ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Skill Acquisition Programming Questions and Answers 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which verbal operant is reinforced by the removal of an aversive stimulus or the presentation of a preferred item, and is said to 'benefit the speaker'?
- Tact
- Intraverbal
- Mand (Correct answer)
- Echoic
Correct answer: Mand
A mand is a verbal operant whose form is controlled by a motivating operation and is reinforced by the specific item, action, or removal of an aversive that the speaker requests.
Question 2: A behavior analyst wants to teach a child to greet peers by first reinforcing any vocalization near a peer, then only 'hi,' then only a full greeting. This strategy is called:
- Chaining
- Shaping (Correct answer)
- Fading
- Modeling
Correct answer: Shaping
Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of a target behavior until the terminal behavior is achieved.
Question 3: During Natural Environment Teaching (NET), reinforcement is described as 'natural' when it:
- Is always a primary reinforcer such as food or water
- Is the direct and logical outcome of the behavior in context (Correct answer)
- Is delivered on a variable ratio schedule to maintain responding
- Is withheld until the learner independently initiates the behavior
Correct answer: Is the direct and logical outcome of the behavior in context
Natural reinforcement in NET is functionally related to the behavior (e.g., requesting a toy results in receiving the toy), which enhances generalization and maintenance.
Question 4: Behavioral Skills Training (BST) is a staff/caregiver training model consisting of which four components?
- Assess, plan, implement, evaluate
- Instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback (Correct answer)
- Baseline, intervention, generalization, maintenance
- Observe, measure, graph, adjust
Correct answer: Instruction, modeling, rehearsal, feedback
BST includes instruction (describing the skill), modeling (demonstrating it), rehearsal (practice), and feedback (corrective or positive) to build competency in trainers.
Question 5: A learner rapidly acquires new skills when they are embedded within a series of mastered tasks. This phenomenon is known as:
- Behavioral momentum (Correct answer)
- Incidental teaching
- Response blocking
- Stimulus overselectivity
Correct answer: Behavioral momentum
Behavioral momentum refers to the increased probability and persistence of a target response when it is interspersed with high-probability (already mastered) requests.
Question 6: Which data collection method is most appropriate for measuring skill acquisition progress in discrete trial training?
- Duration recording
- Percent correct per session (Correct answer)
- Whole-interval recording
- Latency recording
Correct answer: Percent correct per session
Percent correct per session (number of correct responses divided by total trials × 100) is the standard metric for tracking learning progress in DTT skill acquisition programs.
Question 7: A child has mastered a skill in clinic but does not perform it at home or school. To address this, the BCBA should first:
- Re-teach the skill from baseline using massed trials at home
- Program generalization by conducting training in multiple settings with varied people and materials (Correct answer)
- Increase reinforcement density in the clinic to strengthen the behavior
- Place the skill on extinction and re-introduce it in the natural environment
Correct answer: Program generalization by conducting training in multiple settings with varied people and materials
When a skill fails to generalize, the recommended approach is to systematically program for generalization by training across settings, people, and materials from the outset.
ABAT - Applied Behavior Analysis Skill Acquisition Programming Questions and Answers 4
Which verbal operant is reinforced by the removal of an aversive stimulus or the presentation of a preferred item, and is said to 'benefit the speaker'?