ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Antecedent-Based Interventions Questions and Answers 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A BCBA discovers that a client's self-injurious behavior (SIB) is most frequent during loud, crowded environments. The MOST appropriate antecedent intervention would be to:
- Implement a DRO schedule during crowded periods
- Systematically desensitize the client to noise while also modifying the environment to reduce stimulation (Correct answer)
- Deliver punishment contingent on each SIB episode in the crowded setting
- Increase the density of social reinforcement in the crowded environment
Correct answer: Systematically desensitize the client to noise while also modifying the environment to reduce stimulation
Combining environmental modification with systematic desensitization addresses both the immediate antecedent trigger and builds long-term tolerance to the aversive stimulus.
Question 2: Which of the following is a critical distinction between a discriminative stimulus (SD) and a motivating operation (MO)?
- An SD increases the value of a reinforcer; an MO signals that reinforcement is available
- An MO alters the value of a reinforcer and the frequency of related behavior; an SD signals the availability of reinforcement (Correct answer)
- An SD controls the duration of a behavior; an MO controls its topography
- An MO is always a conditioned stimulus; an SD is always an unconditioned stimulus
Correct answer: An MO alters the value of a reinforcer and the frequency of related behavior; an SD signals the availability of reinforcement
MOs have a value-altering effect and a behavior-altering effect, whereas SDs signal reinforcement availability without changing the value of that reinforcer.
Question 3: Pre-session satiation is used as an antecedent strategy to address attention-maintained problem behavior by:
- Increasing the quality of attention given contingently after appropriate behavior
- Providing abundant attention before the session to temporarily reduce its reinforcing value (Correct answer)
- Teaching the client to request attention using an appropriate communicative response
- Scheduling fixed intervals of attention delivery throughout the session
Correct answer: Providing abundant attention before the session to temporarily reduce its reinforcing value
Pre-session satiation temporarily abolishes the reinforcing effectiveness of attention, making attention-maintained problem behavior less likely during the subsequent session.
Question 4: When implementing antecedent exercise as an intervention for stereotypy or aggression, the proposed mechanism is PRIMARILY:
- Exercise serves as a punisher that suppresses the problem behavior directly
- Vigorous physical activity alters neurochemistry and reduces the deprivation state that drives the behavior (Correct answer)
- Exercise functions as a discriminative stimulus signaling that reinforcement is unavailable
- Physical activity increases the response effort required for stereotypy and aggression
Correct answer: Vigorous physical activity alters neurochemistry and reduces the deprivation state that drives the behavior
Antecedent exercise is thought to function as an abolishing operation by affecting neurochemical states and reducing the establishing conditions for problem behavior.
Question 5: A behavior technician is instructed to present only high-preference materials during work sessions with a client who engages in escape-maintained problem behavior. This strategy functions as an antecedent intervention by:
- Providing contingent reinforcement for task completion
- Reducing the aversive quality of the task, thereby decreasing the EO for escape (Correct answer)
- Increasing the effort required to escape from the task
- Establishing the preferred items as conditioned punishers
Correct answer: Reducing the aversive quality of the task, thereby decreasing the EO for escape
Embedding preferred materials into tasks reduces the aversive value of the instructional session, acting as an abolishing operation for escape-maintained behavior.
Question 6: An antecedent intervention package for a student with ASD includes visual supports, structured routines, and environmental predictability. The COMMON behavioral function served by all three components is:
- They each deliver tangible reinforcers for compliance
- They each reduce uncertainty and unpredictability that functions as an EO for problem behavior (Correct answer)
- They each increase the density of social interactions available to the student
- They each serve as conditioned reinforcers through repeated pairing
Correct answer: They each reduce uncertainty and unpredictability that functions as an EO for problem behavior
Visual supports, structured routines, and environmental predictability all decrease ambiguity, thereby reducing the establishing operation that drives escape or protest behavior.
Question 7: In designing antecedent interventions, a behavior analyst must ensure the intervention addresses the FUNCTION of behavior. If problem behavior is maintained by automatic reinforcement, which antecedent strategy is MOST likely to be effective?
- NCR delivering social attention on a fixed-time schedule
- Enriching the environment with alternative sensory stimulation (Correct answer)
- High-p request sequences before low-p demands
- Choice-making between two academic tasks
Correct answer: Enriching the environment with alternative sensory stimulation
Environmental enrichment with alternative sensory stimuli can compete with and reduce automatically maintained behavior by providing substitute sources of sensory reinforcement.
ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Antecedent-Based Interventions Questions and Answers 5
A BCBA discovers that a client's self-injurious behavior (SIB) is most frequent during loud, crowded environments.
The MOST appropriate antecedent intervention would be to: