NBCOT PRACTICE EXAM 1 QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT
ANSWERS 2026
An OT is preparing to evaluate a toddler who has upper extremity orthopedic concerns. How
will the OT MOST likely obtain the majority of initial assessment data?
A. Measurement tools that assess visual-motor skills
B. Dynamometer and pinch meter readings.
C. Observation of child during activities in the child-care center.
D. Functional independence measures. -ANSWER-C. Observation of child during activities in
the child-care center.
Through observation of the child during child-care center activities, the OT can collect
information about the child's motor performance skills and participation in activities that
require upper extremity/hand skill. Naturalistic observation is a method of ecological
assessment, which is "a primary mechanism for obtaining data relevant to the child's
performance context..... Skilled observation of child performing a functional task offers.....
important information about the child's performance". Answers A, B, ad D are all
appropriate choices after the child is old enough for these assessments.
During an initial evaluation, the OT suspects that a child has somatodyspraxia. In what area
should the OT focus the evaluation?
A. Ability to print or write.
B. Reading competency.
C. Math calculations.
D. New motor task planning. -ANSWER-D. New motor task planning.
"Somatodyspraxia is described as a deficit in learning new motor skills, planning new motor
actions, and generalizing motor plans." Inability to print or write (answer A) is termed
,"dysgraphia." The term "dyslexia" (answer B) means dysfunction in reading. Inability to
perform mathematics (answer C) is known as "dyscalculia"
An OT working in a long-term care facility needs to evaluate the long-term memory of a
resident. Which of the following methods is BEST for evaluating memory or personally
experienced events (declarative memory)?
A. Show the person a series of objects and ask him to recall the objects within 60 seconds.
B. Ask the individual how he spent New Year's/
C. Have the individual state the place, date, and time.
D. Ask the client to remember to bring a specific item to the next therapy session -ANSWER-
B Ask the individual how he spent New Year's
"Declarative memory is one aspect of long term memory and includes conscious memory for
events, knowledge or facts". It is commonly assessed through verbal interviews and informal
testing such as asking a question about an individual's recall of personal events (answer B).
Working memory refers to "the temporary storage of inforamtion while one is working with
it or attending to it" (answer A). "Prospective memory involves the ability to remember
intentions or activities that will be required in the future" (answer D). Knowing the date,
place, and time is indicative of orientation (answer C).
A child avoids playground equipment that requires her feet to be off the ground. What does
this behavior MOST likely indicate?
A. Difficulty modulating proprioception.
B. Somatodyspraxia
C. Gravitational insecurity
D. Bilateral integration/sequencing deficit. -ANSWER-C. Gravitational insecurity.
Gravitational insecurity is described as "fear response to movement". The child easily
experiences a fear of falling and prefers to keep her feet firmly on the ground. Tactile
defensiveness (answer A) is a term used to describe discomfort with various textures and
,with unexpected touch. Somatodyspraxia (answer B) has is "foundation in somatosensory
(e.g. primarily tactile but also proprioceptive) discrimination deficits, which interfere with
the development of body scheme and awareness". Bilateral integration and sequencing
deficits are related to "poor vestibular-propioceptive discrimination, which interferes with
the ability to coordinate, sequence, and execute motor actions quickly and efficiently".
When the OT suspects tactile defensiveness as a rationale for a child's challenges, in what
area of participation should the OT focus on FIRST?
A. Play behavior
B. Dressing habits
C. Social skills
D. Leisure interests -ANSWER-B. Dressing habits
Children with tactile defensiveness are "bothered by tactile aspects of daily living activities....
specific types of clothing.... specific textures materials". The child may be bothered by
certain textures or avoid wearing turtlenecks, socks, or shoes. Conversely, some children
may never take off their shoes to avoid tactile stimulation. Play behavior (answer A), social
skills (answer C), and the choice of hobbies (answer D) could be affected secondarily, as a
result of intolerance to certain textures or human touch. Knowledge of the child's dressing
habits will give the OT key information at the start of the evaluation process.
