Mixed Deck — All ABAT Topics Flashcards

A practitioner implements extinction for self-injurious behavior maintained by automatic (sensory) reinforcement. The appropriate extinction procedure in this case is:

Answer: Sensory extinction (blocking sensory feedback)

Sensory extinction involves blocking or masking the sensory consequence that reinforces the behavior, such as using protective equipment to prevent the automatic reinforcement.

A client frequently screams to get attention from the ABAT. A functional behavior assessment (FBA) confirms the function is attention. The supervising BCBA implements an intervention where the ABAT teaches the client to tap a picture of a person on their communication board to request attention. This antecedent-based intervention is known as:

Answer: Functional Communication Training (FCT)

Functional Communication Training (FCT) is an antecedent intervention where an individual is taught a new, more appropriate way to communicate their needs (the replacement behavior) to get the same reinforcement that the problem behavior previously provided. [7, 9, 15] In this case, using the communication board replaces screaming to get attention.

A behavior analyst graphs a learner's token earnings over 10 sessions and notices a decreasing trend despite no changes to the token economy rules. The MOST appropriate first step is to:

Answer: Conduct a functional behavior assessment to identify possible behavioral changes

A declining trend without procedural changes warrants a functional assessment to determine whether environmental, motivational, or behavioral variables have shifted.

By thinning a schedule of reinforcement gradually we actually avoid:

Answer: Decreased performance

Explanation: Thinning a schedule of reinforcement gradually means reducing the frequency or intensity of rewards given for a particular behavior. This can lead to decreased performance because the individual may become less motivated to engage in the behavior if they are not receiving rewards as frequently. When rewards are less frequent, the behavior may not be reinforced enough to maintain its strength, resulting in a decrease in performance.

Using 'natural maintaining contingencies' to support generalization means:

Answer: Identifying and utilizing reinforcement that naturally occurs in the learner's environment

Natural maintaining contingencies are the reinforcers that exist in the natural environment and can sustain a behavior once the formal intervention ends.

When conducting a functional behavior assessment for a child with ASD who engages in stereotypy, a BCBA should recognize that:

Answer: Stereotypy is commonly maintained by automatic (sensory) reinforcement

Stereotypy in ASD most commonly serves an automatic reinforcement function, meaning the sensory feedback produced by the behavior itself maintains it.

Which of the following represents an appropriate method for a behavior analyst to maintain professional competence?

Answer: Engaging in ongoing professional development, continuing education, and supervision relevant to their areas of practice

The BACB Ethics Code requires behavior analysts to engage in ongoing professional development and stay current with scientific and professional literature. Competence is not static and must be actively maintained throughout one's career.

In the context of antecedent-based interventions, environmental modification refers to:

Answer: Altering physical or social stimuli in the environment to reduce problem behavior

Environmental modification involves changing antecedent conditions (e.g., seating, noise level, task materials) to reduce triggers for problem behavior.

During a functional analysis, a clinician observes that problem behavior occurs at high rates across ALL conditions, including the control (play) condition. Which interpretation is MOST consistent with this pattern, and what is the recommended next step?

Answer: The pattern suggests automatic reinforcement or an undifferentiated result; the analyst should conduct a separate automatic reinforcement analysis or a precursor analysis to differentiate

When problem behavior occurs at high and undifferentiated rates across all FA conditions including the control, the two primary interpretations are: (1) automatic reinforcement — behavior maintained by response-produced stimulation regardless of social contingencies, or (2) an undifferentiated result due to methodological issues (e.g., brief sessions, carry-over effects, poor stimulus control). The recommended next step is to conduct an automatic reinforcement analysis (e.g., alone condition, NCR analysis) or a precursor/antecedent-based analysis to further differentiate. Definitively concluding multiply-controlled behavior from undifferentiated data alone is premature without additional evidence.

A behavior analyst is measuring stereotypic hand-flapping using a 10-second partial interval recording system across a 30-minute session. The behavior occurs for 3 continuous seconds at the start of each minute but never recurs within the same minute. What will the recorded prevalence be, and how does it compare to the true prevalence?

Answer: Recorded: 100%; True: ~16.7% — partial interval systematically overestimates

In partial interval recording, an interval is scored if the behavior occurs at ANY point within it. Since the behavior occurs once every minute (every 6 intervals), each of those 6-interval minutes has the first interval scored. But the behavior only lasts 3 seconds out of 600 total seconds (~16.7% true duration), while every minute's first 10-second interval gets marked, yielding 30 scored intervals out of 30 = 100% recorded prevalence. Partial interval always overestimates, especially for brief, infrequent behaviors.

A child repeatedly bangs their head when denied a preferred item. After a functional behavior assessment, the team determines the behavior is maintained by attention. This is an example of behavior maintained by which function?

Answer: Socially mediated positive reinforcement

When behavior is maintained by attention provided by others, it is a form of socially mediated positive reinforcement.

When using a scatterplot to analyze behavioral data, the primary purpose is to:

Answer: Identify temporal patterns and correlations with time of day or activity

Scatterplots display data across time blocks to reveal patterns showing when behavior is more or less likely to occur.

Which measure of central tendency is most commonly used in ABA to summarize behavioral data within a phase?

Answer: Mean

The mean (average) is most commonly used in ABA to describe the central tendency of behavioral data within a phase on graphs.

Social validity in measurement refers to:

Answer: The degree to which goals, procedures, and outcomes are acceptable and meaningful to stakeholders

Social validity evaluates whether intervention goals, procedures, and outcomes are valued and considered important by clients, families, and the broader community.

What is an 'extinction burst' in the context of implementing extinction?

Answer: A temporary increase in target behavior rate or intensity when extinction is first applied

An extinction burst is a temporary increase in the frequency, duration, or intensity of behavior that commonly occurs at the start of an extinction procedure.

In a token economy system, tokens function as which type of reinforcer?

Answer: Conditioned (secondary) reinforcers

Tokens are conditioned reinforcers because they acquire reinforcing value through their pairing with backup reinforcers, not through biological necessity.

A behavior analyst is subpoenaed to testify in a custody dispute. One attorney asks the analyst to provide clinical opinions about the parenting fitness of the non-custodial parent, whom the analyst has never directly assessed — only heard about secondhand through the client (a child). The Ethics Code's guidance on public statements and testimony MOST supports which response?

Answer: Decline to offer clinical opinions about individuals not directly assessed, clearly stating the basis and limits of the analyst's knowledge

The BACB Ethics Code prohibits behavior analysts from making diagnostic or clinical statements about individuals they have not directly and adequately assessed. Secondhand reports through a child client do not constitute a valid basis for clinical opinions about an unassessed adult. Offering even a 'qualified' opinion crosses this line because it still confers false professional credibility to what is fundamentally hearsay-based speculation. The analyst should testify only about what they directly observed and assessed, explicitly noting the limits of their knowledge regarding the unassessed parent. Requesting an emergency session would be impractical and ethically inappropriate in a legal context without proper referral.

Response blocking is best defined as:

Answer: Physically preventing a response from occurring or being completed

Response blocking is an antecedent or consequent procedure that physically interrupts a response, often used alongside redirection to an alternative behavior.

Which pattern of sensory processing is most accurately associated with individuals with ASD?

Answer: Both hyper- and hyposensitivity, sometimes within the same individual

Individuals with ASD can show hyperreactivity to some stimuli and hyporeactivity to others, and a single person may display both patterns across different sensory modalities.

In a matching-to-sample procedure, a learner demonstrates reflexivity and symmetry but fails symmetry when novel stimuli are introduced. Which conclusion is MOST defensible?

Answer: The learner's derived relational responding has not generalized beyond trained exemplars

Symmetry demonstrated only with trained stimuli — and not with novel stimuli — indicates that derived relational responding (symmetry) has not generalized; it may reflect memorized associations rather than a true stimulus equivalence class. A genuine equivalence class requires reflexivity, symmetry, and transitivity to emerge without explicit training and to generalize across novel exemplars. The failure with novel stimuli signals the behavior is stimulus-specific, not a derived relation.