Sample LCSW Test Questions – practice exam with answers and explanations for clinical social
work licensure
Taking into consideration that the common feature of the somatoform disorders is the presence
of physical symptoms that suggest a general medical condition, what of the following
statements regarding Factitious Disorders is incorrect?
A. Malingering and Factitious Disorder both involve the intentional production
B. In Factitious Disorder, panic attacks are often mistaken for heart attacks
C. In Malingering, the individual has an external incentive (money, getting out of work, etc.) that
he/she hopes to achieve by his/her presentation
D. In Factitious Disorder, there is no apparent external motivation for the faking other than to
receive medical attention. - correct answer ✔✔Answer: B
Explanation: Panic attack: panic attacks are often mistaken for heart attacks, and medical
assessment of cardiovascular status should be completed before beginning a psychologically-
based intervention for panic symptoms. (no reference to Factitious Disorder/ Malingering
Disorder).
If Cathersis is the process by which sources of energy are tied to thoughts, actions, objects, or
people, what is the source of all basic drives as people progress through the stages of life?
A. mental energy
B. chemical rebound
C. physiologic energy
D. biological energy - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: Biological energy is the source of all basic drives as people progress through the
stages of life.
Luke spends 16 hours a day practicing for a big game and as a result he neglects his wife and
children quite often. According to Freud's System of Personality, what part of the personality
system (process) is responsible for the guilty feelings that result from the violation of the
standards and morals set?
,A. Id
B. Ego
C. Libido
D. Superego - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: Guilty feelings result from a violation of the standards and morals set by the
superego.
7. A topographical concept states that the personality has a conscious mind, a preconscious
mind, and an unconscious mind. By what stage is the human personality determined?
A. In the adolescence
B. When a person is 21
C. In the first five years of life
D. When a person is 18 - correct answer ✔✔Answer: C
Explanation: As a stage theorist, Freud postulated that the human personality is determined in
the most critical years of personal development - the first five years of life.
8. If a person can not pass emotionally from oral to anal stage, because of what factor is the
emotional development "stuck"?
A. The person didn't received the needed affection
B. The cathexis was not strong enough
C. The person has experienced too much pain
D. The fixation was not intense enough - correct answer ✔✔Answer: C
Explanation: taking into consideration that a person experiences either too much pain (trauma)
or too much pleasure at any given stage, he/she may resist letting go of that stage. Cognitive
and physical development occurs, but emotional development is "stuck".
16. During the embryonic (second through eighth weeks) and fetal stages (last seven months on
average) of pregnancy, maternal characteristics and external environmental forces (teratogens)
,have a major effect on the baby's development. What future mothers are in high risk of giving
birth to a child with Down syndrome?
A. Mothers over 30
B. Adolescent mothers
C. Mothers over 22
D. Mothers over 27 - correct answer ✔✔Answer: A
Explanation: Mothers over 30 have an increased risk of delivering a Down syndrome baby. Also,
infertility rates increase.
If maturity is the living out of the results of the pre-genital (oral, anal, and phallic) and genital
stages, what is specific for the oral stage?
A. The first experience of "imposed control"
B. Pleasure is derived from nursing and sucking
C. Pleasure is derived from fondling genitals
D. Children observe the differences between males and females - correct answer ✔✔Answer: B
Explanation: Oral stage (0-2 years): Pleasure is derived from nursing and sucking. Infants will put
everything into their mouths.
Taking into consideration that a 17 years old boy has a 50-70 Iq score, what type of mental
retardation is he suffering of and is it curable/educable?
A. Mild/educable
B. Moderate/trainable
C. Severe, incurable
D. Moderate, educable - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: With a 50-70 IQ score, a person suffers of Mild mental retardation and it is
educable.
, Taking into consideration that MOTIVATION is the social or psychological condition that directs
one's behavior toward a certain goal, how can be the PHOBIA defined?
A. strong, irrational fear of a specific object or situation
B. the branch of medicine dealing with the classification of disease
C. "slave" state which occurs as an inevitable accompaniment
D. the course of development of an organism or an individual - correct answer ✔✔Answer: A
Explanation: Phobia - a strong, irrational fear of a specific object or situation. Note that anxiety,
on the other hand, is considered more generalized and without a known cause.
Taking into consideration that the Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic) Model explains abnormality
in terms of internal (intrapsychic, unconscious) dynamics at work within the individual, which of
the following statements refers to Behavioral (Learning Theory) Model?
A. the cognitive-behavioral position emphasizes the role of mental factors to explain
abnormality, primarily through cognitive distortions (Beck) or irrational thinking (Ellis)
B. abnormality in terms of internal dynamics at work within the individual
C. the human being as an organism made up of numerous biologic and biochemical systems
which are primarily responsible for determining adjustment, behavior, and disorders
D. Applies the laws of learning, motivation, and conditioning to explain abnormality in terms of
behavioral excesses and deficits. - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: Behavioral (Learning Theory) Model: applies the laws of learning, motivation, and
conditioning to explain abnormality in terms of behavioral excesses and deficits.
Exposure of a developing embryo or fetus to certain environmental factors can damage the
developing organism or even cause death. What impact does the cigarette use of the mother
have on the child?
A. reduced muscle tone
B. intelligence deficit
C. lower birth weights and pre-term births
D. skill deficit - correct answer ✔✔Answer: C
work licensure
Taking into consideration that the common feature of the somatoform disorders is the presence
of physical symptoms that suggest a general medical condition, what of the following
statements regarding Factitious Disorders is incorrect?
A. Malingering and Factitious Disorder both involve the intentional production
B. In Factitious Disorder, panic attacks are often mistaken for heart attacks
C. In Malingering, the individual has an external incentive (money, getting out of work, etc.) that
he/she hopes to achieve by his/her presentation
D. In Factitious Disorder, there is no apparent external motivation for the faking other than to
receive medical attention. - correct answer ✔✔Answer: B
Explanation: Panic attack: panic attacks are often mistaken for heart attacks, and medical
assessment of cardiovascular status should be completed before beginning a psychologically-
based intervention for panic symptoms. (no reference to Factitious Disorder/ Malingering
Disorder).
If Cathersis is the process by which sources of energy are tied to thoughts, actions, objects, or
people, what is the source of all basic drives as people progress through the stages of life?
A. mental energy
B. chemical rebound
C. physiologic energy
D. biological energy - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: Biological energy is the source of all basic drives as people progress through the
stages of life.
Luke spends 16 hours a day practicing for a big game and as a result he neglects his wife and
children quite often. According to Freud's System of Personality, what part of the personality
system (process) is responsible for the guilty feelings that result from the violation of the
standards and morals set?
,A. Id
B. Ego
C. Libido
D. Superego - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: Guilty feelings result from a violation of the standards and morals set by the
superego.
7. A topographical concept states that the personality has a conscious mind, a preconscious
mind, and an unconscious mind. By what stage is the human personality determined?
A. In the adolescence
B. When a person is 21
C. In the first five years of life
D. When a person is 18 - correct answer ✔✔Answer: C
Explanation: As a stage theorist, Freud postulated that the human personality is determined in
the most critical years of personal development - the first five years of life.
8. If a person can not pass emotionally from oral to anal stage, because of what factor is the
emotional development "stuck"?
A. The person didn't received the needed affection
B. The cathexis was not strong enough
C. The person has experienced too much pain
D. The fixation was not intense enough - correct answer ✔✔Answer: C
Explanation: taking into consideration that a person experiences either too much pain (trauma)
or too much pleasure at any given stage, he/she may resist letting go of that stage. Cognitive
and physical development occurs, but emotional development is "stuck".
16. During the embryonic (second through eighth weeks) and fetal stages (last seven months on
average) of pregnancy, maternal characteristics and external environmental forces (teratogens)
,have a major effect on the baby's development. What future mothers are in high risk of giving
birth to a child with Down syndrome?
A. Mothers over 30
B. Adolescent mothers
C. Mothers over 22
D. Mothers over 27 - correct answer ✔✔Answer: A
Explanation: Mothers over 30 have an increased risk of delivering a Down syndrome baby. Also,
infertility rates increase.
If maturity is the living out of the results of the pre-genital (oral, anal, and phallic) and genital
stages, what is specific for the oral stage?
A. The first experience of "imposed control"
B. Pleasure is derived from nursing and sucking
C. Pleasure is derived from fondling genitals
D. Children observe the differences between males and females - correct answer ✔✔Answer: B
Explanation: Oral stage (0-2 years): Pleasure is derived from nursing and sucking. Infants will put
everything into their mouths.
Taking into consideration that a 17 years old boy has a 50-70 Iq score, what type of mental
retardation is he suffering of and is it curable/educable?
A. Mild/educable
B. Moderate/trainable
C. Severe, incurable
D. Moderate, educable - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: With a 50-70 IQ score, a person suffers of Mild mental retardation and it is
educable.
, Taking into consideration that MOTIVATION is the social or psychological condition that directs
one's behavior toward a certain goal, how can be the PHOBIA defined?
A. strong, irrational fear of a specific object or situation
B. the branch of medicine dealing with the classification of disease
C. "slave" state which occurs as an inevitable accompaniment
D. the course of development of an organism or an individual - correct answer ✔✔Answer: A
Explanation: Phobia - a strong, irrational fear of a specific object or situation. Note that anxiety,
on the other hand, is considered more generalized and without a known cause.
Taking into consideration that the Psychodynamic (Psychoanalytic) Model explains abnormality
in terms of internal (intrapsychic, unconscious) dynamics at work within the individual, which of
the following statements refers to Behavioral (Learning Theory) Model?
A. the cognitive-behavioral position emphasizes the role of mental factors to explain
abnormality, primarily through cognitive distortions (Beck) or irrational thinking (Ellis)
B. abnormality in terms of internal dynamics at work within the individual
C. the human being as an organism made up of numerous biologic and biochemical systems
which are primarily responsible for determining adjustment, behavior, and disorders
D. Applies the laws of learning, motivation, and conditioning to explain abnormality in terms of
behavioral excesses and deficits. - correct answer ✔✔Answer: D
Explanation: Behavioral (Learning Theory) Model: applies the laws of learning, motivation, and
conditioning to explain abnormality in terms of behavioral excesses and deficits.
Exposure of a developing embryo or fetus to certain environmental factors can damage the
developing organism or even cause death. What impact does the cigarette use of the mother
have on the child?
A. reduced muscle tone
B. intelligence deficit
C. lower birth weights and pre-term births
D. skill deficit - correct answer ✔✔Answer: C
