ABA Behavioral Interventions & Techniques 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A child repeatedly engages in self-injurious behavior (SIB) maintained by automatic reinforcement. Which intervention is MOST appropriate as a first-line approach?
- Extinction alone
- Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) combined with differential reinforcement (Correct answer)
- Punishment-based procedure only
- Time-out from positive reinforcement
Correct answer: Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) combined with differential reinforcement
For automatically reinforced SIB, NCR reduces motivation for the behavior while differential reinforcement builds appropriate alternatives.
Question 2: Which type of prompting hierarchy is used when the practitioner begins with the most intrusive prompt and moves to less intrusive prompts?
- Most-to-least (MTL) prompting (Correct answer)
- Least-to-most (LTM) prompting
- Graduated guidance
- Time delay prompting
Correct answer: Most-to-least (MTL) prompting
Most-to-least prompting starts with full physical assistance and systematically fades to less intrusive prompts as the learner demonstrates skill acquisition.
Question 3: A BCBA designs a DRO interval of 5 minutes. The client goes 4 minutes 50 seconds without the target behavior and then engages in it. What should the practitioner do?
- Deliver reinforcement because the client was close to the goal
- Reset the interval timer and withhold reinforcement (Correct answer)
- Shorten the DRO interval immediately
- Deliver partial reinforcement for the near-miss
Correct answer: Reset the interval timer and withhold reinforcement
In DRO, reinforcement is only delivered if zero instances of the target behavior occur throughout the entire interval; any occurrence resets the timer.
Question 4: Social stories are MOST consistent with which behavioral principle?
- Extinction
- Antecedent-based intervention (ABI) (Correct answer)
- Negative punishment
- Response cost
Correct answer: Antecedent-based intervention (ABI)
Social stories function as antecedent-based interventions by providing information that clarifies expectations and sets the occasion for appropriate behavior before it occurs.
Question 5: A practitioner uses video modeling to teach a child with autism to greet peers. Which component is ESSENTIAL for transfer of training?
- Using only one video clip
- Ensuring the model is always an adult
- Programming for generalization across settings, people, and stimuli (Correct answer)
- Limiting practice to the clinical setting only
Correct answer: Programming for generalization across settings, people, and stimuli
Transfer of training requires deliberate programming for generalization so skills learned via video modeling are performed across varied real-world contexts.
Question 6: Which schedule of reinforcement produces the highest and most consistent rate of responding and is most resistant to extinction?
- Fixed ratio (FR)
- Variable ratio (VR) (Correct answer)
- Fixed interval (FI)
- Variable interval (VI)
Correct answer: Variable ratio (VR)
Variable ratio schedules produce high, steady rates of responding and are the most resistant to extinction because reinforcement timing is unpredictable.
Question 7: Shaping by successive approximations is BEST defined as:
- Reinforcing a behavior only when it occurs in the target environment
- Differentially reinforcing closer and closer approximations to a terminal behavior (Correct answer)
- Using prompts to evoke a behavior, then fading them
- Chaining individual behaviors into a complex sequence
Correct answer: Differentially reinforcing closer and closer approximations to a terminal behavior
Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations — behaviors that progressively more closely resemble the target behavior — until the terminal behavior is achieved.
ABA Behavioral Interventions & Techniques 2
A child repeatedly engages in self-injurious behavior (SIB) maintained by automatic reinforcement.
Which intervention is MOST appropriate as a first-line approach?