ABA Behavioral Principles and Concepts 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: The process by which a neutral stimulus gains the ability to elicit a response after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus is called:
- Operant conditioning
- Classical (respondent) conditioning (Correct answer)
- Negative reinforcement
- Stimulus fading
Correct answer: Classical (respondent) conditioning
Classical conditioning pairs a neutral stimulus with an unconditioned stimulus until the neutral stimulus alone elicits the conditioned response.
Question 2: In ABA, 'extinction burst' refers to:
- A sudden decrease in behavior when reinforcement is first removed
- A temporary increase in frequency or intensity of behavior when reinforcement is first removed (Correct answer)
- The permanent elimination of a behavior after extinction
- Rapid skill acquisition during massed practice
Correct answer: A temporary increase in frequency or intensity of behavior when reinforcement is first removed
An extinction burst is a temporary surge in the rate, intensity, or variability of a behavior when reinforcement is initially withheld.
Question 3: A motivating operation (MO) that increases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus and increases behavior that has produced that stimulus is called a(n):
- Abolishing operation (AO)
- Establishing operation (EO) (Correct answer)
- Discriminative stimulus
- Conditioned reinforcer
Correct answer: Establishing operation (EO)
An establishing operation (EO) increases the value of a reinforcer and increases the frequency of behavior that has produced that reinforcer in the past.
Question 4: Which punishment procedure involves removing a positive reinforcer contingent on a problem behavior?
- Positive punishment
- Response cost (Correct answer)
- Overcorrection
- Extinction
Correct answer: Response cost
Response cost is a negative punishment procedure in which a specified amount of a positive reinforcer is removed contingent on a problem behavior.
Question 5: When a behavior occurs at a high rate in a new environment without explicit training in that environment, this is called:
- Stimulus discrimination
- Stimulus generalization (Correct answer)
- Response differentiation
- Behavioral contrast
Correct answer: Stimulus generalization
Stimulus generalization occurs when a behavior trained under one set of stimulus conditions also occurs in the presence of similar, untrained stimuli.
Question 6: The 'matching law' predicts that an organism will allocate its responses between two concurrent schedules in proportion to the:
- Absolute amount of reinforcement on each schedule
- Relative rate of reinforcement on each schedule (Correct answer)
- Total duration of each session
- Number of response alternatives available
Correct answer: Relative rate of reinforcement on each schedule
The matching law states that response allocation between concurrent schedules matches (is proportional to) the relative rate of reinforcement obtained from each.
Question 7: Which of the following best describes 'shaping' in ABA?
- Reinforcing any behavior that occurs in the target context
- Differentially reinforcing successive approximations toward a terminal behavior (Correct answer)
- Prompting a behavior and then fading prompts over time
- Presenting reinforcers on a variable ratio schedule to build responding
Correct answer: Differentially reinforcing successive approximations toward a terminal behavior
Shaping uses differential reinforcement of successive approximations, reinforcing closer and closer versions of the target behavior until the terminal behavior is achieved.
ABA Behavioral Principles and Concepts 3
The process by which a neutral stimulus gains the ability to elicit a response after repeated pairing with an unconditioned stimulus is called: