ABA ABA Generalization & Maintenance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Maintenance refers to:
- The continued performance of a behavior after systematic training and reinforcement have been discontinued or thinned (Correct answer)
- A procedure for increasing the density of reinforcement over time
- The process of transferring a skill from one instructor to another
- Continuously reinforcing behavior on a fixed-ratio schedule
Correct answer: The continued performance of a behavior after systematic training and reinforcement have been discontinued or thinned
Maintenance is the persistence of a learned behavior over time following the reduction or removal of the training contingencies.
Question 2: Which reinforcement schedule is MOST effective for promoting long-term maintenance of behavior?
- Continuous reinforcement (CRF)
- Fixed-ratio schedule
- Variable-ratio schedule (Correct answer)
- Fixed-interval schedule
Correct answer: Variable-ratio schedule
Variable-ratio schedules produce high, steady rates of responding and are most resistant to extinction, making them ideal for promoting maintenance.
Question 3: A BCBA who programs for 'natural communities of reinforcement' is trying to:
- Ensure that newly learned behaviors will contact reinforcement in the natural environment to sustain them (Correct answer)
- Build a token economy that mirrors real-world currency systems
- Recruit all community members as co-therapists
- Eliminate artificial reinforcers immediately at the start of training
Correct answer: Ensure that newly learned behaviors will contact reinforcement in the natural environment to sustain them
Programming for natural communities of reinforcement means teaching behaviors that will be reinforced by the natural environment, ensuring long-term maintenance without artificial contingencies.
Question 4: The strategy of 'sequential modification' for promoting generalization involves:
- Changing all program elements simultaneously to create broad stimulus control
- Sequentially introducing training in each setting where generalization is desired until it occurs (Correct answer)
- Using a changing-criterion design across environments
- Fading all prompts before introducing a new setting
Correct answer: Sequentially introducing training in each setting where generalization is desired until it occurs
Sequential modification directly trains the behavior in each setting where it is needed, one at a time, rather than relying on spontaneous generalization.
Question 5: Indiscriminable contingencies (thin, unpredictable schedules) support maintenance PRIMARILY by:
- Eliminating the need for generalization probes
- Making it difficult for the learner to detect when reinforcement is unavailable, reducing extinction bursts (Correct answer)
- Ensuring continuous reinforcement across all natural settings
- Requiring the learner to work faster for each reinforcer
Correct answer: Making it difficult for the learner to detect when reinforcement is unavailable, reducing extinction bursts
When reinforcement is unpredictable, the learner cannot easily discriminate extinction conditions, so responding persists for longer periods without reinforcement.
Question 6: Booster sessions are used in maintenance programming to:
- Replace all previously used reinforcers with new ones
- Provide brief re-teaching or reinforcement contact to restore performance when a skill begins to decay (Correct answer)
- Introduce new discriminative stimuli into the training environment
- Evaluate inter-rater reliability of data collection
Correct answer: Provide brief re-teaching or reinforcement contact to restore performance when a skill begins to decay
Booster sessions reintroduce training conditions periodically when skill performance has declined, efficiently restoring behavior without full re-training.
ABA ABA Generalization & Maintenance 2
Maintenance refers to: