ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Skill Acquisition Programming Questions and Answers 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A therapist teaches a child to wash hands by first teaching the last step (turning off the faucet), then adding each preceding step one at a time. This is an example of:
- Forward chaining
- Backward chaining (Correct answer)
- Total task chaining
- Concurrent chaining
Correct answer: Backward chaining
Backward chaining begins instruction with the last step of the task analysis, allowing the learner to complete the chain and contact the terminal reinforcer from the start.
Question 2: Which prompting hierarchy is considered 'least-to-most' and begins with the least intrusive prompt before escalating?
- Full physical → partial physical → gestural → verbal
- Verbal → gestural → model → partial physical → full physical (Correct answer)
- Model → verbal → gestural → full physical
- Full physical → model → gestural → independent
Correct answer: Verbal → gestural → model → partial physical → full physical
Least-to-most prompting starts with the most independent level (verbal) and escalates to more intrusive prompts only if the learner does not respond correctly.
Question 3: Stimulus generalization in skill acquisition programming is considered successful when a learner:
- Performs a skill only in the training setting with the training therapist
- Emits the target behavior in the presence of novel stimuli not present during training (Correct answer)
- Requires a full physical prompt in all non-training environments
- Discriminates between trained and untrained stimuli and responds only to trained ones
Correct answer: Emits the target behavior in the presence of novel stimuli not present during training
Stimulus generalization occurs when a behavior trained under one set of stimuli also occurs in the presence of similar, untrained stimuli.
Question 4: A behavior analyst is using a constant time delay procedure. After mastering 0-second delay trials, the prompt is now delivered exactly 4 seconds after the discriminative stimulus on every trial. This describes:
- Progressive time delay with a 4-second increment
- Constant time delay with a fixed 4-second interval (Correct answer)
- Simultaneous prompting with a 4-second probe
- Graduated guidance with a 4-second hold
Correct answer: Constant time delay with a fixed 4-second interval
Constant time delay uses a single fixed delay interval (here, 4 seconds) after baseline 0-second trials, unlike progressive time delay which increases the delay in steps.
Question 5: Which of the following best describes 'stimulus control transfer' in skill acquisition?
- Moving a skill from a massed trial format to a distributed trial format
- Shifting control of a behavior from a prompt to the natural discriminative stimulus (Correct answer)
- Increasing the reinforcement schedule from continuous to intermittent
- Teaching a new behavior by reinforcing successive approximations
Correct answer: Shifting control of a behavior from a prompt to the natural discriminative stimulus
Stimulus control transfer is the process of systematically fading prompts so that the natural SD, rather than the prompt, comes to control the target behavior.
Question 6: In a Discrete Trial Training (DTT) session, the inter-trial interval (ITI) primarily serves to:
- Provide a brief pause that signals the end of one trial and the beginning of the next
- Allow the therapist to record data without interrupting the session
- Increase the learner's motivation by withholding reinforcement between trials
- Ensure the discriminative stimulus from the previous trial does not interfere with the next (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Ensure the discriminative stimulus from the previous trial does not interfere with the next
The ITI functions to reduce carry-over effects from the previous trial so that the learner can respond to the new SD without stimulus interference.
Question 7: A learner can label a dog when shown a photo but not when seeing a real dog. A behavior analyst programs training across multiple examples of real dogs in different settings. This procedure targets:
- Response generalization
- Stimulus generalization (Correct answer)
- Behavioral maintenance
- Errorless discrimination training
Correct answer: Stimulus generalization
Training across multiple exemplars of real dogs promotes stimulus generalization so the tact 'dog' transfers from photos to real animals in varied environments.
ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Skill Acquisition Programming Questions and Answers 3
A therapist teaches a child to wash hands by first teaching the last step (turning off the faucet), then adding each preceding step one at a time.
This is an example of: