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Defence mechanism - Quiz
Contributed by: Morris
  • 1. Who introduced the four-level classification of defence mechanisms?
A) Erik Erikson
B) Carl Jung
C) George Eman Vaillant
D) Sigmund Freud
  • 2. Which longitudinal study provided the basis for Vaillant's categorization?
A) The Milgram Experiment
B) The Grant Study
C) The Harvard Study of Adult Development
D) The Stanford Prison Experiment
  • 3. In what year did the Grant Study begin?
A) 1950
B) 1937
C) 1945
D) 1920
  • 4. What was the overarching aim of Vaillant's study?
A) To study childhood trauma
B) To create new medication
C) To diagnose psychopathology
D) To define characteristics of mental health
  • 5. How many levels are in Vaillant's classification of defence mechanisms?
A) Six
B) Four
C) Five
D) Three
  • 6. Which level includes 'pathological' defences?
A) Level I
B) Level III
C) Level II
D) Level IV
  • 7. Which level includes 'immature' defences?
A) Level IV
B) Level II
C) Level III
D) Level I
  • 8. Which level includes 'neurotic' defences?
A) Level I
B) Level III
C) Level IV
D) Level II
  • 9. Which level includes 'mature' defences?
A) Level III
B) Level IV
C) Level II
D) Level I
  • 10. Which of these is considered a Level I pathological defence?
A) Projection
B) Intellectualization
C) Delusional projection
D) Humour
  • 11. Which of these is a Level IV mature defence?
A) Altruism
B) Denial
C) Dissociation
D) Acting out
  • 12. What can happen to external reality when Level I defences are used?
A) It is analyzed intellectually
B) It is radically reshaped
C) It is ignored completely
D) It is accurately perceived
  • 13. Where might Level I pathological defences be observed besides overt psychosis?
A) Dreams
B) Professional work
C) Scientific experiments
D) Healthy adult social interactions
  • 14. What is 'Denial' as a defence mechanism?
A) Transforming emotions into actions
B) Refusal to accept external reality
C) Using humor to deflect pain
D) Blaming others for internal feelings
  • 15. What is 'Distortion'?
A) A gross reshaping of external reality
B) A focus on logical analysis
C) Acting out impulses physically
D) Accepting reality too readily
  • 16. Which group of people was monitored in the Grant Study?
A) Children from various backgrounds
B) Patients in psychiatric wards
C) Elderly individuals
D) Harvard men
  • 17. How did the hierarchy of defences correlate with life outcomes?
A) With financial success
B) With psychological maturity
C) With physical strength
D) With academic performance
  • 18. Which of these is a Level II defence?
A) Passive aggression
B) Anticipation
C) Reaction formation
D) Suppression
  • 19. Which of these is a Level III defence?
A) Repression
B) Fantasy
C) Psychotic denial
D) Sublimation
  • 20. What is the nature of delusions in 'delusional projection'?
A) Scientific
B) Logical
C) Persecutory
D) Helpful
  • 21. How are defense mechanisms described in terms of their psychological origin?
A) Logical reasoning processes
B) Unconscious processes
C) Voluntary habit formations
D) Learned social behaviors
  • 22. What is object constancy?
A) The ability to focus on one object for a long time
B) A process of distorting id impulses
C) The tendency to reject negative traits in others
D) Knowing that bad and good can exist at the same time in the same person
  • 23. What is the primary goal of rationalization?
A) Justifying behavior using logical reasons
B) Seeing one's own urges in others
C) Falling back to an earlier developmental state
D) Channeling libido into art
  • 24. Who authored the 1936 book 'The Ego and the Mechanisms of Defence'?
A) Robert Plutchik
B) Anna Freud
C) Paulhus
D) Sigmund Freud
  • 25. What did Anna Freud call the signal occurring in the ego of an anticipated instinctual tension?
A) Primary repression
B) Signal anxiety
C) Libidinal drive
D) Object constancy
  • 26. Which mechanism involves acting in the opposite way that the unconscious instructs?
A) Reaction formation
B) Regression
C) Displacement
D) Repression
  • 27. According to the text, which defense mechanism is seen as the most acceptable?
A) Projection
B) Sublimation
C) Undoing
D) Denial
  • 28. According to Robert Plutchik's theory, which emotion relates to projection?
A) Disgust
B) Fear
C) Joy
D) Sadness
  • 29. In Plutchik's theory, which defense mechanism is linked to sadness?
A) Regression
B) Compensation
C) Displacement
D) Repression
  • 30. What does projection involve?
A) Channeling energy into intellectual pursuits
B) Suppressing memories of childhood
C) Returning to a safer developmental stage
D) Seeing one's own unacceptable urges in others
  • 31. Which organization published the DSM-IV?
A) National Institute of Mental Health
B) World Health Organization
C) American Psychiatric Association
D) British Psychological Society
  • 32. What is the basis for the DSM-IV-TR classification of defense mechanisms?
A) Vaillant's hierarchical view
B) Cognitive behavioral research
C) Freud's original writings
D) Jungian archetypal theory
  • 33. Which of the following is categorized under the 'High adaptive level'?
A) Denial
B) Humor
C) Acting Out
D) Splitting
  • 34. Which of these is considered a 'Minor image-distorting level' defense?
A) Devaluation
B) Suppression
C) Apathetic withdrawal
D) Psychotic distortion
  • 35. Which of the following is listed under the 'Mental inhibitions' level?
A) Undoing
B) Help-rejecting complaining
C) Omnipotence
D) Affiliation
  • 36. Which defense is categorized under the 'Disavowal level' along with Projection?
A) Dissociation
B) Rationalization
C) Isolation of Affect
D) Denial
  • 37. Which of the following is an example of an 'Action level' defense?
A) Repression
B) Acting Out
C) Self-Observation
D) Idealization
  • 38. Which of the following is considered a borderline defense mechanism?
A) Splitting
B) Altruism
C) Humor
D) Suppression
  • 39. Who developed the theory of borderline personality organization based on object relations theory?
A) Freud
B) Otto F. Kernberg
C) Jung
D) Gabbard
  • 40. What is a core consequence of the inability to integrate helpful and harmful mental objects in Kernberg's theory?
A) Psychotic thought disorder
B) Neurotic rigidity
C) Borderline personality organization
D) Healthy personality
  • 41. Which defense is classified as 'less adaptive' by Gabbard?
A) Anticipation
B) Dissociation
C) Sublimation
D) Suppression
  • 42. Which mechanism involves the fragmentation of the personality?
A) Suppression
B) Altruism
C) Humor
D) Fragmentation
  • 43. Which defense mechanism is included in both Kernberg's borderline defenses and splitting-based defenses?
A) Anticipation
B) Projective identification
C) Humor
D) Suppression
  • 44. Which of the following is associated with the psychotic level of organization?
A) Isolation of affect
B) Sublimation
C) Concretization
D) Rationalization
  • 45. According to the PDM-2 classification, which is a symptom of the borderline level of organization?
A) Rigidity
B) Thought disorder
C) Certainty
D) Impulsivity
  • 46. Which defense mechanism involves shifting impulses to a less threatening target?
A) Displacement
B) Suppression
C) Projection
D) Reaction formation
  • 47. What is the defining trait of Hypochondriasis?
A) Excessive worry about having a serious illness
B) Conscious delay of emotional needs
C) Detachment of emotion from an idea
D) Constructive service to others
  • 48. What does 'Isolation of affect' result in?
A) Making an idea feel flat by detaching emotion
B) Excessive worry about health
C) Direct expression of hostility
D) Transformation of aggression into sports
  • 49. Which defense mechanism involves retreating into fantasy to resolve conflicts?
A) Schizoid fantasy
B) Projection
C) Intellectualization
D) Dissociation
  • 50. Neurotic defense mechanisms are considered common in which group?
A) Only children
B) Adults
C) Only those with major depression
D) Infants
  • 51. What is the definition of 'Anticipation'?
A) Detaching emotion from an idea
B) Converting impulses into their opposites
C) Realistic planning for future discomfort
D) Expressing ideas that give pleasure to others
  • 52. How many defence processes are included in the DMRS?
A) 10
B) 40
C) 30
D) 7
  • 53. Who originally created the Defence Mechanism Rating Scale?
A) Sigmund Freud
B) J. Christopher Perry
C) Vaillant
D) Mariagrazia Di Giuseppe
  • 54. How many categories are the defence processes divided into in the DMRS?
A) 5
B) 7
C) 3
D) 30
  • 55. What is the highest level of adaptiveness in the DMRS?
A) Neurotic
B) High-adaptive
C) Obsessional
D) Action
  • 56. Which of the following is an example of a psychotic defence?
A) Autistic withdrawal
B) Passive aggression
C) Acting out
D) Splitting
  • 57. How long have assessments like the DMRS and Vaillant's hierarchy been used?
A) Over 40 years
B) Over 10 years
C) Over 5 years
D) Over 100 years
  • 58. What do action defences provide to the individual?
A) Total psychological stability
B) Complete elimination of stress
C) Short-term relief
D) Lasting improvement
  • 59. Which mechanism involves the simplification of how one sees themselves and others?
A) Psychotic
B) Action
C) Major image-distorting
D) High-adaptive
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