Q1

(B)
Engineer, Laboratory technician

Q2

the Knowledge Bases. Two knowledge domains, self-and occupational knowledge, lie at the base of the
pyramid. Self-knowledge includes knowledge about one’s interests, abilities, skills, and values based on
an ongoing construction of one’s life’s experiences. Occupational knowledge consists of one’s own
unique structural representation of the world of work and an understanding of individual occupations in
terms of their duties and responsibilities, as well as education and training requirements to attain them.

The CASVE Cycle. The midlevel of the Pyramid of Information Processing, referred to as the decision-
making skills domain, involves generic information processing skills that combine occupational
knowledge and self-knowledge to solve a career problem and to make a decision. A 5-phase recursive
information transformation process (see Figure 2), the CASVE Cycle (pronounced “ca-sah-veh”), is used
as an overarching heuristic to structure the career counseling process.

The Apex. The apex of the pyramid, the executive processing domain, contains metacognitive
components that guide and regulate the lower-order cognitive functions. This domain can be referred to
as thinking about thinking, which entails the ability to view one’s self as a career problem solver from a
detached perspective. The domain involves metacognitive components that (a) control the selection and
sequencing of cognitive strategies to achieve a goal, and (b) monitor the execution of a given problem-
solving strategy to determine if a goal has been reached.

Q4

Communication (C). An individual engages the career problem-solving process by receiving and
encoding information that signals that a problem exists. One then queries oneself and the environment
to formulate the gap (or discontinuity) that is the problem. This phase also entails getting in touch with
all components of the problem space including thoughts, feelings, and related life circumstances.

Analysis (A). The causes of the problem are identified and the relationships among problem
components are placed in a conceptual framework or mental model.

Synthesis (S). Possible courses of action to eliminate the gap are formulated through the creation of
possibilities (synthesis elaboration) and then narrowed (synthesis crystallization) to a manageable set of
viable alternatives.
Valuing (V). Each course of action or alternative is evaluated and prioritized according to its likelihood of
success in removing the gap and its probable impact on one’s self, significant others, cultural group, and
society. Through this process a first choice emerges that has the highest prospect of removing the gap.
The career problem is now solved.

Execution (E). An action plan is formulated to implement the choice, which becomes a goal for the
client. A series of milestones are laid out that will lead step-by-step to the attainment of the goal. Thus,
a career decision is made when individuals move deliberately toward a goal, such as enrolling in an
educational program or taking a job in a chosen occupational field.