Prompting and Fading Procedures Flashcards

A behavior technician is teaching a child to identify emotions using a most-to-least prompting hierarchy. After 10 sessions, the child consistently requires a full physical prompt and shows no movement toward independence. According to prompt fading principles, what is the MOST appropriate next step?

Answer: Conduct a preference assessment and consider shifting to a different prompt modality that may be more salient for this learner

When a learner shows no progression through a most-to-least hierarchy after repeated exposure, the issue may be prompt salience or modality fit rather than effort. A preference assessment can identify more motivating conditions, and switching modalities (e.g., from physical to gestural or visual) may unlock progress. Simply continuing the same ineffective approach, switching hierarchy direction arbitrarily, or increasing trials without addressing the root cause are not data-driven solutions.

During prompt fading using stimulus fading, a clinician gradually reduces the intensity of a color cue on the correct answer card. The learner begins selecting the correct answer independently. However, when the cue is completely removed, responding collapses. This outcome MOST likely indicates:

Answer: Overselectivity — the learner was responding to the cue rather than the relevant stimulus dimension

When performance collapses after a salient cue is fully removed, it is a hallmark of stimulus overselectivity (also called cue dependency). The learner controlled their behavior based on the artificial prompt dimension (color intensity), not the target stimulus. This is a critical failure mode of stimulus fading and requires redesigning instruction so the relevant stimulus dimension gains control before the prompt is removed.

A BCBA designs a within-stimulus prompt fading procedure for teaching letter discrimination. Which of the following BEST describes the key advantage of within-stimulus fading over extra-stimulus fading?

Answer: It reduces the risk of prompt dependency by ensuring the relevant stimulus dimension controls responding from the outset

Within-stimulus fading exaggerates a feature of the correct stimulus itself (e.g., size, color, or position of the target letter) rather than adding an external cue. Because the learner must attend to the actual target stimulus from the beginning, transfer of stimulus control to the natural stimulus is built in. Extra-stimulus prompts (added cues outside the target stimulus) carry a higher risk that the learner will attend to the prompt rather than the relevant dimension, leading to cue dependency.

When using a time delay procedure, a practitioner presents the S-D, waits 4 seconds, then delivers the controlling prompt if no response occurs. Over sessions, the learner begins to respond correctly before the delay elapses. This pattern of responding is BEST described as:

Answer: Anticipatory responding indicating transfer of stimulus control to the S-D

In a constant or progressive time delay procedure, responding before the delay elapses (before the controlling prompt is delivered) indicates that the natural antecedent — the S-D — has gained stimulus control over the behavior. This is the intended outcome of time delay: the learner 'beats the prompt' because the S-D alone now evokes the response. This is sometimes called anticipatory responding and represents successful prompt fading.

A therapist is using a graduated guidance procedure to teach a child to wash hands. She applies hand-over-hand guidance at the start, then systematically reduces physical contact. During session 12, the child begins to pull away and show escape-maintained problem behavior when guidance is applied. The MOST function-consistent modification to the prompting procedure would be:

Answer: Implement shadowing (hands-nearby without contact) as an intermediate step and pair guidance with highly preferred reinforcers to reduce its aversive properties

If escape behavior emerges in response to physical guidance, the guidance itself has acquired aversive properties. The least-restrictive and most function-consistent response is to attenuate the aversiveness of the prompt by using shadowing (proximity without touch) as an intermediate step and pairing contact guidance with potent reinforcement to shift its conditioned value. Switching to a least-to-most hierarchy does not address the escape function of the problem behavior. Relying solely on verbal prompts may not provide enough support for acquisition.

A behavior technician is teaching tacting using a simultaneous prompting procedure. After criterion is met in instructional sessions, the team conducts probe trials without prompts and finds that the learner scores 90% correct. One week later, probe scores drop to 40%. Which factor MOST likely explains this pattern and what procedural adjustment is warranted?

Answer: Insufficient maintenance planning; schedule distributed practice and thinning of the reinforcement schedule across natural contexts

Simultaneous prompting does not include a built-in fading mechanism — the controlling prompt is delivered on every instructional trial. Once probes show mastery but performance decays over time, the issue is maintenance, not prompt dependency. The appropriate response is to program for maintenance through distributed practice (spacing review sessions), reinforcement thinning, and embedding trials in natural routines. Reintroducing the simultaneous prompt would not address the maintenance problem. Generalization training addresses responding in new contexts, not performance decay in the same context over time.