An OT is working with an individual with schizophrenia who is in the process of preparing to
move from a state hospital to a group home. During a baking group, the client becomes
agitated and leaves the room when another client uses the electric hand mixer to mix the
cake batter, and again when two clients begin to argue loudly about which type of icing to
use. How would the OT BEST describe the behavior?
A. Low registration
B. Sensory avoiding
C. Sensation seeking
D. A hearing impairment -ANSWER-B. Sensory avoiding
, The individual's actions are indicative of sensor avoiding behavior, characterized by a low
threshold to stimuli perceived as noxious, followed by an active response such as leaving the
room. Individuals with sensory avoiding behavior may "become distressed in situations in
which they cannot control the environment" and "do well in low stimulus situation or
settings that others find dull". An individual with low registration (answer A), sensory
seeking behavior (answer C), or a hearing impairment (answer D) would not have difficult
with the auditory stimulation caused by the roar of the mixer or loud voices.
During a self-care evaluation of an individual who recently sustained a brain injury, the OT
instructs the individual to comb his hair immediately after he washes his face. The individual
washes his face quickly, but then the therapist must give him several reminders to comb his
hair. The OT is MOST likely to identify this as a deficit in what area?
A. Working memory
B. Judgment
C. Hearing
D. Abstraction -ANSWER-A. Working memory
"Working memory is the temporary storage of information while one is working with it or
attending to it. It includes the ability to recall information immediately after exposure. It
allows one to focus conscious attention and keeps track of information as one is performing
an activity". This individual's inability to comb is hair without reminders suggests a deficit in
working memory (answer A). Judgment (answer B), the ability to make realistic and safe
decisions based on available environmental information, would not be needed for this task.
Because the person performed the first request, hearing (answer C) would seem to be intact.
Abstraction (answer D) is the ability to extrapolate information from an idea to generalize to
another situation and would not be needed to follow this direction.
A supermarket employee with obsessive-compulsive disorder takes an hour to stock 24 soup
cans on the shelf because once he has placed the cans on the shelf, he removes them and
starts over, stating that "all labels were not lines up exactly in the same direction." Which of
the following methods would MOST effectively evaluate the individual's work performance?
A. On-site observation of performance skills
ANSWERS 2026
An OT is preparing to evaluate a toddler who has upper extremity orthopedic concerns. How
will the OT MOST likely obtain the majority of initial assessment data?
A. Measurement tools that assess visual-motor skills
B. Dynamometer and pinch meter readings.
C. Observation of child during activities in the child-care center.
D. Functional independence measures. -ANSWER-C. Observation of child during activities in
the child-care center.
Through observation of the child during child-care center activities, the OT can collect
information about the child's motor performance skills and participation in activities that
require upper extremity/hand skill. Naturalistic observation is a method of ecological
assessment, which is "a primary mechanism for obtaining data relevant to the child's
performance context..... Skilled observation of child performing a functional task offers.....
important information about the child's performance". Answers A, B, ad D are all
appropriate choices after the child is old enough for these assessments.
During an initial evaluation, the OT suspects that a child has somatodyspraxia. In what area
should the OT focus the evaluation?
A. Ability to print or write.
B. Reading competency.
C. Math calculations.
D. New motor task planning. -ANSWER-D. New motor task planning.
"Somatodyspraxia is described as a deficit in learning new motor skills, planning new motor
actions, and generalizing motor plans." Inability to print or write (answer A) is termed
,"dysgraphia." The term "dyslexia" (answer B) means dysfunction in reading. Inability to
perform mathematics (answer C) is known as "dyscalculia"
An OT working in a long-term care facility needs to evaluate the long-term memory of a
resident. Which of the following methods is BEST for evaluating memory or personally
experienced events (declarative memory)?
A. Show the person a series of objects and ask him to recall the objects within 60 seconds.
B. Ask the individual how he spent New Year's/
C. Have the individual state the place, date, and time.
D. Ask the client to remember to bring a specific item to the next therapy session -ANSWER-
B Ask the individual how he spent New Year's
"Declarative memory is one aspect of long term memory and includes conscious memory for
events, knowledge or facts". It is commonly assessed through verbal interviews and informal
testing such as asking a question about an individual's recall of personal events (answer B).
Working memory refers to "the temporary storage of inforamtion while one is working with
it or attending to it" (answer A). "Prospective memory involves the ability to remember
intentions or activities that will be required in the future" (answer D). Knowing the date,
place, and time is indicative of orientation (answer C).
A child avoids playground equipment that requires her feet to be off the ground. What does
this behavior MOST likely indicate?
A. Difficulty modulating proprioception.
B. Somatodyspraxia
C. Gravitational insecurity
D. Bilateral integration/sequencing deficit. -ANSWER-C. Gravitational insecurity.
Gravitational insecurity is described as "fear response to movement". The child easily
experiences a fear of falling and prefers to keep her feet firmly on the ground. Tactile
defensiveness (answer A) is a term used to describe discomfort with various textures and
,with unexpected touch. Somatodyspraxia (answer B) has is "foundation in somatosensory
(e.g. primarily tactile but also proprioceptive) discrimination deficits, which interfere with
the development of body scheme and awareness". Bilateral integration and sequencing
deficits are related to "poor vestibular-propioceptive discrimination, which interferes with
the ability to coordinate, sequence, and execute motor actions quickly and efficiently".
When the OT suspects tactile defensiveness as a rationale for a child's challenges, in what
area of participation should the OT focus on FIRST?
A. Play behavior
B. Dressing habits
C. Social skills
D. Leisure interests -ANSWER-B. Dressing habits
Children with tactile defensiveness are "bothered by tactile aspects of daily living activities....
specific types of clothing.... specific textures materials". The child may be bothered by
certain textures or avoid wearing turtlenecks, socks, or shoes. Conversely, some children
may never take off their shoes to avoid tactile stimulation. Play behavior (answer A), social
skills (answer C), and the choice of hobbies (answer D) could be affected secondarily, as a
result of intolerance to certain textures or human touch. Knowledge of the child's dressing
habits will give the OT key information at the start of the evaluation process.
An OT is working with an individual with schizophrenia who is in the process of preparing to
move from a state hospital to a group home. During a baking group, the client becomes
agitated and leaves the room when another client uses the electric hand mixer to mix the
cake batter, and again when two clients begin to argue loudly about which type of icing to
use. How would the OT BEST describe the behavior?
A. Low registration
B. Sensory avoiding
C. Sensation seeking
D. A hearing impairment -ANSWER-B. Sensory avoiding
, The individual's actions are indicative of sensor avoiding behavior, characterized by a low
threshold to stimuli perceived as noxious, followed by an active response such as leaving the
room. Individuals with sensory avoiding behavior may "become distressed in situations in
which they cannot control the environment" and "do well in low stimulus situation or
settings that others find dull". An individual with low registration (answer A), sensory
seeking behavior (answer C), or a hearing impairment (answer D) would not have difficult
with the auditory stimulation caused by the roar of the mixer or loud voices.
During a self-care evaluation of an individual who recently sustained a brain injury, the OT
instructs the individual to comb his hair immediately after he washes his face. The individual
washes his face quickly, but then the therapist must give him several reminders to comb his
hair. The OT is MOST likely to identify this as a deficit in what area?
A. Working memory
B. Judgment
C. Hearing
D. Abstraction -ANSWER-A. Working memory
"Working memory is the temporary storage of information while one is working with it or
attending to it. It includes the ability to recall information immediately after exposure. It
allows one to focus conscious attention and keeps track of information as one is performing
an activity". This individual's inability to comb is hair without reminders suggests a deficit in
working memory (answer A). Judgment (answer B), the ability to make realistic and safe
decisions based on available environmental information, would not be needed for this task.
Because the person performed the first request, hearing (answer C) would seem to be intact.
Abstraction (answer D) is the ability to extrapolate information from an idea to generalize to
another situation and would not be needed to follow this direction.
A supermarket employee with obsessive-compulsive disorder takes an hour to stock 24 soup
cans on the shelf because once he has placed the cans on the shelf, he removes them and
starts over, stating that "all labels were not lines up exactly in the same direction." Which of
the following methods would MOST effectively evaluate the individual's work performance?
A. On-site observation of performance skills
