ASWB Masters Basic 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A social worker notices she feels unusually irritated and impatient with a client who reminds her of her critical mother. This reaction is BEST described as:
- Transference
- Countertransference (Correct answer)
- Projection
- Splitting
Correct answer: Countertransference
Countertransference occurs when the social worker's own unresolved feelings are triggered by the client, affecting the therapeutic relationship.
Question 2: A parent enrolls her child in therapy and later requests to review all session notes. Regarding the child's right to confidentiality, the social worker should FIRST:
- Provide all records immediately, as the parent has legal authority
- Refuse the request, as the child's confidentiality is absolute
- Consult state law and agency policy regarding minor's privacy rights (Correct answer)
- Ask the child to consent before releasing any information
Correct answer: Consult state law and agency policy regarding minor's privacy rights
Minor confidentiality rights vary by state and clinical context, requiring the social worker to review applicable law and policy before responding.
Question 3: The concept of 'learned helplessness' as developed by Martin Seligman MOST directly relates to which condition?
- Generalized anxiety disorder
- Borderline personality disorder
- Depression (Correct answer)
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
Correct answer: Depression
Seligman's learned helplessness model, where repeated uncontrollable negative events lead to passive resignation, is a foundational model for understanding depression.
Question 4: A social worker is conducting a mental status examination. Which domain is being assessed when the social worker asks a client to count backwards from 100 by sevens?
- Orientation
- Concentration and attention (Correct answer)
- Abstract reasoning
- Memory
Correct answer: Concentration and attention
Serial sevens is a standard concentration and attention task used in mental status examinations to assess cognitive processing.
Question 5: A social worker is working with a recently widowed 72-year-old man who has become socially isolated. From a life-span development perspective, his isolation is MOST consistent with which Eriksonian challenge?
- Integrity vs. Despair (Correct answer)
- Generativity vs. Stagnation
- Intimacy vs. Isolation
- Identity vs. Role Confusion
Correct answer: Integrity vs. Despair
Late adulthood involves Erikson's Integrity vs. Despair stage, where loss, isolation, and reflection on life's meaning are central developmental challenges.
Question 6: A social worker wants to evaluate whether a new group intervention program is achieving its intended outcomes. The MOST appropriate evaluation method is:
- A case study of one successful participant
- A single-subject design tracking individual progress
- A pre-test/post-test design measuring the group before and after the intervention (Correct answer)
- A qualitative focus group with facilitators
Correct answer: A pre-test/post-test design measuring the group before and after the intervention
A pre-test/post-test design allows measurement of group-level change attributable to the intervention by comparing baseline and outcome data.
Question 7: In motivational interviewing, 'rolling with resistance' MOST accurately means:
- Agreeing with the client's reasons for not changing
- Challenging resistance directly to provoke insight
- Avoiding confrontation and reflecting the client's ambivalence without arguing (Correct answer)
- Redirecting conversation away from topics that generate resistance
Correct answer: Avoiding confrontation and reflecting the client's ambivalence without arguing
Rolling with resistance involves accepting the client's perspective and reflecting ambivalence rather than arguing, which reduces defensiveness and supports autonomous change.
ASWB Masters Basic 4
A social worker notices she feels unusually irritated and impatient with a client who reminds her of her critical mother.
This reaction is BEST described as: