Association of Social Work Boards Masters (ASWB MSW) Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Conquer your ASWB Masters exam with our comprehensive practice test. Tailored feedback, real-world scenarios, and expert insights await to ensure your success.

Practice this question and more.


What is the main focus of symbolic modeling?

  1. Using real-life scenarios to engage the client

  2. Filmed or videotaped models demonstrating the behavior

  3. Directly rewarding or punishing the client

  4. Ignoring the client's emotional needs

The correct answer is: Filmed or videotaped models demonstrating the behavior

Symbolic modeling is a therapeutic approach that uses filmed or videotaped models to demonstrate desired behaviors or skills. This allows the client to observe and learn from the models, providing them with a tangible representation of the target behavior. Option A, using real-life scenarios to engage the client, may be a helpful strategy to make the client feel more comfortable and engaged in the therapy process, but it is not the main focus of symbolic modeling. Option C, directly rewarding or punishing the client, is a behaviorist approach and not the main focus of symbolic modeling, which is based on cognitive and social learning theories. Option D, ignoring the client's emotional needs, goes against the principles of symbolic modeling which focuses on understanding the client's feelings and thoughts in order to change their behavior.