The Counterintuitive Finding

If the EPPP is a test of psychology knowledge, you'd expect the best predictor of EPPP performance to be... psychology knowledge. The GRE Psychology Subject Test — a dedicated measure of psychology content mastery — should correlate strongly with EPPP scores.

It does correlate. But not as strongly as you'd think. And that's where it gets interesting.

The Data

Sharpless and Barber (2013) analyzed program-level EPPP data covering 14,560 examinees across 422 programs. They combined this with publicly available program characteristics to identify what actually predicts EPPP performance.

The headline findings on GRE correlations:

  • GRE Total Score → EPPP: r = .64
  • GRE Verbal → EPPP: r = .56
  • GRE Quantitative → EPPP: r = .63
  • GRE Psychology Subject Test → EPPP: r = .37

Read that again: your GRE Quantitative score — a math test taken years before graduate school — predicts your EPPP performance more strongly than the GRE Psychology Subject Test, which directly measures psychology content knowledge.

What Else Predicts EPPP Scores?

The same study found that pre-training variables — factors that exist before a student enters graduate school — account for an extraordinary amount of EPPP variance. Callahan and colleagues (2013), using ASPPB's own data, found that pre-training factors explain R² = .81 — meaning 81% of the variation in EPPP scores is statistically accounted for by what students bring to graduate school, not what they learn during it.

The consistent predictors across regression models were:

  • GRE scores — the strongest predictor in virtually every model
  • Internship match rates — a proxy for program selectivity
  • Program characteristics — accreditation status, US News ranking, admission selectivity

What This Means for You

This isn't about whether the EPPP is a "good" or "bad" test. It's about adjusting your preparation strategy based on what the evidence shows:

1. The exam rewards test-taking ability as much as content knowledge

If general cognitive ability and test-taking skill predict EPPP scores more than domain-specific psychology knowledge, then practicing the exam format is at least as important as reviewing content. Candidates who only re-read textbooks are training the wrong muscle.

2. You probably have strengths you're not leveraging

If you had strong GRE scores, your pattern recognition and abstract reasoning abilities are already an asset. Lean into them. Learn to read question construction, eliminate distractors efficiently, and trust your analytical instincts when you're between two options.

3. If standardized tests aren't your strength, prepare differently

If you've historically struggled with standardized exams — even when you knew the material — this research validates your experience. It's not about knowing less psychology. Your preparation should explicitly address test-taking strategy: timing, elimination, question structure analysis, and performance under pressure.

4. Start earlier if you can

Time between degree completion and exam is another factor: candidates who wait longer tend to perform worse, likely due to knowledge decay. If possible, sit for the exam while your graduate training is still fresh.

The Bottom Line

The EPPP is a standardized exam that behaves like a standardized exam. It rewards rapid processing, pattern recognition, and efficient test-taking as much as content mastery. The smartest prep strategy accounts for both dimensions — building content knowledge and training the exam-specific skills that predict performance.

References

Sharpless, B. A., & Barber, J. P. (2013). Predictors of program performance on the Examination for Professional Practice in Psychology (EPPP). Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 44(4), 208–217.

Callahan, J. L., Bell, D. J., Davila, J., Johnson, S. L., Strauman, T. J., & Yee, C. M. (2020). Bigger is not always better: On the value of the EPPP pass rate as a program-level quality indicator. Training and Education in Professional Psychology, 14(4), 315–325.