Vito is angry when the school bus driver blames him for misbehaving, when it actually was the child behind him who had been acting up. As he gets off the bus, he kicks the bus tire. Freud would say that Vito is unconsciously using the defense mechanism of:

A) displacement.
B) repression.
C) projection.
D) denial.

Displacement is a defense mechanism that involves redirecting one's emotions or actions onto a substitute target, typically one that is less threatening than the original target. In this scenario, Vito is angry at the bus driver for wrongly accusing him, but he cannot express his anger towards the driver. Instead, he kicks the bus tire, which becomes a substitute target. This behavior is a form of displacement, as Vito is taking out his frustration on a less threatening object instead of confronting the actual issue.