Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms 2

Question 1

What defense mechanism is operating when a person has no conscious memory of a traumatic event because the memory has been pushed out of awareness?

Accepted Answer

Repression

Answer

Repression is the involuntary exclusion of threatening memories or impulses from conscious awareness, distinguishing it from the voluntary suppression.

Question 2

A patient discusses their terminal diagnosis in detached, clinical language with no visible emotional distress. This best illustrates:

Accepted Answer

Intellectualization

Answer

Intellectualization involves using abstract, analytical thinking to distance oneself from the emotional impact of an anxiety-provoking situation.

Question 3

Which defense mechanism involves an individual reverting to behaviors characteristic of an earlier developmental stage when faced with stress, such as an adult throwing a temper tantrum?

Accepted Answer

Regression

Answer

Regression is the return to earlier, more primitive modes of functioning when the ego is overwhelmed by anxiety or frustration.

Question 4

Splitting, as a defense mechanism, is characterized by:

Accepted Answer

Inability to integrate positive and negative qualities of self and others, perceiving them as all-good or all-bad

Answer

Splitting reflects a failure to integrate ambivalent feelings, resulting in people or situations being perceived as entirely good or entirely bad.

Question 5

Which defense mechanism involves performing a ritual or symbolic act to cancel out or 'take back' a previous unacceptable thought or action?

Accepted Answer

Undoing

Answer

Undoing involves a symbolic act or thought that attempts to negate or reverse a previous unacceptable action or impulse, often seen in obsessive-compulsive presentations.

(Psychoanalysis) Psychoanalysis Theory Test Practice Test

(Psychoanalysis) Psychoanalysis Theory Test Practice Test

Psychoanalysis Defense Mechanisms 2