ASWB LSW Complete Exam Prep 2025/2026: DSM-5,
Theories, Human Development, Ethics & Evidence-
Based Social Work Practice Questions
Orientation Phase (community engagement) - correct answer Community
engagement phase where members are just getting to know each other.
Conflict Stage (community engagement) - correct answer Community
engagement phase where expected minor arguments and friction may occur,
which do get resolved in time.
Emergence Stage (community engagement) - correct answer Community
engagement phase where members begin to agree on a course of action.
Reinforcement Stage (community engagement) - correct answer
Community engagement phase where members decide on and justify a
decision.
Administrative Theory - correct answer The theory that focuses on
identifying the right principles with which to conduct management. Takes a
limited view of worker motivation.
Webster's Bureaucratic Theory - correct answer Theory that addresses the
need for hierarchy and appreciates the complexity of workplace interactions.
Takes a limited view of worker motivation.
Biopsychosocial Assessment - correct answer Descriptive summary of the
client's life and history. Includes information gathered from the client and
collateral sources.
,Mental Status Exam - correct answer Consists of the social worker's
observation of the client. A snapshot of how the client presented in that
particular moment. Used to determine client's safety in that moment.
Crystallized Intelligence - correct answer One's accumulated knowledge
and verbal skills; tends to increase with age. Specific knowledge of facts and
information.
Fluid Intelligence - correct answer Basic reasoning ability, memory
capacity, and speed of information processing. The ability to think in terms of
abstract concepts and symbolic relationships.
Mutual Aid Group - correct answer A formed group of persons who utilize
the support, encouragement, and feedback from other persons in the group to
work on certain problems they have in common. There is no group leader to
provide educational materials.
Partializing Technique - correct answer Make a large set of problems or
issues more manageable by breaking them down into a more manageable
size. Helps avoid clients feeling overwhelmed so they can make progress.
Internal Consistency Reliability - correct answer Assesses whether the
items on a test are related to one another.
Item Reliability - correct answer Does each item on a scale measure the
same thing?
Face Validity - correct answer Does it seems to measure what it says it
measures? (On its face?)
,Social Learning Theory - correct answer Bandura's view of human
development; emphasizes interaction. Role of learning by observation in the
development of behavior.
Piaget's Theory - correct answer The theory that children construct their
understanding of their environment through interactions with the world around
them.
Preoperational - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2
to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does
not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.
Sensorimotor - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to
about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of
their sensory impressions and motor activities.
Concrete Operational Stage - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage
of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which
children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about
concrete events.
Formal Operational Stage - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage of
cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people
begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
Change Process - correct answer Refers to the stages that individuals and
families pass through as they engage with social workers for therapy.
Engagement
Assessment
Intervention
, Evaluation
Intragroup - correct answer Within the group as opposed to between
groups.
Intergroup - correct answer Between two or more groups.
Cultural Diversity - correct answer The existence of a variety of cultural or
ethnic groups within a society.
Negative Symptoms - correct answer Lack of things experienced by others.
Positive Symptoms - correct answer Symptoms experienced differently
from the norm.
Interpersonal Therapy - correct answer A brief, psychodynamic
psychotherapy that focuses on current relationships and is based on the
assumption that symptoms are caused and maintained by interpersonal
problems. Originally developed for the treatment of adult depression.
Perceived Role Behavior - correct answer Focuses on the expectations of
others regarding a person who is filling that role.
Enacted Role Behavior - correct answer When a family member acts the
way he or she is expected to act in the family (I.E. the youngest acts like a
baby, the father disciplines).
Prescribed Role - correct answer Influenced by societal or cultural
preferences.
Theories, Human Development, Ethics & Evidence-
Based Social Work Practice Questions
Orientation Phase (community engagement) - correct answer Community
engagement phase where members are just getting to know each other.
Conflict Stage (community engagement) - correct answer Community
engagement phase where expected minor arguments and friction may occur,
which do get resolved in time.
Emergence Stage (community engagement) - correct answer Community
engagement phase where members begin to agree on a course of action.
Reinforcement Stage (community engagement) - correct answer
Community engagement phase where members decide on and justify a
decision.
Administrative Theory - correct answer The theory that focuses on
identifying the right principles with which to conduct management. Takes a
limited view of worker motivation.
Webster's Bureaucratic Theory - correct answer Theory that addresses the
need for hierarchy and appreciates the complexity of workplace interactions.
Takes a limited view of worker motivation.
Biopsychosocial Assessment - correct answer Descriptive summary of the
client's life and history. Includes information gathered from the client and
collateral sources.
,Mental Status Exam - correct answer Consists of the social worker's
observation of the client. A snapshot of how the client presented in that
particular moment. Used to determine client's safety in that moment.
Crystallized Intelligence - correct answer One's accumulated knowledge
and verbal skills; tends to increase with age. Specific knowledge of facts and
information.
Fluid Intelligence - correct answer Basic reasoning ability, memory
capacity, and speed of information processing. The ability to think in terms of
abstract concepts and symbolic relationships.
Mutual Aid Group - correct answer A formed group of persons who utilize
the support, encouragement, and feedback from other persons in the group to
work on certain problems they have in common. There is no group leader to
provide educational materials.
Partializing Technique - correct answer Make a large set of problems or
issues more manageable by breaking them down into a more manageable
size. Helps avoid clients feeling overwhelmed so they can make progress.
Internal Consistency Reliability - correct answer Assesses whether the
items on a test are related to one another.
Item Reliability - correct answer Does each item on a scale measure the
same thing?
Face Validity - correct answer Does it seems to measure what it says it
measures? (On its face?)
,Social Learning Theory - correct answer Bandura's view of human
development; emphasizes interaction. Role of learning by observation in the
development of behavior.
Piaget's Theory - correct answer The theory that children construct their
understanding of their environment through interactions with the world around
them.
Preoperational - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage (from about 2
to 6 or 7 years of age) during which a child learns to use language but does
not yet comprehend the mental operations of concrete logic.
Sensorimotor - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage (from birth to
about 2 years of age) during which infants know the world mostly in terms of
their sensory impressions and motor activities.
Concrete Operational Stage - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage
of cognitive development (from about 6 or 7 to 11 years of age) during which
children gain the mental operations that enable them to think logically about
concrete events.
Formal Operational Stage - correct answer In Piaget's theory, the stage of
cognitive development (normally beginning about age 12) during which people
begin to think logically about abstract concepts.
Change Process - correct answer Refers to the stages that individuals and
families pass through as they engage with social workers for therapy.
Engagement
Assessment
Intervention
, Evaluation
Intragroup - correct answer Within the group as opposed to between
groups.
Intergroup - correct answer Between two or more groups.
Cultural Diversity - correct answer The existence of a variety of cultural or
ethnic groups within a society.
Negative Symptoms - correct answer Lack of things experienced by others.
Positive Symptoms - correct answer Symptoms experienced differently
from the norm.
Interpersonal Therapy - correct answer A brief, psychodynamic
psychotherapy that focuses on current relationships and is based on the
assumption that symptoms are caused and maintained by interpersonal
problems. Originally developed for the treatment of adult depression.
Perceived Role Behavior - correct answer Focuses on the expectations of
others regarding a person who is filling that role.
Enacted Role Behavior - correct answer When a family member acts the
way he or she is expected to act in the family (I.E. the youngest acts like a
baby, the father disciplines).
Prescribed Role - correct answer Influenced by societal or cultural
preferences.
