BACB ABA Principles and Concepts 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which schedule of reinforcement delivers reinforcement after a fixed number of responses?
- Fixed interval
- Variable ratio
- Fixed ratio (Correct answer)
- Variable interval
Correct answer: Fixed ratio
A fixed ratio (FR) schedule delivers reinforcement after a set, unchanging number of responses, producing high and steady rates of responding.
Question 2: What is the term for the decrease in responding that occurs during the interval following reinforcement on a fixed interval schedule?
- Extinction burst
- Post-reinforcement pause (Correct answer)
- Ratio strain
- Behavioral contrast
Correct answer: Post-reinforcement pause
The post-reinforcement pause is the period of little or no responding that occurs immediately after reinforcement delivery on fixed interval and fixed ratio schedules.
Question 3: Which concept best describes responding maintained by a history of reinforcement continuing briefly into extinction before stopping?
- Spontaneous recovery
- Resistance to extinction (Correct answer)
- Behavioral momentum
- Schedule thinning
Correct answer: Resistance to extinction
Resistance to extinction refers to how long or how much behavior continues after reinforcement is discontinued, often greater after variable than fixed schedules.
Question 4: Stimulus control is said to be present when a behavior occurs more frequently in the presence of a specific stimulus than in its absence. What is that stimulus called?
- S-delta
- Discriminative stimulus (SD) (Correct answer)
- Conditioned punisher
- Motivating operation
Correct answer: Discriminative stimulus (SD)
A discriminative stimulus (SD) is a stimulus in the presence of which a particular behavior has been reinforced and therefore occurs at a higher rate.
Question 5: Which process involves the gradual increase in response requirements or decrease in reinforcement frequency to maintain behavior?
- Stimulus fading
- Schedule thinning (Correct answer)
- Shaping
- Differential reinforcement
Correct answer: Schedule thinning
Schedule thinning is the gradual reduction in the frequency of reinforcement or increase in response requirements to maintain behavior under leaner schedules.
Question 6: What term describes the phenomenon in which increasing behavior in one situation is accompanied by a decrease in another situation due to differential reinforcement?
- Behavioral contrast (Correct answer)
- Generalization decrement
- Extinction burst
- Response induction
Correct answer: Behavioral contrast
Behavioral contrast occurs when a change in reinforcement conditions in one component of a multiple schedule produces an opposite change in responding in the other component.
BACB ABA Principles and Concepts 2
Which schedule of reinforcement delivers reinforcement after a fixed number of responses?