ABAT ABAT Generalization and Maintenance Strategies 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A behavior analyst wants to promote stimulus generalization across multiple teachers. Which strategy is MOST effective?
- Train with only one teacher to establish a strong baseline
- Use multiple exemplars by training with several different teachers (Correct answer)
- Rely on natural reinforcement to spread the behavior
- Implement extinction with all teachers simultaneously
Correct answer: Use multiple exemplars by training with several different teachers
Training with multiple exemplars (different teachers) promotes stimulus generalization by exposing the learner to varied discriminative stimuli.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes 'sequential modification' in the context of generalization programming?
- Teaching behaviors in a fixed sequence regardless of environment
- Systematically applying intervention in each non-training setting after generalization fails to occur naturally (Correct answer)
- Modifying reinforcement schedules sequentially during maintenance
- Changing the behavior definition after each training session
Correct answer: Systematically applying intervention in each non-training setting after generalization fails to occur naturally
Sequential modification involves applying the intervention one setting at a time when generalization does not spontaneously occur across environments.
Question 3: A child learns to say 'please' only during structured sessions with his therapist. This is an example of failure in which type of generalization?
- Response generalization
- Stimulus generalization (Correct answer)
- Maintenance
- Behavioral contrast
Correct answer: Stimulus generalization
Stimulus generalization has failed because the behavior does not transfer to stimuli (people, settings) beyond the original training conditions.
Question 4: Which maintenance strategy involves gradually thinning the reinforcement schedule after the target behavior is acquired?
- Indiscriminable contingencies (Correct answer)
- Booster sessions
- Correspondence training
- Behavior trapping
Correct answer: Indiscriminable contingencies
Indiscriminable contingencies (e.g., variable ratio schedules) make reinforcement unpredictable, which supports maintenance by mimicking natural reinforcement patterns.
Question 5: A practitioner programs for generalization by using materials from the client's actual home environment during clinic training. This technique is called:
- General case programming
- Common stimuli (Correct answer)
- Mediated generalization
- Fluency training
Correct answer: Common stimuli
Incorporating common stimuli from the natural environment into training promotes transfer of behavior to that environment.
Question 6: Response maintenance is MOST likely to occur when:
- Reinforcement is delivered on a continuous schedule indefinitely
- The behavior contacts natural reinforcers in the environment (Correct answer)
- Prompts are maintained to cue the behavior
- The trainer monitors the client daily after treatment ends
Correct answer: The behavior contacts natural reinforcers in the environment
Behavior is best maintained when it contacts natural reinforcement in the environment, making external programmed reinforcement unnecessary.
Question 7: When a learner acquires a behavior in training and it spreads to topographically similar but untrained responses, this is called:
- Stimulus generalization
- Response generalization (Correct answer)
- Behavioral momentum
- Incidental teaching
Correct answer: Response generalization
Response generalization occurs when trained behavior generalizes to other, similar response forms that were never directly trained.
ABAT ABAT Generalization and Maintenance Strategies 4
A behavior analyst wants to promote stimulus generalization across multiple teachers.
Which strategy is MOST effective?