EPPP Ethics Practice Questions, Explained

Ethics is the domain where capable clinicians miss questions they expected to get right. The EPPP rarely asks you to recite a standard. It drops you into a messy situation and asks for the most appropriate first step, or the best response, and several answers sound defensible until you apply the actual rule. You already know that confidentiality matters. The exam tests whether you can tell which obligation governs here.

These eight questions come from the same bank our platform uses. Every rationale names the APA Ethics Code standard that decides it (American Psychological Association, 2017). Answer before you read, then use the trap list at the end to see the patterns.

How to use this set

Treat each item like a mini case. Pick an answer, then read the rationale and find the sentence that names the standard. When you miss one, note which obligation you ranked above the correct one.

Question 1

Which statement about multiple relationships most accurately reflects Standard 3.05 of the APA Ethics Code?

A) Multiple relationships with current clients are prohibited wherever alternative providers are available. B) A multiple relationship that would not reasonably be expected to cause impairment, exploitation, or harm is not unethical. C) A multiple relationship is permitted if the client initiates the secondary role and consents to it in writing. D) Psychologists should generally withdraw from the professional role when a potential multiple relationship emerges.

Answer: B) A multiple relationship that would not reasonably be expected to cause impairment, exploitation, or harm is not unethical.

Standard 3.05 defines the test functionally: a multiple relationship is a problem when it could reasonably be expected to impair the psychologist's objectivity, competence, or effectiveness, or to exploit or harm the other person, and the standard states outright that multiple relationships not reasonably expected to cause such problems are not unethical. Availability of alternative providers is not the criterion; the same impairment-and-harm test applies in a large city and in a small community where overlapping roles are unavoidable. Client initiative and written consent do not cure a relationship that is reasonably expected to impair or exploit. And the Code does not direct psychologists to withdraw from the professional role whenever a potential overlap appears; when a potentially harmful multiple relationship arises unexpectedly, the psychologist takes reasonable steps to resolve it with the affected person's best interests in mind.

Question 2

A mother brings her 9-year-old son for therapy and signs all of the consent paperwork. Before beginning treatment, the psychologist should also:

A) Explain the treatment to the boy in age-appropriate language and seek his assent. B) Obtain the boy's signature on a simplified written assent form before any services begin. C) Confirm that the boy's father has also authorized treatment, since both parents are required to agree. D) Assess whether the boy is mature enough to provide legal consent on his own behalf.

Answer: A) Explain the treatment to the boy in age-appropriate language and seek his assent.

When a client cannot legally consent, Standard 3.10(b) directs the psychologist to provide an appropriate explanation, seek the person's assent, and consider his preferences and best interests. The mother's signature supplies the legal permission, and the child's agreement is sought through an age-appropriate conversation, not through paperwork; no signed assent form is required, and a 9-year-old's signature would carry no legal force anyway. Consent from one custodial parent is generally sufficient absent a court order dividing that authority. And a 9-year-old cannot provide legal consent regardless of maturity, so evaluating him for that purpose confuses assent with consent.

Question 3

Three weeks into family therapy, a father telephones the psychologist between sessions and shares something he asks not be repeated when the family meets together. Which of the following did Standard 4.02 require of the psychologist before this call occurred?

A) Making explicit to everyone how privately shared material would be handled B) Agreeing with the family that anything said between sessions would be raised in the next conjoint hour C) Assuring each member that individual disclosures stay private unless they threaten the course of therapy D) Obtaining a signed release from each member before any between-session contact could be documented

Answer: A) Making explicit to everyone how privately shared material would be handled

Standard 4.02 requires clarifying at the outset who the clients are and how information one person shares privately will be treated, so making explicit to everyone how privately shared material would be handled is what the standard demanded before the father ever called. Agreeing that anything said between sessions would be raised in the next conjoint hour is one permissible policy, not the requirement itself, and it is only defensible if it was set in advance. Assuring each member that individual disclosures stay private unless they threaten the therapy is the other common policy, and it is likewise a choice the psychologist could have made rather than a rule the Code imposes. Obtaining a signed release before documenting between-session contact confuses record-keeping mechanics with the upfront conversation the standard actually requires.

Question 4

When a psychologist receives a request for information from another psychologist regarding a mutual client, what is the most ethical course of action?

A) Share the information, since both psychologists are treating the same client and treatment-related disclosures need no separate consent B) Consult with the client to obtain consent before disclosing any information. C) Provide only the diagnosis and dates of service, which can be released without the client's authorization D) Refer the requesting psychologist to the client's insurer, which holds the authorization on file

Answer: B) Consult with the client to obtain consent before disclosing any information.

Confidential information is released with the client's consent, so the first step is to confirm with the client and obtain a written release (Standard 4.05). A shared client does not create automatic access, and the fact that HIPAA permits some treatment-related disclosures does not remove the ethical duty to involve the client. Diagnosis and dates of service are still confidential, and an insurer's authorization covers billing, not clinician-to-clinician exchange.

Question 5

Standard 2.06 of the APA Ethics Code imposes which two obligations related to a psychologist's personal problems?

A) Refrain from starting new activities when personal problems will likely impede competence, and take appropriate measures if problems interfere with ongoing work B) Limit the caseload whenever personal problems arise, and document the limitation in each affected client's record C) Refrain from starting new activities when personal problems may arise, and promptly terminate every affected client relationship D) Seek consultation before starting new activities, and notify the licensing board when personal problems affect ongoing work

Answer: A) Refrain from starting new activities when personal problems will likely impede competence, and take appropriate measures if problems interfere with ongoing work

Standard 2.06 has two parts: do not initiate new professional activities when personal problems will likely prevent competent performance, and when such problems arise during ongoing work, take appropriate measures such as seeking consultation, limiting, suspending, or terminating activities. Consultation is one appropriate measure, but the standard imposes no duty to report one's own personal problems to the licensing board. Limiting the caseload is likewise one option rather than a required response, and the standard does not call for documenting it in client records. The last option is the closest miss: it lowers the threshold from likely impairment to problems that may arise, and it makes termination mandatory when the standard treats it as one measure among several.

Question 6

The requirement in Standard 6.02 that psychologists plan for the appropriate handling of client records if they unexpectedly leave practice is most commonly addressed through which arrangement?

A) A professional will designating how records will be managed and how current clients will be contacted B) A standing agreement to transfer all client records to the state licensing board C) Automatic destruction of all records upon the psychologist's death or incapacity D) A clause in each informed consent form releasing records to the client's emergency contact

Answer: A) A professional will designating how records will be managed and how current clients will be contacted

Planning for withdrawal from practice due to retirement, illness, disability, or death is typically accomplished through a professional will that designates a trusted colleague or association to manage records and outlines procedures for contacting clients. Transferring records to the licensing board, destroying them automatically, or releasing them to emergency contacts would fail to protect continuity of care and confidentiality.

Question 7

Standard 6.03 prohibits psychologists from withholding client records under which specific circumstance?

A) When the records are requested and needed for a client's emergency treatment and the sole reason for withholding is nonpayment B) When records are requested for a child custody evaluation and the client's account is overdue C) When a former client requests records out of personal interest more than seven years after termination D) Whenever an attorney issues a subpoena for records in a civil dispute

Answer: A) When the records are requested and needed for a client's emergency treatment and the sole reason for withholding is nonpayment

Standard 6.03 is narrow, applying when records are requested and imminently needed for emergency treatment and nonpayment is the only basis for refusal. It addresses treatment rather than assessment or evaluation contexts, so custody evaluations, personal-interest requests, and subpoena responses fall outside this particular standard even though other rules may govern them.

Question 8

Under Standard 9.04, the term test data refers to:

A) Raw and scaled scores, the client's responses to test questions, and the psychologist's notes about the client's statements and behavior during the examination B) Test manuals, instruments, protocols, and the test questions themselves C) Only the final integrated report prepared for the referral source D) The publisher's normative tables and scoring keys

Answer: A) Raw and scaled scores, the client's responses to test questions, and the psychologist's notes about the client's statements and behavior during the examination

Test data under Standard 9.04 comprises raw and scaled scores, client responses, and the psychologist's notes concerning the client during the examination, and it is ordinarily released pursuant to a client release. Manuals, instruments, protocols, and test questions are test materials under Standard 9.11, and normative tables, scoring keys, and the report itself are not what the term test data designates.

Ethics traps that show up again and again

These five patterns account for a large share of ethics items. Learn the rule underneath each one.

Multiple relationships (Standard 3.05). A second role with a client is not automatically unethical. It becomes a problem when it could reasonably impair your objectivity, competence, or effectiveness, or exploit or harm the other person. The question is the effect, not the overlap. Standard 3.06 applies the same test to conflicts of interest.

Duty to warn and duty to protect (Standard 4.05). Confidentiality yields when a client poses a clear and imminent threat of physical harm to an identifiable victim and can carry it out. Diffuse anger at a group, with no named target and no plan, does not meet that threshold. Know your jurisdiction's Tarasoff rule before you sit.

Informed consent when the client is a minor (Standard 3.10). The guardian supplies legal permission and the child supplies assent. Standard 3.10 asks you to explain the service in language the child understands and to weigh the child's preferences. A signed assent form is not required, and a young child cannot give legal consent no matter how mature.

Records when practice ends (Standards 6.01 and 6.02). Standard 6.02 asks you to plan for what happens if you leave practice unexpectedly. The usual answer is a professional will naming a colleague who can manage the files and reach current clients. Retention periods come from state law, not from the Ethics Code.

Fees, barter, and financial conflicts (Standards 6.04, 6.05, 6.06, and 3.06). The code does not set one fee for every client. Barter is allowed only when it is not clinically contraindicated and not exploitative, and goods are usually less risky than services. What the code forbids is letting a financial stake override the client's interest.

Start with the free set

Ethics rewards reasoning. The fastest way to build it is to answer questions in the application style the exam uses, read why the tempting answer fails, and name the standard behind the right one. You can do that right now, with no signup.

Work the free EPPP practice questions to find out where you actually stand, then start the free trial for the full ethics bank and all eight domains.

Sources

American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct (2002, amended effective June 1, 2010, and January 1, 2017). https://www.apa.org/ethics/code