ABAT Behavior Reduction Interventions 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A student loses 5 minutes of free time every time they engage in property destruction. This is an example of:
- Positive punishment
- Negative punishment (response cost) (Correct answer)
- Time-out from reinforcement
- Overcorrection
Correct answer: Negative punishment (response cost)
Response cost is a form of negative punishment in which a specific amount of a reinforcer is removed contingent on a target behavior.
Question 2: Which type of time-out involves removing the student from the reinforcing environment and placing them in a less stimulating area (e.g., a partitioned corner of the room)?
- Non-exclusionary time-out
- Exclusionary time-out (Correct answer)
- Seclusionary time-out
- Contingent observation
Correct answer: Exclusionary time-out
Exclusionary time-out removes the individual from the reinforcing environment to a separate, non-locked area while keeping them in the same room or nearby.
Question 3: Positive practice overcorrection requires the individual to:
- Restore the environment to its original or better condition
- Repeatedly practice the correct form of the behavior (Correct answer)
- Pay a fine in tokens following each misbehavior
- Sit quietly in a time-out area for a fixed period
Correct answer: Repeatedly practice the correct form of the behavior
Positive practice overcorrection requires the individual to repeatedly perform the appropriate behavior contingent on each instance of the problem behavior.
Question 4: Functional Communication Training (FCT) reduces problem behavior primarily by:
- Eliminating all sources of reinforcement for the target behavior
- Teaching a replacement communicative response that accesses the same reinforcer (Correct answer)
- Applying contingent aversive stimuli following each problem behavior
- Scheduling reinforcement on a fixed-interval schedule
Correct answer: Teaching a replacement communicative response that accesses the same reinforcer
FCT teaches the individual an appropriate communicative response (e.g., using a card or verbal request) that produces the same reinforcer as the problem behavior.
Question 5: Which differential reinforcement procedure is MOST appropriate when the goal is to reduce the overall rate of a behavior but not eliminate it completely?
- DRO
- DRA
- DRL (Correct answer)
- DRI
Correct answer: DRL
Differential Reinforcement of Low rates (DRL) reinforces the behavior when it occurs at or below a specified rate, making it ideal for reducing but not eliminating a behavior.
Question 6: A practitioner requires a child to clean up all the toys they scattered AND all the toys already on the floor as a consequence for throwing toys. This procedure is best described as:
- Positive practice overcorrection
- Restitutional overcorrection (Correct answer)
- Response cost
- Contingent effort
Correct answer: Restitutional overcorrection
Restitutional overcorrection requires the individual to restore the environment to a state better than it was before the problem behavior occurred.
Question 7: To be effective, time-out from reinforcement requires that the environment from which the student is removed is:
- Highly aversive
- Richly reinforcing (Correct answer)
- Socially isolating
- Completely dark and quiet
Correct answer: Richly reinforcing
Time-out only functions as a punisher if the time-in environment is reinforcing; removing a student from a non-reinforcing environment is not time-out and will not reduce behavior.
ABAT Behavior Reduction Interventions 3
A student loses 5 minutes of free time every time they engage in property destruction.
This is an example of: