ABA Generalization and Maintenance 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Maintenance of behavior is BEST supported by:
- Thinning reinforcement schedules and shifting to naturally occurring reinforcers (Correct answer)
- Keeping a dense continuous reinforcement schedule indefinitely
- Using only punishment to sustain behavior
- Keeping training conditions identical across all sessions
Correct answer: Thinning reinforcement schedules and shifting to naturally occurring reinforcers
Maintenance requires gradually reducing artificial reinforcement and transitioning to the natural reinforcers present in the environment so behavior persists without structured programming.
Question 2: A child learns to greet adults at school but not at a grocery store. This is an example of:
- Failure to generalize (overly narrow stimulus control) (Correct answer)
- Response generalization
- Behavioral contrast
- Spontaneous recovery
Correct answer: Failure to generalize (overly narrow stimulus control)
When a skill only occurs in the specific training environment and not across novel settings, stimulus control is too narrow — generalization across settings has not occurred.
Question 3: Which of the following BEST describes 'train and hope' as a generalization strategy?
- Teaching behavior in one setting and hoping it generalizes without additional programming (Correct answer)
- Teaching across multiple settings from the start
- Using natural reinforcers throughout training
- Fading prompts before moving to a new setting
Correct answer: Teaching behavior in one setting and hoping it generalizes without additional programming
'Train and hope' is a weak strategy where generalization is expected to occur naturally without systematic programming — it is generally ineffective for learners with ASD.
Question 4: Self-management strategies support maintenance and generalization by:
- Teaching learners to monitor and reinforce their own behavior independently (Correct answer)
- Having therapists monitor behavior across all settings
- Eliminating the need for any behavioral goals
- Replacing function-based interventions with self-report only
Correct answer: Teaching learners to monitor and reinforce their own behavior independently
Self-management trains learners to observe, record, and self-administer consequences for their own behavior, reducing dependence on external agents and supporting long-term maintenance.
Question 5: What does 'behavioral trap' refer to in generalization programming?
- A naturally occurring contingency that sustains a newly trained behavior without planned intervention (Correct answer)
- An unwanted decrease in behavior following over-correction
- A permanent prompt that prevents skill independence
- A conditioned aversive stimulus that traps escape behavior
Correct answer: A naturally occurring contingency that sustains a newly trained behavior without planned intervention
A behavioral trap is a naturally occurring reinforcement contingency that 'traps' a new behavior into the individual's repertoire once it is initiated, maintaining it without further planned intervention.
Question 6: Teaching a skill to fluency (high accuracy AND speed) is important for maintenance because:
- Fluent skills are more resistant to extinction and are more likely to compete with other behaviors (Correct answer)
- Fluent skills require more structured practice sessions to maintain
- Speed is more important than accuracy for all daily living skills
- Fluency eliminates the need for any reinforcement of the skill
Correct answer: Fluent skills are more resistant to extinction and are more likely to compete with other behaviors
Fluent performance is more durable, more likely to generalize, and better able to occur in competing or distracting environments, supporting long-term maintenance.
ABA Generalization and Maintenance 2
Maintenance of behavior is BEST supported by: