BACB Behavior Assessment 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which type of functional behavior assessment (FBA) method involves directly manipulating antecedents and consequences to identify the function of a behavior?
- Indirect assessment
- Descriptive assessment
- Functional analysis (Correct answer)
- Scatter plot analysis
Correct answer: Functional analysis
A functional analysis involves systematically manipulating antecedents and consequences in controlled conditions to identify the behavioral function.
Question 2: During an indirect FBA, a behavior analyst interviews a teacher about a student's problem behavior. This method is considered indirect because:
- It uses structured observation in the natural environment
- It relies on secondhand reports rather than direct observation (Correct answer)
- It involves analog conditions in a clinic
- It measures behavior using permanent product recording
Correct answer: It relies on secondhand reports rather than direct observation
Indirect assessments gather information through interviews, rating scales, or questionnaires rather than direct observation of the behavior.
Question 3: In a functional analysis, the 'attention' condition typically involves the therapist:
- Providing continuous reinforcement for all behaviors
- Ignoring the client while attending to other tasks and briefly attending following problem behavior (Correct answer)
- Presenting demands and removing them contingent on problem behavior
- Providing free access to all preferred items
Correct answer: Ignoring the client while attending to other tasks and briefly attending following problem behavior
In the attention condition, the therapist ignores the client and only delivers brief attention contingent on problem behavior to test social-positive reinforcement.
Question 4: A scatter plot assessment is best used to:
- Identify the specific function of a behavior
- Determine the topography of a behavior
- Identify temporal patterns in when a behavior occurs (Correct answer)
- Measure the intensity of a behavior across settings
Correct answer: Identify temporal patterns in when a behavior occurs
A scatter plot records whether a behavior occurs during specific time blocks across days, revealing temporal patterns that may correlate with environmental events.
Question 5: Which functional analysis condition serves as a control by providing continuous, noncontingent access to preferred items and no demands?
- Tangible condition
- Demand condition
- Alone condition
- Play/control condition (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Play/control condition
The play or control condition provides continuous reinforcement and no demands, establishing a baseline of low problem behavior against which other conditions are compared.
Question 6: A descriptive FBA (e.g., ABC recording) differs from a functional analysis primarily because:
- Descriptive FBAs occur in naturalistic settings without experimental manipulation (Correct answer)
- Descriptive FBAs always identify the function with certainty
- Descriptive FBAs require the analyst to present specific stimuli
- Descriptive FBAs use rating scales completed by caregivers
Correct answer: Descriptive FBAs occur in naturalistic settings without experimental manipulation
Descriptive assessments involve observing and recording behavior in the natural environment without the controlled manipulation used in a functional analysis.
Question 7: When a functional analysis reveals high rates of problem behavior only in the demand condition, the behavior is most likely maintained by:
- Automatic reinforcement
- Social-positive reinforcement (attention)
- Social-negative reinforcement (escape) (Correct answer)
- Tangible reinforcement
Correct answer: Social-negative reinforcement (escape)
High rates exclusively in the demand condition suggest the behavior is negatively reinforced by escape or avoidance of demands (social-negative reinforcement).
BACB Behavior Assessment 1
Which type of functional behavior assessment (FBA) method involves directly manipulating antecedents and consequences to identify the function of a behavior?