BAS Assessment and Diagnosis 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A supervisor notices that a supervisee's ABC data consistently shows behavior occurring only when specific staff members are present. This pattern MOST likely suggests which function?
- Automatic reinforcement
- Tangible-maintained behavior
- Socially mediated reinforcement tied to specific discriminative stimuli (Correct answer)
- Escape from task demands
Correct answer: Socially mediated reinforcement tied to specific discriminative stimuli
When behavior is staff-specific, those staff members likely function as discriminative stimuli signaling availability of particular social reinforcers.
Question 2: In a multielement (alternating treatments) functional analysis design, the key feature that distinguishes it from other FA formats is:
- It runs only one test condition with a single control
- It rapidly alternates between multiple conditions within a session (Correct answer)
- It requires a minimum of 20 sessions per condition
- It is conducted exclusively in the natural environment
Correct answer: It rapidly alternates between multiple conditions within a session
The multielement design alternates among conditions within and across sessions rapidly, allowing for quicker differentiation of behavioral functions.
Question 3: When a supervisee uses duration recording for self-injurious behavior, this measurement strategy is MOST appropriate when:
- Each instance of the behavior is brief and discrete
- The behavior varies significantly in how long each episode lasts (Correct answer)
- The behavior occurs so rapidly that onset and offset are indistinguishable
- The behavior occurs exclusively during structured teaching trials
Correct answer: The behavior varies significantly in how long each episode lasts
Duration recording is most informative when the length of each behavioral episode is clinically meaningful and variable, capturing how long the behavior persists.
Question 4: A supervisor is training a new BCBA to conduct preference assessments. Which statement BEST reflects current best practice regarding preference assessments?
- One preference assessment conducted at intake is sufficient for the entire treatment period
- Preferences should be assessed repeatedly because they shift over time (Correct answer)
- Only edible reinforcers need to be assessed via formal preference assessment
- Caregiver report alone is adequate for identifying effective reinforcers
Correct answer: Preferences should be assessed repeatedly because they shift over time
Preferences are not static; they change with satiation, deprivation, and experience, requiring repeated assessment to identify currently effective reinforcers.
Question 5: A BAS is reviewing an assessment in which a client's behavior was observed across multiple settings with different people and tasks. This approach to assessment is BEST described as:
- Analogue functional analysis
- Ecological validity assessment across varied antecedent conditions (Correct answer)
- Interobserver agreement measurement
- Establishing operations manipulation
Correct answer: Ecological validity assessment across varied antecedent conditions
Observing behavior across varied naturalistic settings with different people and demands increases ecological validity and helps identify antecedent variables.
Question 6: A supervisee reports that two observers recorded the same behavior during the same observation and obtained IOA of 62%. What should the supervisor recommend?
- The data are acceptable because IOA above 50% is sufficient
- Retraining both observers on the operational definition and measurement procedure before continuing data collection (Correct answer)
- Switching to a different behavior to measure instead
- Averaging the two observers' data to obtain a single score
Correct answer: Retraining both observers on the operational definition and measurement procedure before continuing data collection
Acceptable IOA is typically 80% or higher; 62% indicates observer drift or unclear operational definitions requiring retraining and recalibration.
Question 7: Which of the following BEST describes the purpose of a structural analysis in the context of behavioral assessment?
- It identifies the physical topography of a behavior to write an operational definition
- It examines how antecedent variables (task type, difficulty, materials) influence behavior without manipulating consequences (Correct answer)
- It measures the building blocks of communication using verbal operants
- It evaluates the neurological basis of problem behavior
Correct answer: It examines how antecedent variables (task type, difficulty, materials) influence behavior without manipulating consequences
A structural analysis systematically manipulates antecedent conditions to determine which stimuli or task characteristics evoke problem behavior, independent of consequences.
BAS Assessment and Diagnosis 3
A supervisor notices that a supervisee's ABC data consistently shows behavior occurring only when specific staff members are present.
This pattern MOST likely suggests which function?