How to Avoid Autopilot on the LCSW Exam

How to Avoid Autopilot on the LCSW Exam

One of the most problematic issues for many candidates taking the social work exam is the tendency to use “autopilot”. We all operate on autopilot much of the time and this mode of thinking can be very useful. After all, if you had to think carefully each time you tie your shoes, load the dishwasher or brush your teeth, you’d be mentally exhausted in no time! Autopilot lets us perform these overlearned behaviors with little or no mental effort required. However, autopilot is not a good way to approach your exam, and yet, many people use it much of the time.

Autopilot lets you skim the answers and quickly pick the most likely correct choice. In an exam that simply measures ability to recall facts, this strategy might work, providing you’ve studied and have good recall. However, the social work exams are looking not only for factual recall, but for the ability to think like a practicing social worker. They are also looking for critical thinking skills, like the ability to tell when a broad answer is better than a specific one, to imagine what the source of a particular client’s psychopathology might be, or when a hypothetical answer might be better than an absolute one. These are not the kinds of questions that autopilot is helpful for.

Yet, partly due to habit, and partly due to anxiety about the time limit on the exam, LCSW candidates will try to use autopilot on even complex and difficult questions. While you might be okay with your pilot using Autopilot during a long flight, you really hope they’re not relying on Autopilot during take-off or landing, or while flying through a thunderstorm. You want the pilot to have all of their faculties engaged. The same is true of your exam – you need to be alert and engaged from start to finish. This requires mental stamina. One does not acquire stamina instantly – it needs to be built up. The way to build up the mental stamina to take your test consciously (i.e., not on autopilot) is to build up to it through working systematically through TestMaster.

One of the most problematic issues for many candidates taking the social work exam is the tendency to use “autopilot”. We all operate on autopilot much of the time and this mode of thinking can be very useful. After all, if you had to think carefully each time you tie your shoes, load the dishwasher or brush your teeth, you’d be mentally exhausted in no time! Autopilot lets us perform these overlearned behaviors with little or no mental effort required. However, autopilot is not a good way to approach your exam, and yet, many people use it much of the time.

When taking LCSW practice exams in TestMaster Study Mode, you should not worry about timing or speed, and instead focus on acquiring test-taking skills (strategy) and reviewing material. For this reason, it is important to read all of the rationales for all of the questions whether you missed them or not. During the second pass through TestMaster (after competing ALL of the tests in Study Mode), you can start focusing on building up stamina. In TestMaster Exam Mode, you will not see the rationales until you’ve completed the entire exam. Start by doing 25-50 questions in one sitting, giving yourself between 1 and 5 minutes per question. Leave the timer off for now. The next time you sit down do 50 questions, giving yourself no more than 4 minutes per question. (Never leave a question blank – even if you have to guess.) Then work your way up to 75 questions in a setting. Ultimately, the last two exams taken in Exam Mode should be the entire exam with the timer on and taken in full-on exam conditions – no food, no water (except during one five-minute break with the timer running), and no interruptions.

Most questions can be answered in between 30 seconds and 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, it might be better to simply guess, flag the question, and move on. It’s easy to return to flagged questions at the end if you have time. Again, never just leave a question blank! Guess, flag it, and move on. When taking your last two Test Master exams in real exam conditions (and of course, during the real exam), you should absolutely never spend more than four minutes on a question.

Remember, the more tired you become, the more autopilot will want to take over. Resist the desire to let your guard down and let autopilot take the exam for you. The exam is like flying in a thunderstorm for four hours straight; you need to have your full cognitive capacities engaged at all times. Preparing for your exam in a systematic, thoughtful way will help you learn how to demonstrate that you are not only good at factual recall, but that you are a strategic test-taker, and most importantly, that you can think like a real social worker.