- Applied Behavior Analysis Autism Core Knowledge Questions and Answers Flashcards

Pivotal Response Treatment (PRT) targets which 'pivotal' areas to produce widespread behavioral improvements?

Answer: Motivation and self-management

PRT identifies motivation and self-management as pivotal areas because improvements in these areas generalize to many other behaviors.

The Early Start Denver Model (ESDM) is designed primarily for children in which age range?

Answer: 12 to 48 months

ESDM is an evidence-based early intervention for toddlers aged 12–48 months with ASD, combining ABA with developmental relationship-based approaches.

Repetitive and stereotyped behaviors in ASD that serve a sensory function are often referred to as:

Answer: Stimming (self-stimulatory behavior)

Self-stimulatory (stimming) behaviors produce automatic sensory reinforcement and are a common feature of ASD.

Which instrument is a widely used ABA-based assessment tool that evaluates skills across verbal behavior domains including mand, tact, listener responding, and intraverbal?

Answer: Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program (VB-MAPP)

The VB-MAPP assesses verbal operants and developmental milestones to guide ABA programming for learners with ASD and language delays.

Functional Communication Training (FCT) replaces problem behavior maintained by attention by:

Answer: Teaching an equivalent communicative response that obtains the same reinforcer more efficiently

FCT teaches a communicative replacement behavior (e.g., asking for attention) that accesses the same reinforcer as the problem behavior, making the problem behavior less efficient.

The concept of stimulus overselectivity in ASD refers to:

Answer: Responding to only one component of a compound stimulus while ignoring others

Stimulus overselectivity means the learner attends to only one feature (often irrelevant) of a complex stimulus, which can interfere with discrimination learning.