TRUE/FALSE
If a learner is making frequent mistakes during a shaping process, this is a signal that
the criteria for reinforcement are being raised too quickly.
TRUE/FALSE
When the topography of a previous imitation occurs in the absence of the model it is
not imitative behavior.
TRUE or FALSE. A naturally occurring contingency includes any contingency of
reinforcement (or punishment) designed and implemented by a behavior analyst or
practitioner to achieve acquisition, maintenance, and/or generalization of a targeted
behavior change.
The number of response opportunities needed to achieve a predetermined level of
performance is called trials-to-criterion.
TRUE OR FALSE.
All studies that demonstrate a functional relation between the independent variable and
a socially important target behavior make a significant contribution to the field of
applied behavior analysis.
TRUE or FALSE.
Conducting a reversal phase in one or more tiers of a multiple baseline design can
weaken the demonstration of experimental control.
True/False
A task analysis for one person can look completely different from a task analysis for
another person, even if it for the same skill.
True/False
_____ The textual operant has point-to-point correspondence but not formal similarity
between the stimulus and the response product.
TRUE or FALSE. There are three levels of understanding that persist in science, and
each level contributes to the overall knowledge base in a given field.
TRUE or FALSE.
Learning a pivotal behavior can result in modification of other behaviors that have not
yet been learned.
Look at the following graph from a functional analysis of Michael’s head hitting. What
would you conclude is the function of Michael’s head hitting?
A. Social positive reinforcement
B. Automatic reinforcement
C. Social negative reinforcement
D. Both social positive reinforcement and social negative reinforcement
E. Both social negative reinforcement and automatic reinforcement
F. Undifferentiated pattern
Continuing with the question above Assume that Gretchen analyzes the situation
further. Typically, Glen has been allowed to bring an Elmo doll into the bathroom with
him when he uses the toilet. (Earlier, Elmo was used as a reinforcer for using the toilet.)
Glen sits Elmo on a little potty chair in the bathroom while he uses the toilet. Gretchen
notices that the entire time Glen is in the bathroom, he looks at Elmo, talks to him, and
sings Sesame Street songs. How should Gretchen use this information?
a. She should consider removing Elmo from the bathroom. It may be distracting Glen
from attending to the relevant cues for pulling up his pants.
b. She should sing along with Glen and play with Elmo while he is toileting. Perhaps
making toileting more fun will improve the success of the shaping intervention.
c. She should add other Sesame Street toys to the bathroom to make toileting more fun
to improve the success of the shaping intervention.
d. She should let Glen hold Elmo in one hand while he is pulling up his pants with his
other hand so that Elmo is not as distracting.
John was taught by his teacher to say, “Hello” when greeting people. Now when he
meets people he not only says “hello,” but also says: “hi,” “good to see you” and “hey
there.” John’s behavior change is an example of:
A. Setting/situation generalization
B. Response generalization
C. Setting/situation maintenance
D. Response maintenance
____________ and ___________ are examples of motivating operations that make food
more or less effective as reinforcement.
A. Time, effort
B. Stimulus, antecedent
C. Speed, fluency
D. Satiation, deprivation
The current status of knowledge regarding the use of punishment was rendered from
research that was conducted over _______ years ago.
A. 100
B. 10
C. 70
D. 40
___________ effects are the effects on a subject’s behavior in a given condition that are
the result of the subject’s experience with a prior condition.
A. Interference
B. Observer
C. Treatment
D. Sequence
Unplanned environmental variations which may impact the experimenters
demonstration of experimental control are called ___________________
A. Manipulated variables
B. Dependent variables
C. Independent variables
D. Extraneous variables
Which of the following is not a measure of the social validity of in applied behavior
analysis?
a. The social significance of the target behavior
b. The appropriateness of the procedures
c. The magnitude of behavior change
d. The social importance of the results
A post reinforcement pause is when
A. The subject demands delivery of reinforcement
B. The subject speeds up responses to quicken the delivery of reinforcement
C. The subject does not respond for a period of time following reinforcement
D. The subject indefinitely refuses to respond after the delivery of reinforcement
When considering what is worth doing, as far as an intervention is concerned, what
is/are some important point(s) to consider?
A. Whether the goals of intervention are closely aligned to staff goals.
B. Whether the costs of implementing the intervention are balanced by the potential
benefits to the client.
C. Whether staff are motivated to do the intervention.
D. Whether you are being paid enough to do the job.
Which of the following statements are not a part of the factors that influence the
effectiveness of punishment?
A. Immediacy
B. Schedule
C. Intensity
D. Punishment for the alternative behaviors
An abative effect refers to:
A. A decrease in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some
stimulus, object, or event
B. An increase in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some
stimulus, object, or event
C. No effect in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some
stimulus, object, or event
D. A combination of decreasing and increasing effects in the current frequency of
behavior that has been reinforced by some stimulus, object, or event
Before you use a chaining procedure, it is recommended that you task analyze the skill
to be taught. What does it mean to task analyze a skill?
a. Make a sequential list of all the smaller substeps of the task to be trained.
b. Plan your prompting strategy carefully.
c. Conduct a reinforcer assessment prior to beginning training.
d. Analyze the response class and reinforce successive approximations to the terminal
behavior.
Mr. Worms is teaching an adult (Sandie) who lives in his group home to make macaroni
and cheese from a box. Mr. Worms prompts Sandie to do all steps of the task using full
physical prompts, except for the last step, which is to serve the macaroni and cheese on
a plate. For this step, Mr. Worms is using a most-to-least prompting sequence. When
Sandie has mastered that skill, Mr. Worms plans to have Sandie do the stirring and the
serving (the last two steps of the task). What procedure is Mr. Worms using?
a. Forward chaining
b. Backward chaining
c. Total-task chaining
d. Shaping
Mrs. Mody decided that because Johnny dumped the contents of his glue container on
the floor that he would not only have to clean up his work space, but clean the entire
classroom floor. The punishment procedure that Mrs. Mody is using is called:
A. Negative reinforcement
B. Behavioral contrast
C. Restitutional overcorrection
D. Negative punishment
In order to evaluate the internal validity of applied behavior analysis research, all of the
following should be considered except
a. Meaningfulness of baseline conditions
b. Experimental design
c. Measurement procedures
d. Conceptual sense
Which statement correctly states the definition of extinction?
A. Extinction is a procedure that provides zero probability of reinforcement.
B. Extinction is a procedure in which punishment of a previously punished behavior is
discontinued.
C. Extinction is a procedure in which a behavior is put on a continuous reinforcement
schedule
D. None of the above.
A teacher is interested in measuring the engagement of groups of students at certain
times of the day. An appropriate measurement procedure for this would be
a. Momentary time sampling
b. Permanent product
c. Planned activity check
d. Event
Match each term with its definition
5) Accuracy (of measurement)
A. Any procedure used to evaluate the accuracy of a measurement system and, when
sources of error are found, to use that information to correct or improve the
measurement system
6) Calibration
B. Measurement conducted in a manner such that some instances of the response
class(es) of interest may not be detected
7) Continuous measurement
C. Occurs when the behavior that is actually measured is the same as the behavior that
is the focus of the investigation
8) Direct measurement
D. Occurs when the behavior that is actually measured is in some way different from
the behavior of interest
9) Indirect measurement
E. Measurement conducted in a manner such that all instances of the response class(es)
of interest are detected during the observation period
10) Discontinuous measurement
F. The extent to which observed values, the data produced by measuring an event,
match the true state, or true values, of the event as it exists in nature
An evocative effect refers to:
A. A decrease in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some
stimulus, object, or event
B. An increase in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some
stimulus, object, or event
C. No effect in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by some
stimulus, object, or event
D. A combination of decreasing and increasing effects in the current frequency of
behavior that has been reinforced by some stimulus, object, or event
An advantage to survey methods of evaluating preference is that they are relatively
uncomplicated to conduct. A disadvantage of such methods is:
a) They may not yield any more accurate information than chance.
b) They can trigger disruptive behavior.
c) They are relatively time consuming to conduct.
d) It is impossible to conduct them with learners who have limited language skills.
Analog conditions are used in a functional analysis because:
A. They are easy to contrive, implement, and maintain when attempting to discover the
function of a behavior.
B. They allow the practitioner to better control the environmental variables that may be
related to the problem behavior.
C. They allow the practitioner to better control the individual exhibiting the problem
behavior than in the naturally occurring routine.
D. All of the above
E. B and C only.
When Timmy wanted a drink, he generally screamed at his mother until she gave him a
drink. Which of the following extinction procedures is the most appropriate choice?
