NCE Practice Examination

1. Competitiveness between children in the same family is known as

A. sibling rivalry

B. the Oedipus conflict

C. the Electra conflict

D. the Foundling conflict

Human Growth and Development

Explanation

Human Growth and Development

2. Third party reimbursement is a term pertinent to

A. transactional analysis

B. behavioral therapy

C. insurance practices

D. veterans' educational programs

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

3. Stage theories of human development are used by many counselors in their work with older persons because they facilitate understanding older persons' general life situations. In this context, Erikson described the development stge that occurs late in life as

A. intimacy vs. autonomy

B. integrity vs. despair

C. trust vs. isolation

D. intimacy vs. mistrust

Human Growth and Development

Explanation

Human Growth and Development

4. A counseling group member stated, "I feel so much better knowing that many of you have had similar problems. I guess we're all in the same boat!" This member's statement is an example of a group process phenomenon kown as

A. transference.

B. universality

C. catharsis.

D. intellectualization

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

5. Career counseling should include

A. exploration of values and attitudes.

B. information and factual data about counselees' resources.

C. recognition of counselees' needs, conflicts, and relationships.

D. all of the above.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

6. A member of the local clergy telephones and asks for your evaluation of the moral values of a person whom the caller knows was one of your clients. The caller wants your opinion because the former client is an applicant to a theological institution for which the caller is the local applicant evaluator. You should

D. seek the counsel of your supervisor to determine what types of information it would be permissible to divulge.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

7. The best descriptor of the emotion that results when a feeling or fear is not understood by the person experiencing it is

A. anxiety

B. affect

C. anger

D. arousal

Human Growth and Development

Explanation

Human Growth and Development

8. When communicating with other professionals, counselors use various words or phrases to describe the behaviors being exhibited by their clients. For example, when a client is attributing personally held feelings to another person, a counselor might say that the client is engaging in a process known as

A. sex-role orientation

B. universalization

C. identification

D. projection

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

9. You have been providing career counseling to a client who is seeking employment. Concurrent to the counseling, and with your knowledge, the client has made application for employment with several employers. A potential employer calls you and asks for your opinion as to your client's suitability for the employer's job opening. Under which of the following conditions are you free (i.e., not in violation of professional ethics) to provide the information requested?

A. when it is clear that the client will not get the job unless the information is given.

B. when you are certain that the information you would provide would assure that the client would get the job

C. when in your best judgment you believe the information would enhance the client's chances for getting the job

D. none of the above

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

10. A measure that is highly reliable can be depended on to

A. be equivalent.

B. measure accurately.

C. give consistent results

D. be specific.

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

11. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles

A. would not be useful in face-to-face counseling with an individual.

B. is more useful than the Occupational Outlook Handbook.

C. could be useful in helping a counselee expand occupational options.

D. would be useful at the conclusion of the counseling process.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

12. As applied to professional licensure of counselors, the term "reciprocity" means that

A. one licensing agency agrees to accept the licensing standards of another as sufficient for its own

B. a licensed counselor may legally perform the functions of a licensed psychologist.

C. certification is synonymous with licensure.

D. graduation from a fully accredited counselor education program automatically constitutes eligibility for licensure.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

13. A counselor conducted a study intended to evaluate the effectiveness of ongoing group career counseling on the vocational maturity of high school sophomores. The study was begun in September and continued until June. This study is particularly susceptible to which of the following threeats to the validity of an experiment?

A. regression

B. maturation

C. reactive effects of experimentation

D. multiple treatment interference

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

14. In recent years the language used in federal and many state legislative acts relative to counseling services for persons with handicaps has tended to shift from the use of general categorical definitions to noncategorical definitions of functional limitations of handicapping conditions. This change appears to reflect a realization that

A. the medical (i.e., physical) diagnosis is the most accurate basis for determining an appropriate level of funding

B. a specific disability has essentially the same effect in any educational or work setting

C. funding bases should not incorporate considerations of categories of disabilities

D. all categorically disables people do not have the same functional limitations in all work or education situations

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

15. Clients and counselors sit closer together, presumably reflecting being psychologically closer, when they are similar in terms of factors such as age, social status, and general appearance (e.g., style of clothing worn). However, research in proxemics also has shown that forward (upper body) trunk lean by a counselor is likely to cause a negative, distancing reaction initially in a client who is

A. depressed and crying

B. less intelligent than the counselor

C. a different race from the counselor

D. much shorter than the counselor

Helping Relationships

Pg. 104 of "Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action, 3rd Edition" by Hill

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Pg. 104 of "Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action, 3rd Edition" by Hill

16. Counselors know that groups are formed for different purposes. For example, in some groups the primary goal is to yield some specified outcome, or "product," while in others the primary goal is to focus on the "process" of interaction within the group. Which one of the following types of groups is more product than process oriented?

A. behavioral

B. transactional-analysis

C. Adlerian

D. client-centered

17. In Schein's "Doctor-Patient" model of consultation, which of the following conditions must e met for the consulttion process to be effective?

A. The consultee correctly interprets the symptoms identified

B. The consultee trusts that the consultant has provided accurate diagnostic information

C. The consultee is willing to implement the suggestions made by the consultant

D. All of the above conditions must be met

Helping Relationships Chapter 19 of "Counseling Psychology: 2nd Edition" by Gelso and Fretz

"The doctor-patient model is operating when a consultant "examines" a client or client system, and then, like a physician, makes recommendations for therapy." http://www.cas.umt.edu/dcs/faculty/bach/Documents/423_lange1982.pdf

Explanation

Helping Relationships Chapter 19 of "Counseling Psychology: 2nd Edition" by Gelso and Fretz

"The doctor-patient model is operating when a consultant "examines" a client or client system, and then, like a physician, makes recommendations for therapy." http://www.cas.umt.edu/dcs/faculty/bach/Documents/423_lange1982.pdf

18. When persons who are characteristically shy and withdrawn participate in "assertiveness training," initially they experience uncertainty and self-doubt. Counselors refer to this social-psychological concepts as

A. cognitive dissonance

B. dissociation

C. individuation

D. acculturation

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

19. Erikson presented an eight-stage theory of human development, the last stage of which he entitled "integrity vs. despair." A person's challenge in this stage is to achieve acceptance of the finality of life. Erikson postulated that such acceptance could be achieved only if the person had

A. reached a parallel level of moral development

B. established an economic environment such that the person need not be concerned about having good living conditions

C. successfully met the challenges of the previous stages

D. developed the ability to distinguish among the various roles the individual had filled in life

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

Explanation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

20. A student obtained a score of 93 on a test having a standard error of measurement of 4 points. In interpreting the results, the counselor correctly informed the student that

B. the student had scored among the top 11 percent of those who had taken the test.

C. the student had achieved a score that was at least four points above the national mean.

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

21. The counseling technique used by the counselor to explain to a client the logical inconsistencies in the client's statements is known as

A. confrontation

B. summarization

C. paradoxical intention

D. systematic desensitization

Helping Relationships

Explanation

Helping Relationships

22. The publication that is likely to average the largest numer of current research articles on the counseling process is the

A. Journal of Counseling Psychology

B. Review of Educational Research

C. Journal of Counseling and Abnormal Psychology

D. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disorders

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

23. Counselors who follow a behavioral counseling orientation know that primary emphasis in it is the development of

A. a loving counselor-client relationship

B. the client's awareness of subconscious feelings

C. an awareness of client behavioral stimuli and reinforcements

D. the client's needs hierarchy in behavioral terms

Helping Relationships

Chapter 3 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Comtemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. by Lebow

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 3 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Comtemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. by Lebow

24. The members of a group seemed to be revelling against the group counselor's leadership, "fighting" with one another to establish dominance in the group, confronting the group counselor as well as one another, and generally being in a state of conflict. Based on these characteristics and behaviors, the group counselor determined that the group was in which of the following stages of group development?

A. orientation

B. transition

C. action

D. completion

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

25. You are conducting career counseling with a 19-year-old female who had a B average in high school, reports having studies "only moderately," and currently works in a machine shop. Both she and her supervisor report that she is very adept at the work. She also is a student at the local college and is making mostly C and D grades, but reports that she becomes morose and sullen if she studies for long periods of time. She also reports that her parents want her to enter a "profession," but are vague as to which one. Which of Ginzberg's stages of career development would be applicable to this person t this time?

A. exploration

B. confirmation

C. crystallization

D. specification

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

26. Although group effectiveness is difficult to define and is related to the purposes and leadership of the group, some general principles have been agreed upon. For example, group processes generally are most effective when the group

A. has an authoritarian leader who maintains interpersonal rules and directions for the group.

B. develops new ways of functioning in response to emerging needs and patterns of interaction among group members

C. identifies group members who inhibit movement toward the group's goals.

D. works on several group tasks simultaneously, thereby increasing group efficiency.

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

27. Research on the development in a person of a so-called "humanistic life outlook" has shown that it is facilitated by

A. formal educational experiences

B. observational learning experiences

C. diverse interpersonal interactions

D. all of the above

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

28. According to the NBCC Code of Ethics and the ACA Code of Ethics, when should a counselor try to persuade the client to report knowledge of a crime to the appropriate law enforcement authorities?

A. when there is imminent danger to others

B. when there is a crime in progress

C. after the crime

D. never

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

29. Counselors adhering to the personality theory espoused by C.G. Jung often have to help people with problems related to what Jung "individuation." Jung defined this term as the process

A. which occurs when adolescents leave home to establish their own residences

B. occurring throughout life in which a person is becoming an individual

C. through which parents come to have unique patterns of interaction with each of their children

D. which is an outgrowth of the psychoanalytic principle of determinism

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

Explanation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

30. A client's __________ is a number that indicates how many persons taking the same test performed worse than or equal to the client.

A. norm

B. percentile rank

C. rank equivalent

D. test rank

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

31. A client was referred to a counselor by a physician. On the physician's advice, the client had been taking valium to alleviate "minor instances of stress." Initially, small doses of valium were sufficient to alleviate the client's stress. However, over a period of approximately one year, the client had found it necessary to take increasingly larger doses to bring about similar stress reduction. The counselor surmised that the client had developed a(n) __________ to the valium.

A. psychological dependence

B. addiction

C. physical dependence

D. tolerance

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

32. A counselor who structures a career counseling group to help group members understand a "fields and levels" approach to careers is following the theory of

A. Super.

B. Roe.

C. Holland.

D. Tiedeman.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

33. A client has concluded a series of counseling sesions with another counselor and has now come to you for counseling. According to the NBCC ethical standards, you should

A. proceed as you would with any other new client.

B. contact the other counselor and find out if it is appropriate for you to counsel the client.

C. contact the other counselor to ensure that you do not cover the same topic areas with the client.

D. advise the client to continue with the other counselor.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

34. Client: "Most of the time things are fine, but I hate it when my parents fight. It makes me want to run away from home." Counselor: "Is it possible that you both love and hate your parents?" The counselor's response is an example of the counseling skill known as

A. reflection

B. interpretation

C. summarization

D. confrontation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 9 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Edition" by Gelso and Fretz

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 9 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Edition" by Gelso and Fretz

35. Diagnosis is most clearly a counselor's task in which of the following types of group counseling?

A. existential

B. client-centered

C. rational emotive

D. psychoanalytic

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

36. In attempting to understand the life perspectives and characteristics of their clients, some counselors use Kohlberg's theory of moral development as a theoretical framework. These counselors know that Kohlberg's theory includes three progressive levels culminating in

A. self-actualization, wherein the individual is fully humanistic

B. principled thought, wherein the individual adopts a self-accepted set of standards of behavior

C. androgyny, wherein the individual exhibits both male and female stereotypic behaviors

D. personhood, wherein the individual is free from moral dilemmas

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

Explanation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

37. A counselor completing a report for an insurance company was required to indicate whether a client had a phobia or an anxiety reaction. The counselor was able to indicate the correct classification ecause the counselor knew that the primary distinction between te two conditions is the

A. age of onset of severe psychological distress

B. ease with which the symptoms are eliminated

C. frequency of symptom occurrence

D. specificity of the fear-causing source

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

Explanation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

38. In the context of the reality therapy approach to counseling, the counselor strives to achieve a counseling relationship in which the counselor assumes a(n) __________ role in decision-making relative to the client.

A. superordinate

B. equal

C. subordinate

D. antithetical

Helping Relationships

http://www.wglasser.com/the-glasser-approach/reality-therapy

http://www.realitytherapywub.com/

http://www.csun.edu/~hcpsy002/Psy460_Ch11_Handout2_ppt.pdf

Explanation

Helping Relationships

http://www.wglasser.com/the-glasser-approach/reality-therapy

http://www.realitytherapywub.com/

http://www.csun.edu/~hcpsy002/Psy460_Ch11_Handout2_ppt.pdf

39. The concept of "career maturity" has been described and researched most extensively by

A. Crites.

B. Hoyt.

C. Tiedeman.

D. Ginzberg.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

40. The counseling technique in which the counselor intensifies the client's emotional state in order to help the client understand the irrationality of the eotional reaction is known as

A. confrontation

B. paradoxical intention

C. systematic desensitization

D. reconfiguration

Helping Relationships

Pg. 315 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Contemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. by Lebow

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Pg. 315 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Contemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. by Lebow

41. At the conclusion of a year-long career counseling activity designed specifically for 34 "underemployed" persons, you are able to report to your supervisors that 22 of the participants changed to "training/education appropriate" jobs, 4 became unemployed, 5 remained in their same jobs, and 3 dropped out of the counseling program. This information is which of the following types of evaluation data?

A. process

B. context

C. product

D. validity

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

42. A counselor was hired to develop the educational activities that would promote development of gender-fair (i.e., non sex-role stereotypic) attitudes among older elementary-school-age children. The counselor decided to develop the activities within the context of social learning theory. Which of the following activities would be most appropriate for use by the counselor?

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

Explanation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

43. "Men (used here to mean all people) are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them." This quote, attributable to Epictetus, most closely describes the counseling theory developed by

A. Rogers

B. Carkhuff

C. Freud

D. Ellis

Helping Relationships

Chapter 3 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Contemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. by Lebow

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 3 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Contemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. by Lebow

44. Client: "I just can't see myself working in a hospital, being around sick kids all day." Counselor: "You just don't like kids." The counselor in this example has made which of the following types of reflection error?

A. depth

B. capitulation

C. meaning

D. syntax

Helping Relationships

Explanation

Helping Relationships

45. In some counseling groups the members feel dependent upon the group counselor (leader) for direction and movement and are passive in other ways as well, and the group counselor is easily fatigues and irritated because of the responsibility to "make everything work" in the group. According to Yalom (among others), this situation is most likely to arise in groups

A. that have failed to establish self-disclosure as an appropriate behavior for group members.

B. in which unstructured, freely interactive behavior is the norm for group members.

C. in which the meaningfulness of the group to each of the respective members is too high.

D. that have not assumed responsibility for their own functioning.

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

46. In the context of group counseling, members who are high in conformity also tend to be high in

A. independence

B. authoritarianism

C. intelligence

D. superiority

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

47. One of the primary differences in clients' uses of career counseling resources in print media format (e.g., Dictionary of Occupational Titles or Occupational Outlook Handbook) and those in computerized format (e.g., Choices, Discover II, SIGI(R), ECES) is the

A. number of jobs/occupations for which information is available

B. speed with which information can be retrieved for use.

C. lack of need for counselors when the computerized format is used.

D. lack of need for the computerized format when the print media format is used.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

48. Ellis' rational emotive therapy and Meichenbaum's cognitive behavior modification approaches to counseling are similar in that both hold that

A. a client's cognitions are "hypotheses to be tested," not absolute facts or truths

B. clients should perform "personal experiments" to determine if cognitions and beliefs are consistent with objective reality

C. "restructuring of cognitions" is an important aspect of all of the above

D. all of the above

Helping Relationships

Pg. 351-353 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Edition," by Gelso and Fretz

Pg. 333, 350, 351 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Edition," by Gelso and Fretz

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Pg. 351-353 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Edition," by Gelso and Fretz

Pg. 333, 350, 351 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Edition," by Gelso and Fretz

49. Counselors following particular theoretical career development orientations typically refer to them by the names of the persons primarily responsible for their development. For example, counselors following Roe's theory of career development know that it is characterized by

A. an emphasis on early childhood experiences.

B. consideration of individual needs and wishes.

C. clarification of individual skills and abilities.

D. all of the above.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

50. A standard deviation is a measure of

A. discrepancy.

B. variability.

C. covariability.

D. stability.

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

51. A counseling researcher completed a study, the essence of which was that clients' ratings of counseling effectiveness were positively and statistically significantly related to counselors' frequencies of use of active listening (i.e., facilitative responding) skills. The counselor then wrote a manuscript describing the study and its results and implications, and submitted copies of it to the Journal of Counseling and Development, Counselor Education and Supervision, and the Journal of Counseling Psychology. The counselor was likely to

A. have the manuscript accepted for publication very soon.

B. have the manuscript rejected because the findings were "old news" in the counseling profession.

C. be advised to restructure the manuscript into a "brief report" format.

D. be charged with violation of ACA's ethical standards and NBCC's Code of Ethics.

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

52. With which of the following types of experimental validity is the counseling researcher concerned when attempting to generalize research findings to other circumstances and subjects?

A. internal

B. external

C. deductive

D. inductive

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

53. A professional counselor determines fees for monthly consultation services on a job-by-job basis. This is an example of which of the following types of reinforcement schedules?

A. variable interval

B. fixed internal

C. variable ratio

D. fixed ratio

Human Growth and Development

Explanation

Human Growth and Development

54. The NBCC Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association (ACA) do not include a statement reflecting the principle that

A. counselors have a right to protect clients from themselves if the clients give evidence of being self-injurious.

D. improvement of the profession through a variety of professional involvements is a responsibility of all counselors.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

55. Counselors use a variety of terms to describe patterns of inter-personal interactions because those terms reflect sets of behavioral characteristics. For example, a primary characteristic of a "closed" interpersonal system is

A. group membership inflexibility

B. high levels of education among group members

C. erratic interpersonal interactions

D. limited "appropriate" conversational topics

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

56. Many members of the counseling profession have engaged in social reform efforts intended to reduce spouse abuse. These efforts have had limited effect because

C. increasing incidence of incarceration of spouse abusers has reduced the need for counseling services

D. all of the above

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

57. A counselor who is following Super's theory of career development would not be surprised to learn that a person whom the counselor believed to be in the "Establishment" stage had

A. quit work (altogether).

B. changed careers.

C. sought preretirement counseling.

D. been promoted to a management position.

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

58. Counselors refer to the study of "person-to-person relationsips" within a group situation as

A. syntaxicality.

B. homeostatis

C. sociometry.

D. psychodrama.

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

59. A counselor who follows an eclectic approach to counseling primarily bases the choice of utilized techniques upon

A. the severity of the emotional distress exhibited by the client

B. the client's intellectual, emotional, and environmental resources

C. whether the client was referred or volunteered for counseling

D. the theoretical orientation espoused in the counselor's professional preparation program

Helping Relationships (1994 CACREP Standard III-J-3)

Explanation

Helping Relationships (1994 CACREP Standard III-J-3)

60. Because of the nature of the counseling process, some concepts from the feld of speech and communications are readily applied to counseling. For example, counselors often find it appropriate to give (i.e., send) persuasive messages to clients. Such messages are more likely to be received (i.e., heard and accepted) if the counselor, as the message sender, exhibits certain characteristics. Which of the following is NOT a primary characteristic of effective persuasive communicators?

A. emotionality

B. attractiveness

C. expertness

D. trustworthiness

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

61. A specific technique for reinforcing desirable behaviors by pairing them with incompatible behaviors and incorporating principles of relaxation is

A. satiation.

B. extinction gradient delineation.

C. mediation maximization

D. systematic desensitization

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

62. A married couple comes to you, as a counselor in private practice, and tells you tat they are having marital difficulties and have sought counseling for resolution of them. In the course of the initial session with them, one of the spouses reports being a new and active member of the local Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group. You should

B. terminate counseling with the one spouse but continue to work with the spouse who is not an AA participant.

C. offer to co-counsel with the staff of the local AA.

D. refer both spouses to the local AA.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

63. In some settings, counselors must use diagnostic classification systems as part of the overall progra management plan of the service facility. The term "paranoia" is used in such systems to include a group of psychotic disorders characterized mainly by a(n)

A. slowing of emotional responses to a state of absolute calm

B. onset of increasingly complex delusions

C. frenzy of intense social interactions

D. irrational response to specific stimulus

Human Growth and Development

Explanation

Human Growth and Development

64. Which of the following is NOT a goal of Gestalt counseling groups?

A. helping individuals achieve integration

B. helping group members "grow up"

C. helping individuals accept anxiety as a part of life

D. All of the above are Gestalt counseling goals.

Group Work

Explanation

Group Work

65. What would be the dependent variable in the statement "A rolling stone gathers no moss"?

A. no

B. stone

C. moss

D. rolling

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

66. Person A and Person B both took the same test. Person A got a score of 100 while Person B got a score of 75. In order for a counselor to determine whether the difference between their scores was because of "chance," the counselor would need to know which of the following characteristics of the test?

A. mean

B. standard deviation

C. standard error of measurement

D. standard error of the mean

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

67. Which of the following is the LEAST important consideration that a group leader should employ in the selection of potentially appropriate strategies to be used in the group?

A. the types of people who will constitute the group

B. the leader's self-knowledge

C. the members' previous experience in groups

D. the extent to which the leader will be involved in the group

Group Work

Chapter 11 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Contemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. Lebow

Chapter 16 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Ed." by Gelso & Fretz

Explanation

Group Work

Chapter 11 of "Twenty-First Century Psychotherapies: Contemporary Approaches to Theory and Practice," Ed. Lebow

Chapter 16 of "Counseling Psychology, 2nd Ed." by Gelso & Fretz

68. Which of the following does NOT influence conformity to the expected standards of behavior within a culture?

A. physical punishment

B. praise

C. acceptance

D. events

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

69. Humanists in the existential tradition assert that personal decisions are (personally) effective only if they are made consistent with personal beliefs and principles, and regardless of whether they are in agreement with those of most people or the known consequences of the decisions. This assertion also is an appropriate description of which of Kohlberg's stages of moral development?

A. naively egotistic orientation

B. respect for authority and social order

C. contractual-legalistic orientation

D. conscience orientation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

Explanation

Human Growth and Development (1994 CACREP Standard II-J-1)

70. A counselor is conducting a study wherein observers are rating frequency of aggressive behavior among a group of children in a play counseling group. Most of the cildren are neatly dressed and well groomed, but a very few are untidy and disheveled. If the observers' ratings are biased because they psychologically equate untidiness and aggressive behavior, it would be an example of the __________ effect in research.

A. Hawthorne

B. Placebo

C. Multiple treatment

D. halo

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

71. The "compensatory" theory of leisure suggests that a certified public accountant would enjoy whereas the "spillover" theory of leisure suggests that the accountant would enjoy as a leisure activity.

A. racquet ball - chess

B. backgammon - computerized games

C. golf - tennis

D. reading mysteries - bowling

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

72. In counseling older adults to achieve greater life satisfaction, counseling goals are more easily defined with the recognition that life satisfaction among older persons is primarily related to

A. economic well-being

B. sexuality

C. self-concept

D. all of the above

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

73. Your employer has a policy which necessitates that you report all instances of child abuse to state authorities. A client alludes (in your judgment) to the possibility of (the client) being a child abuser. As a counselor you should

A. contact your lawyer; the policy is a violation of the "fair trade" laws

B. refer the person elsewhere' receipt of a salary constitutes voluntary agreement with the employer's policies

C. inform the client of the policy and let the client decide how to proceed.

D. contact a consultant; then do as the consultant suggests.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

74. Which of the following is a basic assumption underlying effective use of Caplan's Mental Health Consultation model?

A. Mental health consultation is a supplement to other problem-solving mechanisms within an organization

B. Consultee attitudes and affect must be dealt with directly in the mental health consultation process.

C. The technical expertise of the mental health consultant is sufficient for design of and effective intervention

D. The consultant and consultee share responsibility for case management

Helping Relationships

Chapter 19 of "Counseling Psychology: 2nd Edition" by Gelso and Fretz

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 19 of "Counseling Psychology: 2nd Edition" by Gelso and Fretz

75. If several raters report a high degree of agreement in assessing a person, their ratings could be characterized as having a high degree of

A. validity.

B. identify.

C. discrimination.

D. reliability.

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

76. A client comes to a counselor complaining of "being generally unhappy." However, the client is unable to clarify further the nature of the unhappiness other than through vague allusions to being not interested in anything. At this point in the process, the counselor would be best advised to

A. confront the client's inability to clarify the reasons for the unhappiness

B. explore activities that the client enjoyed in the past

C. use active-listening skills until the client is better able to describe the problem

D. generate and discuss possible reasons for the client's unhappiness

Helping Relationships

Chapter 5 of "Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action, 3rd Edition" by Hill

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 5 of "Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action, 3rd Edition" by Hill

77. A counselor who works with adolescents is familiar with the knowledge that they tend to overselect professional positions and occupations when asked about "wht they are planning to do for a living when they grow up." In terms of Gerlatt's decision-making paradigm, adolescents tend to have errors in their __________ systems.

A. value

B. prediction

C. generalization

D. decision

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

78. In analyzing response data from a test, one type of information considered to be important in evaluating the test is the percentges of respondents who answered each item correctly. This percentage is known as the item __________ index.

A. discrimination

B. parameter

C. proportionality

D. difficulty

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

79. A group of people living together with prescribed patterns of interdependent behavior could be best described as a

A. culture

B. society

C. class

D. cult

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

80. A counselor was reviewing pre-workshop "parenting knowledge" test data from a group of 40 couples (i.e. 80 respondents) who would soon be participating in a five-session workshop on parenting. The counselor observed that the local group's mean was essentially the same as the national mean but there was a negative skew in the local group's test data. The counselor correctly reported to the workshop participants that

A. they, as a group, tended to be below average in parenting knowledge

B. they, as a group, tended to be above average in parenting knowledge.

C. there was an error in scoring the test.

D. some participants could not benefit from participation in the workshop

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

81. A counselor administered two self-concept measures to a group of subjects and found the Pearson product-moment correlation between two tests to be .70. The "coefficient of determination" for this correlation is

A. .21.

B. .49.

C. .70.

D. indeterminate from the information provided

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

82. In the context of the counselor's use of active listening skills, the following is an example of which type of reflection error? Client: "I just can't see myself sitting at a desk job all day." Counselor: "You want to do outdoor work."

A. depth

B. language

C. meaning

D. implication

Helping Relationships

Chapter 5 of "Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action, 3rd Edition" by Hill

Explanation

Helping Relationships

Chapter 5 of "Helping Skills: Facilitating Exploration, Insight, and Action, 3rd Edition" by Hill

83. A person go a score of 83 on a norm-referenced test. This means that the person

A. mastered 83% of the material covered in the test.

B. achieved a score better than 83% of those taking the test.

C. answered 83 questions correctly.

D. Sufficient information has not been provided to answer the question.

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

84. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) Standards for Preparation

A. constitute the legal basis for certification and licensure requirements for professional counselors.

B. specify the minimum professional competencies (i.e., skills) which a counselor is expected to possess.

C. have been adopted by more than 60% of the approximately 480 counselor preparation programs in the United States

D. are a set of guidelines for the desirable elements of an experiences in counselor preparation programs.

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

85. A counselor was working with client who had been referred by a supervisor because the client had been having problems with co-workers, problems primarily attributable to the client's prejudicial attitudes twoard ethnic minorities. The counselor asked how the client had come to hold the (prejudicial) attitudes the client was presenting. The client replied, "I don't really know or are. It just makes those folks easier to understand." The client's statements reflect which of the following models that have been used to explain the formation of prejudicial attitudes?

A. social learning

B. information processing

C. social conflict

D. authoritarianism

Social and Cultural Foundations

Explanation

Social and Cultural Foundations

86. In "Pre-Post" experimental design studies that use raters to evaluate the effectiveness of counseling performance, which of the following threats to external validity is always in operation?

A. reactive effects of pretesting

B. maturation

C. statistical regression

D. selection bias

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

87. A counselor designs a study where two experimental groups and one control group complete pre-and post-experiment measures of self-concept. The subjects were not randomly assigned to the groups because of scheduling problems. Which of the following techniques is MOST appropriate for analyzing the resultant data?

A. analysis of covariance

B. correlated t-tests

C. analysis of variance

D. Wilcoxon matched-pairs signed-ranks test

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

88. If a theory covers a maximum of facts with a minimum of assumptions, it is referred to as being

A. verifiable.

B. abstract.

C. concrete.

D. parsimonious

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

89. A counseling researcher conducted a study in which adult males and females whho had exhibited symptoms of depression ere randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions: (a) individul counseling, (b) group counseling, or (c) family counseling. For each condition the counseling intervention was conducted for at least six weeks, at which time the Beck Depression Inventory was administered to the subjects. Th researcher was particularly interested in "treatment x gender" interaction effects. Therefore, the researcher would be best advised to conduct a(n)

A. one-way analysis of variance.

B. factorial analysis of variance.

C. multivariate analysis of variance.

D. bi-level analysis of variance.

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

90. The state in which you reside does not yet have counselor licensure, so a local civic club has asked you to address their members to present an overview of licensure and its benefits to the public. In your presentation to the group you note that

A. licensure automatically entitles counselors to receive third-party payments from insurance companies

Professional Orientation

Explanation

Professional Orientation

91. A counseling researcher computed a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of +.71 between the Graduate Record Examination Total (GRET) scores ad the Graduate Grade-Point Average (GGPA) of a group of 28 students in a counselor education program. The researcher correctly concluded that

B. the correlation coefficient was not statistically significant.

C. it would have been better to correlate separately the GRE Verbal and Quantitative subsection scores with GGPA.

D. a larger sample was needed to validly determine the correlation between the variables.

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

92. A counselor was reviewing articles in professional journals and found four articles where a one-way analysis of variance had been applied as the primary statistical analysis. However, the counselor concluded that it had been applied correctly in only one case. If the following are brief synopses of the studies, for which one was the analysis of variance correctly applied?

A. two groups, were ordinal data were gathered from a "well-adjusted" group and a "poorly adjusted" group

B. three groups, where nominal data were gathered from each group through telephone surveys

C. three groups, where ratio data were gathered from the results of a self-esteem inventory

D. four groups, where nominal data were gathered from "self-help" book sales records

Research and Program Evaluation

Explanation

Research and Program Evaluation

93. Which of the following is NOT one of the four major elements in Super's approach to career development?

A. vocational maturity

B. career patterns

C. values clarification

D. vocational life stages

Career and Lifestyle Development

Explanation

Career and Lifestyle Development

94. A counselor gave a student the Standford-Binet Intelligence Scale (S-B) and the student achieved an I.Q. of 97. The same counselor retested the stuent with the S-B one year later and the student achieved a full scale I.Q. of 122. Which of the following results is the most likely reason for the difference in the results?

A. the student's interim learning

B. the counselor's improved administration proficiency

C. a practice effect from repeated administrations

D. an error in the assessment process

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

95. A respondent took a standardized aptitude test which yielded percentile ranks for three normative groups. The respondent's results were as follows: 55th percentile for local norms, 69th percentile for state norms, and 61st percentile for national norms. A counselor interpreting these data could correctly conclude that

A. similar group respondent aptitude scores in the state are generally higher than the respondent score aptitude

B. similar group respondent aptitude scores nationally are lower than respondent aptitude scores locally.

C. similar group respondent aptitude nationally is lower than respondent aptitude in the state.

D. no valid comparisons among the respective distributions can be made from these data.

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

96. In a consulting capacity with a local business college, a counselor had recommended administrtion of a clerical aptitude test to students in each of the two first-year classes: 35 students in one class and 29 students in the other. The tests had been scored by computer and n internal consistency reliability coefficient of .78 had been found for the entire group. The counselor, however, was interested in the classes seprately, and therefore, calculated the reliability coefficients for each class. The counselor would expect the reliability coefficients for the separate classes to be __________ .78.

A. lower than

B. about the same as

C. higher than

D. insufficient information is provided to make an estimate

Appraisal

Explanation

Appraisal

NCE Practice Examination

1. Competitiveness between children in the same family is known as

2.

What first name or nickname would you like us to use?

2. Third party reimbursement is a term pertinent to

3. Stage theories of human development are used by many counselors in their work with older persons because they facilitate understanding older persons' general life situations. In this context, Erikson described the development stge that occurs late in life as

4. A counseling group member stated, "I feel so much better knowing that many of you have had similar problems. I guess we're all in the same boat!" This member's statement is an example of a group process phenomenon kown as

5. Career counseling should include

7. The best descriptor of the emotion that results when a feeling or fear is not understood by the person experiencing it is

10. A measure that is highly reliable can be depended on to

11. The Dictionary of Occupational Titles

12. As applied to professional licensure of counselors, the term "reciprocity" means that

17. In Schein's "Doctor-Patient" model of consultation, which of the following conditions must e met for the consulttion process to be effective?

18. When persons who are characteristically shy and withdrawn participate in "assertiveness training," initially they experience uncertainty and self-doubt. Counselors refer to this social-psychological concepts as

19. Erikson presented an eight-stage theory of human development, the last stage of which he entitled "integrity vs. despair." A person's challenge in this stage is to achieve acceptance of the finality of life. Erikson postulated that such acceptance could be achieved only if the person had

20. A student obtained a score of 93 on a test having a standard error of measurement of 4 points. In interpreting the results, the counselor correctly informed the student that

21. The counseling technique used by the counselor to explain to a client the logical inconsistencies in the client's statements is known as

22. The publication that is likely to average the largest numer of current research articles on the counseling process is the

23. Counselors who follow a behavioral counseling orientation know that primary emphasis in it is the development of

26. Although group effectiveness is difficult to define and is related to the purposes and leadership of the group, some general principles have been agreed upon. For example, group processes generally are most effective when the group

27. Research on the development in a person of a so-called "humanistic life outlook" has shown that it is facilitated by

28. According to the NBCC Code of Ethics and the ACA Code of Ethics, when should a counselor try to persuade the client to report knowledge of a crime to the appropriate law enforcement authorities?

29. Counselors adhering to the personality theory espoused by C.G. Jung often have to help people with problems related to what Jung "individuation." Jung defined this term as the process

30. A client's __________ is a number that indicates how many persons taking the same test performed worse than or equal to the client.

32. A counselor who structures a career counseling group to help group members understand a "fields and levels" approach to careers is following the theory of

33. A client has concluded a series of counseling sesions with another counselor and has now come to you for counseling. According to the NBCC ethical standards, you should

34. Client: "Most of the time things are fine, but I hate it when my parents fight. It makes me want to run away from home." Counselor: "Is it possible that you both love and hate your parents?" The counselor's response is an example of the counseling skill known as

35. Diagnosis is most clearly a counselor's task in which of the following types of group counseling?

36. In attempting to understand the life perspectives and characteristics of their clients, some counselors use Kohlberg's theory of moral development as a theoretical framework. These counselors know that Kohlberg's theory includes three progressive levels culminating in

37. A counselor completing a report for an insurance company was required to indicate whether a client had a phobia or an anxiety reaction. The counselor was able to indicate the correct classification ecause the counselor knew that the primary distinction between te two conditions is the

38. In the context of the reality therapy approach to counseling, the counselor strives to achieve a counseling relationship in which the counselor assumes a(n) __________ role in decision-making relative to the client.

39. The concept of "career maturity" has been described and researched most extensively by

40. The counseling technique in which the counselor intensifies the client's emotional state in order to help the client understand the irrationality of the eotional reaction is known as

43. "Men (used here to mean all people) are disturbed not by things, but by the view which they take of them." This quote, attributable to Epictetus, most closely describes the counseling theory developed by

44. Client: "I just can't see myself working in a hospital, being around sick kids all day." Counselor: "You just don't like kids." The counselor in this example has made which of the following types of reflection error?

46. In the context of group counseling, members who are high in conformity also tend to be high in

47. One of the primary differences in clients' uses of career counseling resources in print media format (e.g., Dictionary of Occupational Titles or Occupational Outlook Handbook) and those in computerized format (e.g., Choices, Discover II, SIGI(R), ECES) is the

48. Ellis' rational emotive therapy and Meichenbaum's cognitive behavior modification approaches to counseling are similar in that both hold that

49. Counselors following particular theoretical career development orientations typically refer to them by the names of the persons primarily responsible for their development. For example, counselors following Roe's theory of career development know that it is characterized by

50. A standard deviation is a measure of

52. With which of the following types of experimental validity is the counseling researcher concerned when attempting to generalize research findings to other circumstances and subjects?

53. A professional counselor determines fees for monthly consultation services on a job-by-job basis. This is an example of which of the following types of reinforcement schedules?

54. The NBCC Code of Ethics and Ethical Standards of the American Counseling Association (ACA) do not include a statement reflecting the principle that

55. Counselors use a variety of terms to describe patterns of inter-personal interactions because those terms reflect sets of behavioral characteristics. For example, a primary characteristic of a "closed" interpersonal system is

56. Many members of the counseling profession have engaged in social reform efforts intended to reduce spouse abuse. These efforts have had limited effect because

57. A counselor who is following Super's theory of career development would not be surprised to learn that a person whom the counselor believed to be in the "Establishment" stage had

58. Counselors refer to the study of "person-to-person relationsips" within a group situation as

59. A counselor who follows an eclectic approach to counseling primarily bases the choice of utilized techniques upon

61. A specific technique for reinforcing desirable behaviors by pairing them with incompatible behaviors and incorporating principles of relaxation is

63. In some settings, counselors must use diagnostic classification systems as part of the overall progra management plan of the service facility. The term "paranoia" is used in such systems to include a group of psychotic disorders characterized mainly by a(n)

64. Which of the following is NOT a goal of Gestalt counseling groups?

65. What would be the dependent variable in the statement "A rolling stone gathers no moss"?

67. Which of the following is the LEAST important consideration that a group leader should employ in the selection of potentially appropriate strategies to be used in the group?

68. Which of the following does NOT influence conformity to the expected standards of behavior within a culture?

71. The "compensatory" theory of leisure suggests that a certified public accountant would enjoy __________ whereas the "spillover" theory of leisure suggests that the accountant would enjoy __________ as a leisure activity.

72. In counseling older adults to achieve greater life satisfaction, counseling goals are more easily defined with the recognition that life satisfaction among older persons is primarily related to

73. Your employer has a policy which necessitates that you report all instances of child abuse to state authorities. A client alludes (in your judgment) to the possibility of (the client) being a child abuser. As a counselor you should

74. Which of the following is a basic assumption underlying effective use of Caplan's Mental Health Consultation model?

75. If several raters report a high degree of agreement in assessing a person, their ratings could be characterized as having a high degree of

76. A client comes to a counselor complaining of "being generally unhappy." However, the client is unable to clarify further the nature of the unhappiness other than through vague allusions to being not interested in anything. At this point in the process, the counselor would be best advised to

78. In analyzing response data from a test, one type of information considered to be important in evaluating the test is the percentges of respondents who answered each item correctly. This percentage is known as the item __________ index.

79. A group of people living together with prescribed patterns of interdependent behavior could be best described as a

81. A counselor administered two self-concept measures to a group of subjects and found the Pearson product-moment correlation between two tests to be .70. The "coefficient of determination" for this correlation is

82. In the context of the counselor's use of active listening skills, the following is an example of which type of reflection error? Client: "I just can't see myself sitting at a desk job all day." Counselor: "You want to do outdoor work."

83. A person go a score of 83 on a norm-referenced test. This means that the person

84. The Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) Standards for Preparation

86. In "Pre-Post" experimental design studies that use raters to evaluate the effectiveness of counseling performance, which of the following threats to external validity is always in operation?

88. If a theory covers a maximum of facts with a minimum of assumptions, it is referred to as being

90. The state in which you reside does not yet have counselor licensure, so a local civic club has asked you to address their members to present an overview of licensure and its benefits to the public. In your presentation to the group you note that

91. A counseling researcher computed a Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient of +.71 between the Graduate Record Examination Total (GRET) scores ad the Graduate Grade-Point Average (GGPA) of a group of 28 students in a counselor education program. The researcher correctly concluded that

93. Which of the following is NOT one of the four major elements in Super's approach to career development?

71. The "compensatory" theory of leisure suggests that a certified public accountant would enjoy whereas the "spillover" theory of leisure suggests that the accountant would enjoy as a leisure activity.