he tended to create unnecessarily difficult tests and gave his students unusually low grades. A psychoanalyst would be most likely to view treatment of students as an example of which defense mechanism?

displacement.

Explanation:

Displacement is considered as one of the different types of psychological 'defense mechanisms' in which an individual's negative feelings or thoughts are being transferred from his or her original emotion source towards a less 'threatening' object or person.

Example: An individual who is angry or is upset with his girlfriend tends to outburst his anger or frustration on her mother or brother.

The correct answer to the question given represents the 'displacement'.