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New Jersey Examination for
Professional Practice in Psychology
(EPPP) 2026–2027 | 100 Practice
Questions, Answers & Detailed
Rationales
1. A psychologist is evaluating a client who reports recurrent panic attacks.
The client has begun avoiding driving because a panic attack occurred on a
highway. Which finding would most strongly support a diagnosis of panic
disorder rather than a specific phobia?
A. The client fears losing control while driving.
B. The client experiences unexpected panic attacks in multiple settings.
C. The client has avoided highways for six months.
D. The client experiences autonomic arousal when approaching a highway.
Answer: The client experiences unexpected panic attacks in multiple settings.
Rationale: Panic disorder is characterized by recurrent unexpected panic attacks
followed by persistent concern or maladaptive behavioral change. A specific
phobia is typically characterized by fear that is consistently cued by a particular
object or situation.
, 2. A researcher obtains a correlation of r = −0.80 between two psychological
variables. Which interpretation is most accurate?
A. The variables have a weak inverse relationship.
B. One variable causes the other to decrease.
C. The variables have a strong inverse linear relationship.
D. Eighty percent of the variance is explained.
Answer: The variables have a strong inverse linear relationship.
Rationale: A correlation of −0.80 indicates a strong negative linear association.
Correlation does not establish causation, and r²—not r—represents the
proportion of variance accounted for in a simple linear relationship. Here, r² =
.64.
3. A psychologist wants to determine whether a newly developed depression
treatment produces different outcomes for clients with mild versus severe
baseline depression. Treatment condition and severity group are
categorical independent variables, while depression score is continuous.
Which statistical procedure is most appropriate?
A. Pearson correlation
B. Two-way analysis of variance
C. Simple linear regression
D. One-sample t test
Answer: Two-way analysis of variance
Rationale: A two-way ANOVA evaluates the effects of two categorical
independent variables on a continuous dependent variable and can determine
whether an interaction exists between treatment condition and baseline
severity.
4. A psychologist administers a test repeatedly to the same individuals and
obtains highly consistent scores over time, but the test correlates poorly
with established measures of the same construct. What does this pattern
demonstrate?
,A. High validity and low reliability
B. Low reliability and high validity
C. High reliability and low convergent validity
D. Low reliability and low discriminant validity
Answer: High reliability and low convergent validity
Rationale: Stable scores across repeated administrations indicate strong test-
retest reliability. Poor correspondence with established measures of the same
construct suggests inadequate convergent validity.
5. A client with obsessive-compulsive disorder recognizes that intrusive
contamination thoughts are excessive but feels unable to resist washing
rituals. Which feature is most clinically significant in distinguishing
obsessions from ordinary worries?
A. The thoughts concern possible future events.
B. The thoughts are experienced as intrusive and unwanted.
C. The client attempts to solve the feared problem.
D. The thoughts produce physiological arousal.
Answer: The thoughts are experienced as intrusive and unwanted.
Rationale: Obsessions are recurrent, intrusive, unwanted thoughts, urges, or
images that typically cause anxiety or distress. Ordinary worries may be
excessive but are not necessarily experienced as intrusive or ego-dystonic.
6. A psychologist is treating a client with borderline personality disorder who
alternates between idealizing and devaluing the therapist. Which
therapeutic response is most consistent with dialectical behavior therapy?
A. Confront the client about irrational thinking.
B. Avoid discussing the therapeutic relationship.
C. Balance validation with strategies designed to promote behavioral change.
D. Terminate treatment when splitting occurs.
, Answer: Balance validation with strategies designed to promote behavioral
change.
Rationale: DBT emphasizes acceptance and change simultaneously. Validation
acknowledges the client's emotional experience while behavioral interventions
target dysfunctional patterns.
7. A psychologist conducts a factor analysis of a new anxiety questionnaire.
Several items load strongly on one factor, while another group loads
strongly on a second factor. What does factor analysis primarily help
establish?
A. Predictive validity
B. Internal consistency only
C. Construct structure
D. Interrater reliability
Answer: Construct structure
Rationale: Factor analysis examines patterns of correlations among items and
helps determine whether items cluster into theoretically meaningful dimensions
or latent constructs.
8. A clinical psychologist notices that a client is becoming increasingly
dependent on reassurance from the therapist. The psychologist begins
feeling unusually responsible for the client's emotional stability. Which
phenomenon should the psychologist be particularly alert to?
A. Reaction formation
B. Countertransference
C. Sublimation
D. Displacement
Answer: Countertransference
Rationale: Countertransference involves the therapist's emotional reactions to a
client that may be influenced by the therapist's own experiences or by
New Jersey Examination for
Professional Practice in Psychology
(EPPP) 2026–2027 | 100 Practice
Questions, Answers & Detailed
Rationales
1. A psychologist is evaluating a client who reports recurrent panic attacks.
The client has begun avoiding driving because a panic attack occurred on a
highway. Which finding would most strongly support a diagnosis of panic
disorder rather than a specific phobia?
A. The client fears losing control while driving.
B. The client experiences unexpected panic attacks in multiple settings.
C. The client has avoided highways for six months.
D. The client experiences autonomic arousal when approaching a highway.
Answer: The client experiences unexpected panic attacks in multiple settings.
Rationale: Panic disorder is characterized by recurrent unexpected panic attacks
followed by persistent concern or maladaptive behavioral change. A specific
phobia is typically characterized by fear that is consistently cued by a particular
object or situation.
, 2. A researcher obtains a correlation of r = −0.80 between two psychological
variables. Which interpretation is most accurate?
A. The variables have a weak inverse relationship.
B. One variable causes the other to decrease.
C. The variables have a strong inverse linear relationship.
D. Eighty percent of the variance is explained.
Answer: The variables have a strong inverse linear relationship.
Rationale: A correlation of −0.80 indicates a strong negative linear association.
Correlation does not establish causation, and r²—not r—represents the
proportion of variance accounted for in a simple linear relationship. Here, r² =
.64.
3. A psychologist wants to determine whether a newly developed depression
treatment produces different outcomes for clients with mild versus severe
baseline depression. Treatment condition and severity group are
categorical independent variables, while depression score is continuous.
Which statistical procedure is most appropriate?
A. Pearson correlation
B. Two-way analysis of variance
C. Simple linear regression
D. One-sample t test
Answer: Two-way analysis of variance
Rationale: A two-way ANOVA evaluates the effects of two categorical
independent variables on a continuous dependent variable and can determine
whether an interaction exists between treatment condition and baseline
severity.
4. A psychologist administers a test repeatedly to the same individuals and
obtains highly consistent scores over time, but the test correlates poorly
with established measures of the same construct. What does this pattern
demonstrate?
,A. High validity and low reliability
B. Low reliability and high validity
C. High reliability and low convergent validity
D. Low reliability and low discriminant validity
Answer: High reliability and low convergent validity
Rationale: Stable scores across repeated administrations indicate strong test-
retest reliability. Poor correspondence with established measures of the same
construct suggests inadequate convergent validity.
5. A client with obsessive-compulsive disorder recognizes that intrusive
contamination thoughts are excessive but feels unable to resist washing
rituals. Which feature is most clinically significant in distinguishing
obsessions from ordinary worries?
A. The thoughts concern possible future events.
B. The thoughts are experienced as intrusive and unwanted.
C. The client attempts to solve the feared problem.
D. The thoughts produce physiological arousal.
Answer: The thoughts are experienced as intrusive and unwanted.
Rationale: Obsessions are recurrent, intrusive, unwanted thoughts, urges, or
images that typically cause anxiety or distress. Ordinary worries may be
excessive but are not necessarily experienced as intrusive or ego-dystonic.
6. A psychologist is treating a client with borderline personality disorder who
alternates between idealizing and devaluing the therapist. Which
therapeutic response is most consistent with dialectical behavior therapy?
A. Confront the client about irrational thinking.
B. Avoid discussing the therapeutic relationship.
C. Balance validation with strategies designed to promote behavioral change.
D. Terminate treatment when splitting occurs.
, Answer: Balance validation with strategies designed to promote behavioral
change.
Rationale: DBT emphasizes acceptance and change simultaneously. Validation
acknowledges the client's emotional experience while behavioral interventions
target dysfunctional patterns.
7. A psychologist conducts a factor analysis of a new anxiety questionnaire.
Several items load strongly on one factor, while another group loads
strongly on a second factor. What does factor analysis primarily help
establish?
A. Predictive validity
B. Internal consistency only
C. Construct structure
D. Interrater reliability
Answer: Construct structure
Rationale: Factor analysis examines patterns of correlations among items and
helps determine whether items cluster into theoretically meaningful dimensions
or latent constructs.
8. A clinical psychologist notices that a client is becoming increasingly
dependent on reassurance from the therapist. The psychologist begins
feeling unusually responsible for the client's emotional stability. Which
phenomenon should the psychologist be particularly alert to?
A. Reaction formation
B. Countertransference
C. Sublimation
D. Displacement
Answer: Countertransference
Rationale: Countertransference involves the therapist's emotional reactions to a
client that may be influenced by the therapist's own experiences or by
