1 | Page
ASWB Exam Study Guide Questions
and Answers Latest 2026
Piaget's stage: Sensorimotor Ans: 0-2 years of age.
Retains image of objects, develops primitive logic in
manipulating objects, begins intentional actions, play is
imitative, signals meaning - infants invests meaning in
event (babysitter arriving means mother is leaving),
symbol meaning (language) begins in last part of stage. P.
40
Piaget's stage: Peoperational Ans: 2-7 years of age.
Progress from concrete to abstract thinking, can
comprehend past, present and future, night terrors,
acquires words and symbols, magical thinking, thinking
is not generalized, thinking is concrete, irreversible,
egocentric, cannot see another point of view besides own,
thinking is centered on one detail or event. P. 40
Piaget's stage: Concrete Operations Ans: 7-11 years of
age. Beginnings of abstract thought, plays games with
rules, cause and effect relationships understood, logical
implications are understood, thinking is independent of
experience, thinking is reversible, rules of logic are
developed. P. 40
Piaget's stage: Formal Operations Ans: 11 through
maturity. higher level of abstraction, planning for future,
thinking hypothetically, assumes adult roles and
responsibilities. P. 40
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, 2 | Page
What are some main themes of sexuality in infants and
toddlers? Ans: Children are sexual even before birth.
By age 2 children know their gender and are aware of
differences in genders. P. 42
What are some main themes of sexuality in children (3-
7)? Ans: Children can be more affectionate around this
age. They begin to be more social.
Children will play doctor displaying normal curiosity. by
age 5 or 6 children become more modest and private
about dressing and bathing.
They start to be aware of marriage and understand living
together based on family experiences, so they role play
house or being married. P. 42
What are some main themes of sexuality in pre-
adolescent youth (8-12)? Ans: Puberty hits anywhere
between 9 and 12 for most.
Children become more self conscious. masturbation
increases.
Exploring same sex sexuality is usually around this age.
Group dating begins. P. 42
What are some main themes of sexuality in adolescent
youth (13-19)? Ans: Increase in romantic sexual
relationships.
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, 3 | Page
Experience strong emotional attachments to romantic
partners. P. 43
What is attachment theory? Ans: A lasting psychological
connectedness between human beings that can be
understood within an evolutionary context in which a
caregiver provides safety and security for a child. P. 43
What is the critical period for developing attachment?
Ans: Before the age of 5. P. 51
What is the order of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs
pyramid? Ans: 1. Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Social Needs (Love and Belonging)
4. Esteem Needs
5. Self Actualization
P. 53
What is strength? Ans: Any ability that helps an
individual (or family) to confront and deal with a
stressful life situation and to use the challenging
situation as a stimulation for growth. P. 55
What are examples of strength attributes? Ans: cognitive
abilities, coping mechanisms, personal attributes,
interpersonal skills, and external resources. P. 55
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, 4 | Page
What are examples of Family strengths? Ans: Kinship
bonds, community supports, religious connections,
flexible roles, strong ethnic traditions, and more. P. 55
What is the strengths perspective? Ans: Focusing on
understanding clients (or families) on the basis of their
strengths and resources (internal or external) and
mobilizing the resources to improve their situation. P. 55
The strengths perspective is based on what? Ans: The
assumption that clients have the capacity to grow,
change, and adapt (Humanistic Approach). P. 55
Compensations Ans: Enables one to make up for real or
fancied deficiencies ( a person who stutters becomes a
very expressive writer). P. 56
Conversion Ans: Repressed urge is expressed disguised
as a disturbance of body function, usually of the sensory,
voluntary nervous system (as pain, deafness, blindness
paralysis, convulsions, tics). P. 56
Dissociation Ans: A process that enables a person to split
mental functions in a manner that allows him or her to
express forbidden or unconscious impulses without
taking responsibility for the action, either because he or
she is unable to remember the disowned behavior, or
because it is not experienced as his or her own
(pathologically expresses as fugue states, amnesia, or
dissociation neurosis, or normally expressed as day
dreaming). P. 56
© 2025 All rights reserved
ASWB Exam Study Guide Questions
and Answers Latest 2026
Piaget's stage: Sensorimotor Ans: 0-2 years of age.
Retains image of objects, develops primitive logic in
manipulating objects, begins intentional actions, play is
imitative, signals meaning - infants invests meaning in
event (babysitter arriving means mother is leaving),
symbol meaning (language) begins in last part of stage. P.
40
Piaget's stage: Peoperational Ans: 2-7 years of age.
Progress from concrete to abstract thinking, can
comprehend past, present and future, night terrors,
acquires words and symbols, magical thinking, thinking
is not generalized, thinking is concrete, irreversible,
egocentric, cannot see another point of view besides own,
thinking is centered on one detail or event. P. 40
Piaget's stage: Concrete Operations Ans: 7-11 years of
age. Beginnings of abstract thought, plays games with
rules, cause and effect relationships understood, logical
implications are understood, thinking is independent of
experience, thinking is reversible, rules of logic are
developed. P. 40
Piaget's stage: Formal Operations Ans: 11 through
maturity. higher level of abstraction, planning for future,
thinking hypothetically, assumes adult roles and
responsibilities. P. 40
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
What are some main themes of sexuality in infants and
toddlers? Ans: Children are sexual even before birth.
By age 2 children know their gender and are aware of
differences in genders. P. 42
What are some main themes of sexuality in children (3-
7)? Ans: Children can be more affectionate around this
age. They begin to be more social.
Children will play doctor displaying normal curiosity. by
age 5 or 6 children become more modest and private
about dressing and bathing.
They start to be aware of marriage and understand living
together based on family experiences, so they role play
house or being married. P. 42
What are some main themes of sexuality in pre-
adolescent youth (8-12)? Ans: Puberty hits anywhere
between 9 and 12 for most.
Children become more self conscious. masturbation
increases.
Exploring same sex sexuality is usually around this age.
Group dating begins. P. 42
What are some main themes of sexuality in adolescent
youth (13-19)? Ans: Increase in romantic sexual
relationships.
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
Experience strong emotional attachments to romantic
partners. P. 43
What is attachment theory? Ans: A lasting psychological
connectedness between human beings that can be
understood within an evolutionary context in which a
caregiver provides safety and security for a child. P. 43
What is the critical period for developing attachment?
Ans: Before the age of 5. P. 51
What is the order of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs
pyramid? Ans: 1. Physiological needs
2. Safety needs
3. Social Needs (Love and Belonging)
4. Esteem Needs
5. Self Actualization
P. 53
What is strength? Ans: Any ability that helps an
individual (or family) to confront and deal with a
stressful life situation and to use the challenging
situation as a stimulation for growth. P. 55
What are examples of strength attributes? Ans: cognitive
abilities, coping mechanisms, personal attributes,
interpersonal skills, and external resources. P. 55
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
What are examples of Family strengths? Ans: Kinship
bonds, community supports, religious connections,
flexible roles, strong ethnic traditions, and more. P. 55
What is the strengths perspective? Ans: Focusing on
understanding clients (or families) on the basis of their
strengths and resources (internal or external) and
mobilizing the resources to improve their situation. P. 55
The strengths perspective is based on what? Ans: The
assumption that clients have the capacity to grow,
change, and adapt (Humanistic Approach). P. 55
Compensations Ans: Enables one to make up for real or
fancied deficiencies ( a person who stutters becomes a
very expressive writer). P. 56
Conversion Ans: Repressed urge is expressed disguised
as a disturbance of body function, usually of the sensory,
voluntary nervous system (as pain, deafness, blindness
paralysis, convulsions, tics). P. 56
Dissociation Ans: A process that enables a person to split
mental functions in a manner that allows him or her to
express forbidden or unconscious impulses without
taking responsibility for the action, either because he or
she is unable to remember the disowned behavior, or
because it is not experienced as his or her own
(pathologically expresses as fugue states, amnesia, or
dissociation neurosis, or normally expressed as day
dreaming). P. 56
© 2025 All rights reserved
