USING A VOCATIONAL CARD SORT AS AN ASSESSMENT OF OCCUPATIONAL KNOWLEDGE

A seven-step, 36-card, vocational card sort mapping task with concurre nt verbalizations is presented which may be used in the initial stages of career exploration to assist counselors in assessing a client's de velopment and integration of occupational knowledge. Based on cognitiv e theory, each step in the assessment procedure is designed to elicit certain kinds of information pertaining to the manner in which occupat ional knowledge is represented in long-term memory. A formal cognitive mapping task procedure with concurrent verbalizations, employing a no vice and an expert under standardized conditions, is used to demonstra te how the task elicits individual differences in cognitive structure. The article also demonstrates how the technique may be used for the d iagnosis of a career problem and for the prescription of career interv entions to enhance the development of occupational knowledge. The pote ntial use of the technique for research in the development of occupati onal knowledge is also discussed.