NCE Q&A
National Counselor Examination (NCE)
Questions and Answers| Latest Update| Pass Guaranteed
Covering all major NCE/CACREP content domains:
1. According to Erik Erikson, the primary psychosocial crisis of infancy (birth to
18 months) is:
A. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
B. Trust vs. mistrust
C. Initiative vs. guilt
D. Industry vs. inferiority
Answer: B. Trust vs. mistrust
Rationale: Erikson's first stage, trust vs. mistrust, centers on whether an infant
develops a sense of safety and predictability through consistent caregiving.
Autonomy vs. shame (toddlerhood), initiative vs. guilt (preschool), and industry vs.
inferiority (school age) occur later in his eight-stage model.
2. Jean Piaget's stage in which children develop object permanence is the:
A. Sensorimotor stage
B. Preoperational stage
C. Concrete operational stage
D. Formal operational stage
Answer: A. Sensorimotor stage
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, NCE Q&A
Rationale: Object permanence—understanding that objects continue to exist even
when out of sight—emerges during the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2). The
later stages are defined by symbolic thought, logical operations on concrete
objects, and abstract reasoning, respectively.
3. A counselor working with an adolescent client understands that, according to
Erikson, the central task of adolescence is:
A. Generativity vs. stagnation
B. Identity vs. role confusion
C. Intimacy vs. isolation
D. Integrity vs. despair
Answer: B. Identity vs. role confusion
Rationale: Erikson identified identity vs. role confusion as the adolescent crisis, in
which teens explore values, roles, and beliefs to consolidate a coherent sense of
self. The other options correspond to young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late
adulthood.
4. Lev Vygotsky's concept referring to the range of tasks a child can perform
with guidance but not yet independently is called the:
A. Zone of proximal development
B. Scaffolding stage
C. Preoperational gap
D. Sensorimotor range
Answer: A. Zone of proximal development
Rationale: The zone of proximal development (ZPD) describes the gap between
what a learner can do alone and what they can do with assistance from a more
knowledgeable other. Scaffolding is the teaching technique used within that zone,
not the zone itself.
5. An infant who becomes distressed when separated from a caregiver but is
easily soothed upon the caregiver's return demonstrates which attachment
style in Ainsworth's Strange Situation?
A. Anxious-ambivalent
B. Disorganized
C. Secure
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, NCE Q&A
D. Avoidant
Answer: C. Secure
Rationale: Secure attachment is characterized by distress at separation followed
by effective comfort-seeking and soothing upon reunion. Ambivalent infants
remain distressed and hard to soothe, avoidant infants show little distress or
reunion behavior, and disorganized attachment shows contradictory,
unpredictable behavior.
6. Kohlberg's preconventional level of moral development is primarily oriented
toward:
A. Social contracts and individual rights
B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
C. Maintaining social order and law
D. Internalized universal ethical principles
Answer: B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
Rationale: The preconventional level (typically early childhood) is driven by
consequences—obedience to avoid punishment and instrumental exchange for
rewards. The other options describe conventional (social order) and
postconventional (social contract, universal principles) reasoning.
7. A counselor notes that a client in her 40s is reevaluating her career and
relationships and reports feeling generative through mentoring younger
colleagues. This is most consistent with Erikson's stage of:
A. Intimacy vs. isolation
B. Generativity vs. stagnation
C. Identity vs. role confusion
D. Integrity vs. despair
Answer: B. Generativity vs. stagnation
Rationale: Generativity vs. stagnation, the middle-adulthood crisis, involves
contributing to future generations through work, parenting, or mentorship versus
feeling stagnant or self-absorbed.
8. Which theorist proposed a hierarchy of needs in which self-actualization
represents the highest level of psychological development?
A. Carl Rogers
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, NCE Q&A
B. Erik Erikson
C. Abraham Maslow
D. B.F. Skinner
Answer: C. Abraham Maslow
Rationale: Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs places physiological, safety,
love/belonging, and esteem needs below self-actualization, the pinnacle
representing the realization of one's full potential.
9. The term 'permanence' in Piaget's theory that develops during the
preoperational stage, allowing children to understand that quantity does not
change despite changes in shape or appearance, is called:
A. Egocentrism
B. Conservation
C. Animism
D. Centration
Answer: B. Conservation
Rationale: Conservation is the understanding that quantity, volume, or number
remains constant despite changes in shape or arrangement; it is generally not
mastered until the concrete operational stage, making its absence a hallmark
limitation of preoperational thought.
10. A grieving client says, 'I keep bargaining with God, promising anything if my
husband could come back.' According to Kübler-Ross's stages of grief, this
reflects:
A. Denial
B. Anger
C. Bargaining
D. Depression
Answer: C. Bargaining
Rationale: Bargaining involves attempts to negotiate or make deals (often with a
higher power) to reverse or delay loss, distinct from denial (refusing to accept the
loss), anger (frustration/blame), and depression (sadness and withdrawal).
11. Which of the following best describes the concept of 'resilience' in
developmental psychology?
Page 4 of 40
National Counselor Examination (NCE)
Questions and Answers| Latest Update| Pass Guaranteed
Covering all major NCE/CACREP content domains:
1. According to Erik Erikson, the primary psychosocial crisis of infancy (birth to
18 months) is:
A. Autonomy vs. shame and doubt
B. Trust vs. mistrust
C. Initiative vs. guilt
D. Industry vs. inferiority
Answer: B. Trust vs. mistrust
Rationale: Erikson's first stage, trust vs. mistrust, centers on whether an infant
develops a sense of safety and predictability through consistent caregiving.
Autonomy vs. shame (toddlerhood), initiative vs. guilt (preschool), and industry vs.
inferiority (school age) occur later in his eight-stage model.
2. Jean Piaget's stage in which children develop object permanence is the:
A. Sensorimotor stage
B. Preoperational stage
C. Concrete operational stage
D. Formal operational stage
Answer: A. Sensorimotor stage
Page 1 of 40
, NCE Q&A
Rationale: Object permanence—understanding that objects continue to exist even
when out of sight—emerges during the sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2). The
later stages are defined by symbolic thought, logical operations on concrete
objects, and abstract reasoning, respectively.
3. A counselor working with an adolescent client understands that, according to
Erikson, the central task of adolescence is:
A. Generativity vs. stagnation
B. Identity vs. role confusion
C. Intimacy vs. isolation
D. Integrity vs. despair
Answer: B. Identity vs. role confusion
Rationale: Erikson identified identity vs. role confusion as the adolescent crisis, in
which teens explore values, roles, and beliefs to consolidate a coherent sense of
self. The other options correspond to young adulthood, middle adulthood, and late
adulthood.
4. Lev Vygotsky's concept referring to the range of tasks a child can perform
with guidance but not yet independently is called the:
A. Zone of proximal development
B. Scaffolding stage
C. Preoperational gap
D. Sensorimotor range
Answer: A. Zone of proximal development
Rationale: The zone of proximal development (ZPD) describes the gap between
what a learner can do alone and what they can do with assistance from a more
knowledgeable other. Scaffolding is the teaching technique used within that zone,
not the zone itself.
5. An infant who becomes distressed when separated from a caregiver but is
easily soothed upon the caregiver's return demonstrates which attachment
style in Ainsworth's Strange Situation?
A. Anxious-ambivalent
B. Disorganized
C. Secure
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, NCE Q&A
D. Avoidant
Answer: C. Secure
Rationale: Secure attachment is characterized by distress at separation followed
by effective comfort-seeking and soothing upon reunion. Ambivalent infants
remain distressed and hard to soothe, avoidant infants show little distress or
reunion behavior, and disorganized attachment shows contradictory,
unpredictable behavior.
6. Kohlberg's preconventional level of moral development is primarily oriented
toward:
A. Social contracts and individual rights
B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
C. Maintaining social order and law
D. Internalized universal ethical principles
Answer: B. Avoiding punishment and gaining rewards
Rationale: The preconventional level (typically early childhood) is driven by
consequences—obedience to avoid punishment and instrumental exchange for
rewards. The other options describe conventional (social order) and
postconventional (social contract, universal principles) reasoning.
7. A counselor notes that a client in her 40s is reevaluating her career and
relationships and reports feeling generative through mentoring younger
colleagues. This is most consistent with Erikson's stage of:
A. Intimacy vs. isolation
B. Generativity vs. stagnation
C. Identity vs. role confusion
D. Integrity vs. despair
Answer: B. Generativity vs. stagnation
Rationale: Generativity vs. stagnation, the middle-adulthood crisis, involves
contributing to future generations through work, parenting, or mentorship versus
feeling stagnant or self-absorbed.
8. Which theorist proposed a hierarchy of needs in which self-actualization
represents the highest level of psychological development?
A. Carl Rogers
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, NCE Q&A
B. Erik Erikson
C. Abraham Maslow
D. B.F. Skinner
Answer: C. Abraham Maslow
Rationale: Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs places physiological, safety,
love/belonging, and esteem needs below self-actualization, the pinnacle
representing the realization of one's full potential.
9. The term 'permanence' in Piaget's theory that develops during the
preoperational stage, allowing children to understand that quantity does not
change despite changes in shape or appearance, is called:
A. Egocentrism
B. Conservation
C. Animism
D. Centration
Answer: B. Conservation
Rationale: Conservation is the understanding that quantity, volume, or number
remains constant despite changes in shape or arrangement; it is generally not
mastered until the concrete operational stage, making its absence a hallmark
limitation of preoperational thought.
10. A grieving client says, 'I keep bargaining with God, promising anything if my
husband could come back.' According to Kübler-Ross's stages of grief, this
reflects:
A. Denial
B. Anger
C. Bargaining
D. Depression
Answer: C. Bargaining
Rationale: Bargaining involves attempts to negotiate or make deals (often with a
higher power) to reverse or delay loss, distinct from denial (refusing to accept the
loss), anger (frustration/blame), and depression (sadness and withdrawal).
11. Which of the following best describes the concept of 'resilience' in
developmental psychology?
Page 4 of 40
