Core interviewing skills (OARS) do not include which item?

• A. Open-ended questions
• B. Affirmations
• C. Reflective listening
• D. Active listening

Answer: (D)

OARS are four specific interviewing skills used to guide conversations: Open-ended questions invite detailed responses, Affirmations recognize and reinforce the person’s strengths or efforts, Reflective listening involves restating or paraphrasing what the person has said to show understanding, and Summaries pull together what has been discussed to reinforce progress. Active listening, while a broad and valuable approach to listening, is not one of the four named OARS components. It describes general attentiveness and engagement in listening, but it isn’t listed as an individual item within the OARS framework. Therefore, the item that does not belong among the OARS components is active listening.