ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Prompting and Fading Procedures Questions and Answers 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: In a constant time delay procedure, what remains constant across trials?
- The number of prompts delivered
- The delay interval between the SD and the prompt (Correct answer)
- The type of prompt used
- The reinforcement schedule
Correct answer: The delay interval between the SD and the prompt
In constant time delay, the delay interval (e.g., 4 seconds) stays the same across all trials after the initial zero-second baseline phase.
Question 2: A teacher points to a picture card after saying 'Touch dog.' This is an example of which prompt type?
- Verbal prompt
- Gestural prompt (Correct answer)
- Positional prompt
- Textual prompt
Correct answer: Gestural prompt
Pointing to the correct stimulus is a gestural prompt because it uses body movement to direct the learner's attention.
Question 3: Which fading strategy involves the trainer providing full assistance at first and then physically withdrawing support as the learner becomes more independent?
- Least-to-most prompting
- Graduated guidance (Correct answer)
- Progressive time delay
- Stimulus shaping
Correct answer: Graduated guidance
Graduated guidance starts with full physical assistance and the trainer fades physical contact by moving touch to less sensitive body areas and eventually shadowing.
Question 4: When using least-to-most (LTM) prompting, what is the primary advantage over most-to-least prompting?
- It reduces errors during acquisition
- It preserves responding to natural cues before more intrusive prompts are needed (Correct answer)
- It is faster for teaching novel skills
- It automatically eliminates problem behavior
Correct answer: It preserves responding to natural cues before more intrusive prompts are needed
LTM gives the learner the chance to respond independently or with minimal help before escalating to more intrusive prompts, preserving contact with natural SDs.
Question 5: A practitioner teaches shoe-tying by first reinforcing any finger movement near the shoelace, then reinforcing picking up the lace, and so on. This procedure is best described as:
- Chaining (Correct answer)
- Shaping with prompt fading
- Stimulus fading
- Error correction
Correct answer: Chaining
Breaking the skill into sequential steps and teaching each link systematically describes chaining, not shaping (which changes topography of a single response).
Question 6: Which of the following is an example of a within-stimulus prompt?
- Pointing to the correct answer
- Making the correct answer larger or brighter than the distractors (Correct answer)
- Providing a verbal model of the correct response
- Tapping the learner's shoulder to redirect attention
Correct answer: Making the correct answer larger or brighter than the distractors
A within-stimulus prompt alters a physical dimension of the target stimulus itself (e.g., size, color) to make it more salient, rather than adding an external cue.
Question 7: When an antecedent prompt is removed before the learner consistently responds correctly, this is called:
- Premature fading (Correct answer)
- Response blocking
- Extinction
- Stimulus overselectivity
Correct answer: Premature fading
Premature fading occurs when prompts are withdrawn before the learner has reached the criterion for independence, often resulting in errors.
ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Prompting and Fading Procedures Questions and Answers 4
In a constant time delay procedure, what remains constant across trials?