Psychology case studies
Psychology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
This page supports candidates preparing for a psychology subject examination - a broad, multiple-choice assessment of core psychological science rather than a license to practice. It suits undergraduate psychology majors consolidating coursework, graduate applicants who need a demonstrated knowledge baseline, and career-changers or post-baccalaureate students building a transcript record. The Psychology case studies are 5 cases and about 4,131 words.
1Fluctuating confusion in a 68-year-old on an anticholinergic cocktail
A 68-year-old retired teacher is brought to the emergency department by his daughter after three days of fluctuating confusion. He has hypertension, osteoarthritis, and an overactive bladder.
818 words, about 4 min2Spacing, testing, and a claim of additivity from an underpowered 2×2
An educational psychology lab runs a two-experiment study on retrieval practice. In Experiment 1, 60 undergraduates learn 40 Swahili–English word pairs in one of two schedules - four study blocks in a single session, or four blocks spread across four days - crossed with activity type on each block (restudy the pairs, or take a recall test).
852 words, about 4 min3A bilingual five-year-old, an English-only screen, and a six-week wait
Alvarez brings her son Mateo, age 5 years 4 months, to a community clinic. Mateo was born in the United States; his parents emigrated from Guatemala, and Spanish is the household language.
900 words, about 5 min4A hiring panel, a chair's email, and five post-discussion ratings
At a mid-sized hospital, a committee of five evaluates eight finalists for a nurse-manager post. Each member independently completes a structured interview sheet with behaviorally anchored ratings plus a single "overall fit" item.
798 words, about 4 min5A 56-patient CBT trial, a borderline p-value, and a press release
A clinical team reports a randomized trial of 10-session group CBT for social anxiety disorder versus waitlist. They randomized 56 adults, 28 per arm.
763 words, about 4 min