety triggered by obsessive contamination thoughts, increasing its likelihood of recurrence.
Question 4: In Piaget's theory, a child who understands that pouring water from a tall thin glass into a short wide glass does not change the volume of water has achieved:
- Object permanence
- Conservation (Correct answer)
- Reversibility of operations
- Seriation
Correct answer: Conservation
Conservation is the understanding that properties such as quantity, volume, and mass remain constant despite changes in physical appearance.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes the concept of 'countertransference' in psychodynamic therapy?
- The client's emotional reaction to the therapist based on past relationships
- The therapist's emotional reactions to the client influenced by the therapist's own history (Correct answer)
- The process by which repressed memories are brought into conscious awareness
- The mutual agreement between therapist and client on treatment goals
Correct answer: The therapist's emotional reactions to the client influenced by the therapist's own history
Countertransference refers to the therapist's unconscious emotional responses to the client, often shaped by the therapist's own unresolved conflicts or past experiences.
Question 6: A researcher reports that a new therapy produced significantly better outcomes than a control condition (p = .04). Which statement about this finding is MOST accurate?
- There is a 4% probability the therapy is ineffective
- There is a 4% probability of obtaining results this extreme if the null hypothesis is true (Correct answer)
- The therapy is clinically significant
- The effect size is large
Correct answer: There is a 4% probability of obtaining results this extreme if the null hypothesis is true
A p-value represents the probability of obtaining the observed results (or more extreme) assuming the null hypothesis is true, not the probability that the treatment is ineffective.
Question 7: A school psychologist is asked to evaluate a student for a suspected learning disability. Under IDEA, which requirement is MOST essential to the evaluation process?
- The evaluation must be conducted by a licensed clinical psychologist
- A comprehensive, nondiscriminatory evaluation must be conducted in all areas of suspected disability (Correct answer)
- The student must first fail two full academic years before evaluation begins
- Parental consent is optional if the school district has documented repeated behavioral concerns
Correct answer: A comprehensive, nondiscriminatory evaluation must be conducted in all areas of suspected disability
IDEA requires a comprehensive, multidisciplinary, nondiscriminatory evaluation in all areas of suspected disability to determine eligibility and educational needs.
EPPP General 2
A psychologist is working with a client who discloses they are having thoughts of harming a specific, identifiable third party.
Under the Tarasoff duty, the psychologist is MOST obligated to: