BCAT Behavioral Intervention Techniques 4 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A BCAT notices that a learner's problem behavior occurs almost exclusively during transitions between activities. The best antecedent strategy would be to:
- Eliminate all transitions from the schedule
- Provide a visual or verbal warning before transitions occur (Correct answer)
- Increase the frequency of transitions to build tolerance immediately
- Implement a DRO during non-transition periods only
Correct answer: Provide a visual or verbal warning before transitions occur
Priming the learner about upcoming transitions reduces the aversiveness of change, decreasing problem behavior.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of positive punishment?
- Removing screen time after aggression
- Presenting a loud noise contingent on self-injury (Correct answer)
- Turning off a loud fan when the child completes a task
- Providing praise after a correct response
Correct answer: Presenting a loud noise contingent on self-injury
Positive punishment adds an aversive stimulus (loud noise) contingent on behavior to decrease future occurrences.
Question 3: Shaping involves reinforcing:
- Only the final target behavior from the first session
- Successive approximations of the target behavior (Correct answer)
- Any behavior that occurs in the environment
- Behavior that is topographically identical to the model
Correct answer: Successive approximations of the target behavior
Shaping reinforces behaviors that progressively resemble the target, gradually shifting criteria toward the goal.
Question 4: A technician stops delivering attention each time a child whines but finds the whining is getting louder and more frequent over the past week. This pattern suggests:
- Extinction is working as expected
- The behavior is now under stimulus control
- The behavior is maintained by automatic reinforcement, not attention (Correct answer)
- Spontaneous recovery has resolved the issue
Correct answer: The behavior is maintained by automatic reinforcement, not attention
If extinction (withholding attention) does not decrease behavior, the behavior is likely maintained by a different function such as automatic reinforcement.
Question 5: Which of the following describes a naturalistic teaching approach?
- Highly structured trials at a table with massed practice
- Teaching skills within the learner's natural environment using naturally occurring reinforcers (Correct answer)
- Delivering prompts in a predetermined sequence regardless of context
- Conducting sessions only in a therapy room to minimize distractions
Correct answer: Teaching skills within the learner's natural environment using naturally occurring reinforcers
Naturalistic teaching embeds instruction in everyday activities using reinforcers that are naturally relevant to the learner.
Question 6: A technician is implementing Pivotal Response Training (PRT). Which of the following is a core pivotal area targeted in PRT?
- Rote memorization of academic facts
- Motivation and self-management (Correct answer)
- Errorless compliance training
- Discrete trial repetition only
Correct answer: Motivation and self-management
PRT targets pivotal areas like motivation and self-management because improvements in these areas produce widespread gains across other skills.
Question 7: When a behavior has been placed on extinction and then reappears after a period of time with no reinforcement, this is called:
- Extinction burst
- Stimulus generalization
- Spontaneous recovery (Correct answer)
- Behavioral contrast
Correct answer: Spontaneous recovery
Spontaneous recovery is the temporary reappearance of an extinguished behavior after a rest period.
BCAT Behavioral Intervention Techniques 4
A BCAT notices that a learner's problem behavior occurs almost exclusively during transitions between activities.
The best antecedent strategy would be to: