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Quiz Session - Attempts With Random Questions

NBCC NCE Exam Questions

Page 8 of 43

141.

The square of the standard deviation is also known as:

  • variance

  • inclusive range

  • normal curve

  • z-score

Correct answer: variance

Variance refers to the degree to which scores are different from each other. When measuring variability, researchers may use Standard Deviation (SD) to describe the variability within a distribution of scores. Variance is the square of the standard deviation and is used when conducting statistical analyses.

142.

Which of the following is the point of a "duty to warn"?

  • To notify the possible target of violence

  • To advise patients about the limits of confidentiality

  • To observe professional courtesy between partner agencies 

  • To inform decisions about inpatient treatment 

Correct answer: To notify the possible target of violence

A "duty to warn" is when a professional becomes aware that a person in their care has made a credible threat to harm someone else. Although state requirements vary along with organizational procedures, the point is to notify the possible target of violence that this violence might occur. 

This warning is not about confidentiality for patients and does not have anything to do with inter-agency relationships or treatment decisions. 

143.

Schedules, coding systems, and record forms are associated with what?

  • Observation

  • Surveys

  • Single-subject designs

  • Case studies

Correct answer: Observation

Sometimes researchers use observation as a technique to collect data on specific types of behaviors. The data is then recorded using coding systems, record forms, and/or schedules. An example of this is a behavioral flow sheet, in which the recorder documents certain behaviors that occur within a specific time frame, such as every hour.

144.

Which of the following did Jean Piaget believe about his final stage (formal operational) with respect to helplessness?

  • Successful completion of this stage would prevent helplessness

  • Most children would still feel helpless at this stage 

  • Piaget did not address helplessness as part of his developmental theory

  • Piaget saw helplessness as a function of family dynamics 

Correct answer: Successful completion of this stage would prevent helplessness

Jean Piaget formulated a theory of human development that detailed certain milestones to be achieved as the brain matured and an individual's ability to think and reason through problems in the environment improved. In his last stage, formal operational, Piaget suggested that feelings of helplessness would already have been adequately dealt with and the child would be ready for adulthood. 

Piaget did not suggest that most children would still feel helpless at this stage, and he saw the phenomenon of helplessness being dealt with through developmental processes rather than family dynamics. 

145.

A researcher in a college setting knows that 55% of the student body is female and 45% is male. For his study on the effects of caffeine on students' study habits, he randomly selects the sample to be 55% female and 45% male. This researcher is using what type of sampling?

  • Proportional stratified sampling

  • Cluster sampling

  • Stratified sampling

  • Purposeful sampling

Correct answer: Proportional stratified sampling

There are many types of sampling, which refers to the selection of subjects from a part of the population. Proportional stratified sampling is when the proportion of subjects randomly sampled from a certain group reflects the proportion of the group in the general population. In this question, because 55% of the student body is female and the remainder male, the researcher randomly selects 55% of the sample to be female and the remainder male.

146.

What are the four stages of Bergan's behavioral model of consultation?

  • Problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, problem evaluation

  • Contracting, problem identification, feedback and planning, plan implementation

  • Known to self, known to others, not known to self, not known to others

  • Assessment of client's abilities, modeling approaches, implementing interventions, evaluating counselor

Correct answer: Problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, problem evaluation

Consultation is used when counselors would like to function more effectively in individual, group, or community settings. Bergen's model uses a behavioral approach that emphasizes the verbal interactions during consultation. The four stages of this model are problem identification, problem analysis, plan implementation, and problem evaluation. Bergan's model also focuses on problem behaviors, their antecedents, and their consequences.

147.

Which level of consciousness includes everything the mind is not currently aware of but can call upon if needed?

  • Preconscious

  • Conscious 

  • Unconscious

  • Protoconscious

Correct answer: Preconscious

The mind is sometimes conceptualized as having three levels, defined by what kind of information is contained and how accessible it is. The preconscious mind contains everything the mind is not currently aware of but can call upon if needed, such as a cookie recipe or a conversation one had yesterday. 

The conscious mind contains all the information of which the mind is currently aware. The unconscious mind contains everything the mind has that is neither part of current awareness nor consciously accessible. Protoconscious is a fabricated term. 

148.

A researcher develops a list of questions to assess the relationship between religious beliefs and child-rearing styles. She randomly divides the list of questions into two sets and finds that the results have a high correlation. This questionnaire has a high degree of which of the following? 

  • Split-half reliability

  • Inter-rater reliability

  • Parallel-forms reliability

  • Test-retest reliability

Correct answer: Split-half reliability

Split-half reliability is calculated by randomly splitting a list of questions into sets, then finding the correlation between the two. If there is a high correlation between the two sets, the measure is said to have high split-half reliability.

Parallel-forms reliability is similar in that two separate sets of questions are administered, but the questions on each form of the assessment are not chosen randomly. Inter-rater reliability is the degree to which different raters score the same responses and behaviors in the same way. Test-retest reliability is the degree to which scores are the same when the same measure is given to the same subjects twice.

149.

Which of the following is an accurate statement regarding Alfred Adler's view of neurosis?

  • Neurosis is a failure in learning 

  • Neurosis is a brain disease 

  • Neurosis is a chosen response to pressure 

  • Neurosis is an artifact of the unconscious self 

Correct answer: Neurosis is a failure in learning 

Alfred Adler defined the complicated notion of neurosis as a failure in learning that leads to distorted perceptions about the world. Though now less common as a descriptor of client characteristics, neurosis can be said (in psychoanalytic terms) to be the failure of the ego to deal with the conflicting pressures of id and superego, with various manifestations in client affect and behavior.

According to Adler, neurosis is not a brain disease, chosen, or an artifact of the unconscious. 

150.

Which of the following would be an accurate overall statement about transference? 

  • Transference is extra feelings brought into the therapeutic relationship by the patient

  • Transference is extra feelings brought into the therapeutic relationship by the therapist

  • Transference is any extra feelings brought into the therapeutic relationship by anyone

  • Transference is an outdated notion that research has disproven

Correct answer: Transference is extra feelings brought into the therapeutic relationship by the patient 

Transference was first identified and described by Sigmund Freud. Essentially, it is the extra feelings brought into the therapeutic relationship by the patient from another relationship in their life. These could be romantic, hostile, parental, or something else. 

The extra feelings brought into the therapeutic relationship by the therapist would be known as countertransference. Rather than being an outdated notion, the idea of transference and countertransference is something therapists deal with often in practice. 

151.

Which of the following represents the difference between acculturation and assimilation? 

  • Acculturation represents how individuals identify with a dominant culture, and assimilation refers to how much an individual is absorbed by the dominant culture 

  • Assimilation represents how individuals identify with the dominant culture, and acculturation refers to how much an individual is absorbed by the dominant culture 

  • Assimilation and acculturation are equivalent terms 

  • Assimilation is the practice of deliberately absorbing individuals to negate their culture, and acculturation is the mediated process of cultural belonging

Correct answer: Acculturation represents how individuals identify with a dominant culture, and assimilation refers to how much an individual is absorbed by the dominant culture 

When examining culture and cultural concerns, it is important to remember how individual membership in the dominant culture is achieved and maintained and with what consequences to an individual's identity this takes place. Acculturation represents how individuals identify with a dominant culture and take on its norms and values. Assimilation refers to how much individuals are "absorbed" into a dominant culture and lose their source culture's norms and values.

The terms are not equivalent, and there may or may not be a deliberate process at work. 

152.

What are automatic thoughts, following the work of Beck?

  • Random, negative, and intrusive cognition

  • Chosen negative cognition in response to stress 

  • Unconscious cognition resulting in neurosis 

  • Trauma-inflected reactive cognition 

Correct answer: Random, negative, and intrusive cognition

Automatic thoughts are a key principle to understand in the work of Beck and his school of cognitive therapy. Automatic thoughts are random, negative, and intrusive cognition that arises in response to the pressures of the world and a client's experience. If unchallenged, these can drive depression and contribute to unrealistic views about the world.

In this view, automatic thoughts are not chosen, unconscious, or specifically trauma-inflected.  

153.

Which of the following would be consistent with Gestalt therapy?

  • "What are you feeling right now?"

  • "What is your most painful memory?"

  • "What is the most important relationship in your life?"

  • "Tell me about your family of origin."

Correct answer: "What are you feeling right now?"

Fritz Perls' Gestalt therapy is a here-and-now focused, experiential school of therapy that attempts to focus the client on present circumstances and their own responsibility. One of its techniques is to use here-and-now questions to enhance a focus on the present.

The other questions deal too much with the past and abstraction to be characteristic of Gestalt. 

154.

Which of the following is consistent with a behaviorist view of child development? 

  • The mind is a blank slate at its beginning 

  • The mind comes equipped with substantial inferential knowledge 

  • The mind acts on biological drives at all times 

  • The mind only knows social input at the beginning 

Correct answer: The mind is a blank slate at its beginning 

In general, the behaviorist school disallows such concepts as the unconscious and devalues cognitive preconditions in the mind. To simplify, behaviorists view the mind as a blank slate before it learns anything. The focus is on conditioning and learning as definitional to development.

Behaviorists would likely disagree that any preexisting knowledge would have a substantial effect on development, if it existed at all. Social inputs, similarly, are expected to be learned later.

155.

What does a needs assessment measure?

  • The difference between what is and what is desired

  • The similarities between a particular program and other programs like it

  • The discrepancies between different individual players in a counseling program

  • The difference between where a program started and where it is now

Correct answer: The difference between what is and what is desired

A needs assessment is an important element of program planning, as it defines the differences between what currently exists and what is needed or desired to change the situation. Needs assessments can be conducted through questionnaires, surveys, interviews, focus groups, or other methods. Random sampling should be used when possible in order to obtain an accurate representation of needs.

156.

Statistical regression is best explained by which of the following?

  • If an individual's score is very low or very high on a pretest, the individual's score will be closer to the mean on the posttest 

  • Errors are often made when scoring tests

  • When large numbers of people take a test, it is less likely for individual scores to be very high or very low

  • Test scores can often predict future scores on related material

Correct answer: If an individual's score is very low or very high on a pretest, the individual's score will be closer to the mean on the posttest 

Statistical regression refers to the tendency for a low-scoring or high-scoring test taker on the pretest to obtain a score closer to the mean on a posttest. This change in scores is due to error on the pretest due to environmental factors, chance, and personal influences.

157.

An elementary school student is given a test of cognitive ability. He scores in the 80th percentile as compared with other students his age and grade level. What does this student's score mean?

  • The student's score is higher than 80% of the scores, and 20% of the scores are higher than his score

  • The student scored higher than 79% of the scores, and 20% of the scores are higher than his score

  • The student has a raw score of 80 on the test and has an above-average IQ

  • When the student takes the test again, he has an 80% chance of earning the same score

Correct answer: The student's score is higher than 80% of the scores, and 20% of the scores are higher than his score

Many standardized test results are given in percentiles, which are values below which a specified percentage of cases fall. A student who scores in the 80th percentile has scored higher than 80% of the scores. 20% are higher than this student's score.

158.

Which of the following is an accurate overall statement about complementarity theory in relationships?

  • What one person lacks, another provides

  • People see the faults of others more easily 

  • We are more responsive to those who praise us 

  • People tend to be attracted to others with the same flaws 

Correct answer: What one person lacks, another provides

There are many ways to view how human beings form and maintain relationships. One such view is complementarity theory, which suggests that one personality can make up what another personality lacks in terms of strengths and that weaknesses are similarly balanced by strengths in a partner or significant other.

Social exchange theory does not deal with the perception of faults, our responsiveness based on positive feedback, or the similarity of flaws.

159.

Which of the following would be the best example of centration, according to Piaget? 

  • Focusing on the word STOP on a stop sign

  • Filtering unnecessary noise 

  • Being able to focus on one idea at a time 

  • Believing that objects have a life of their own

Correct answer: Focusing on the word STOP on a stop sign

The work of Jean Piaget focused on the stages of child development, in which the child's mental processes, cognitive ability, and sensory operations work in concert. His concept of centration refers to a phenomenon known in the preoperational stage, in which a child concentrates on one feature of an object, such as the word STOP on a stop sign. 

Centration does not refer to filtering noise, intellectual focus, or a belief that objects have a life of their own. 

160.

Which of the following is a topic commonly addressed in group couples counseling?

  • Learning effective parenting skills

  • Addressing the effects of childhood trauma on relationships

  • De-escalating crisis situations

  • Reducing the amount of physical violence in the home

Correct answer: Learning effective parenting skills

Group couples counseling is frequently more content-oriented than process-oriented. The goals of many couples counseling groups are to improve communication between parents and their children, resolve conflicts, and learn new parenting skills. Sometimes parents of children with mental health problems attend psychoeducational groups to learn more about that specific diagnosis and how it can affect an individual's life.

The remaining answer options are incorrect because they are not topics addressed in group couples' counseling.

Childhood trauma is best addressed in individual counseling due to the strong affective component of this type of work.

Counseling is typically contraindicated when physical violence is occurring in the home; the best approach is for the aggressor to seek their own individual counseling (or perhaps participate in a group specifically for individuals who are violent to their partners).

Group couples' counseling is contraindicated for crisis situations, as crisis intervention is counselor-led rather than a process that integrates feedback from group members.

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