three choices In case you missed it: the latest ASWB Exam Handbook details a change coming to social work licensing exam in January, 2023. After offering one type of question for years and years, the ASWB is introducing something new. (Don't worry--it's a just minor variation.) Instead of always giving four possible answers to each question, exams will throw in questions that have just three possible answers to choose from. For example:

Who is credited with the psychosocial stages of development in ego psychology?

A. Sigmund Freud

B. Erik Erikson

C. Carl Rogers

Previous versions of this sample question would've given you another choice (say, D. Mary Ainsworth). Expect vignette questions to use this construction more than simple information questions like this example.

See "Understanding Examination Questions" in the handbook for more details. What it doesn't say there: this is good news for exam-takers. If you went in knowing nothing about a given question ("psychosocial what?!"), you'd have a better chance of correctly answering a three-option question than a four-option question. It's math. Your odds of guessing right jumped from 25% (one out of four) to 33% (one of of three). So...yay!

Also mentioned in the handbook, language in the exam is about at the level of a 10th grade textbook. They want the social work exam to be about social work, not reading comprehension. That's still a challenge for many--especially given the length of the exam (really long).

Reading comprehension may not be an obstacle for you to pass the exam, but staying focused might be. In either case, getting ready for the long sit that the ASWB requires ideally involves practicing for that long sit. With SWTP, you've got five complete exams that potentially give you lots of exposure to both exam content and the experience of slogging through 170 questions over four hours.

Create an account to get started with SWTP practice. Hope to hear from you with passing news soon!

(Oh, and the answer's B, Erikson.)


November 28, 2022
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