A. Extinction of behavior maintained by positive reinforcement.
B. Extinction of behavior maintained by negative reinforcement.
C. Extinction of behavior maintained by positive punishment.
D. Extinction of behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement.
A ______________ study seeks to discover the differential effects of a range of values
on the independent variable on the dependent variable of interest.
A. Component analysis
B. Group analysis
C. Single-case
D. Parametric
Self-management can help individuals to:
A. Accomplish difficult tasks
B. Break bad habits & replace with good ones
C. Live a more effective & efficient daily life
D. Achieve personal goals
E. All of the above
A group contingency is useful when:
a. A practitioner wishes to change a large number of disruptive behaviors
b. A practitioner suspects it will take a long time to change a behavior
c. A practitioner fears that learners may place undue pressure on their peers
d. A group contingency is useful under all these conditions
Assume you are working with a student who really likes McDonald’s. When you are out
in the community with this student and you drive past a McDonald’s, the student always
begins to whine about going to McDonald’s. If you say, “No,” the student begins to cry.
If you still say, “No,” the student begins to kick and scream and whack his head on the
car window. Assume you want to break this inappropriate chain of behaviors by
removing the initial SD and substituting an alternative SD. What would be one way of
doing so?
a. Use total-task chaining to help him learn the appropriate chain of behaviors.
b. Tell the student that if he doesn”t whine when you go past McDonald’s you will stop
for something to eat.
c. Use shaping to teach the student to sign McDonald’s.
d. Avoid driving by McDonald’s whenever possible. Instead drive past Wendy’s and
give the cue, “Would you like to stop and get something to eat?”
The functional properties of language involve:
A. causes of the verbal response
B. topography of the verbal response
C. language properties do not have functional components.
D. unobservable psychic antecedents.
The success of contingency contracts is probably due to:
a. Positive reinforcement that results from the rewards provided
b. Rule-governed behavior
c. Response prompting
d. All of these are things that factor into the success of contingency contracts.
An applied analysis of behavior requires that the target behavior be a _____________
of an environmental event that can be practically and ethically manipulated.
A. Sample
B. Part
C. Function
D. Predictor
__________________ is the process by which one systematically and differentially
reinforces successive approximations to a terminal behavior.
a. Task analysis
b. Training for stimulus generalization
c. Stimulus fading
d. Shaping
One strategy for promoting generalized behavior change is to teach the full range of
relevant stimulus conditions and response requirements. In doing this, a practitioner
may:
A. Teach sufficient stimulus examples
B. Teach sufficient response examples
C. Utilize general case analysis
D. Use negative teaching examples
E. All of the above
F. None of the above
The key distinction between positive and negative reinforcement is:
A. The effect on behavior.
B. The stimulus change with positive reinforcement has a discrete onset and offset,
where the stimulus change with negative reinforcement does not.
C. The stimulus change with negative reinforcement has a discrete onset and offset,
where the stimulus change with positive reinforcement does not.
D. The type of stimulus change that occurs following a response.
Given an example of how shaping can misapplied to inadvertently shape a problem
behavior.
Describe the causes of reactivity and what measures should behavior analysts undertake
to minimize this effect?
The stimulus change responsible for increasing responding is called a reinforcer.
Why is nonexclusion time-out recommended the method of first choice when
implementing time-out?
Define and discuss the term “autoclitic relation.”
List and briefly discuss (e.g. a rationale) recommended steps for conducting an effective
self-management program.
Write a brief statement describing the level and variability of responding depicted in the
graph.
Explain the benefits to practitioners of using observable and measurable terms to
describe behaviors and intervention outcomes.
Why is it important to enrich the time-in setting?
What are two reasons that is it important to know the individual tactics of experimental
designs even though there are no strict rules for experimental design in applied behavior
analysis?
Explain why a behavior occurring due to controls of a discriminate operant is similar to,
or not similar to, a behavior occurring due to modeling and imitation. Provide examples
to help clarify your answer.
List and describe the three elements of valid measurement in Applied Behavior
Analysis.
Write a brief statement summarizing the trend and degree of variability depicted in the
graph.
Explain how the concept of normalization influences the selection of target behavior
and appropriate interventions.
What are two benefits of measurement for practitioners?