BCBA Behavior Reduction and Antecedent Interventions 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which antecedent intervention involves altering setting events or motivating operations to reduce the value of problem behavior reinforcers?
- Non-contingent reinforcement
- Antecedent exercise
- Abolishing operation manipulation (Correct answer)
- Differential reinforcement of other behavior
Correct answer: Abolishing operation manipulation
Manipulating abolishing operations (AOs) reduces the effectiveness of the reinforcer maintaining problem behavior, thereby decreasing the likelihood of that behavior.
Question 2: Non-contingent reinforcement (NCR) reduces problem behavior primarily by:
- Punishing the behavior directly
- Abolishing the motivating operation maintaining problem behavior (Correct answer)
- Teaching an alternative communication response
- Placing the behavior on extinction
Correct answer: Abolishing the motivating operation maintaining problem behavior
NCR delivers the reinforcer on a time-based schedule independent of behavior, which serves as an abolishing operation that reduces the value of that reinforcer and the problem behavior it maintains.
Question 3: Functional Communication Training (FCT) replaces problem behavior by teaching a communicative response that:
- Is punished on the same schedule as problem behavior
- Accesses the same reinforcer as the problem behavior (Correct answer)
- Is reinforced on a leaner schedule than problem behavior
- Requires more effort than problem behavior
Correct answer: Accesses the same reinforcer as the problem behavior
FCT is effective because the alternative communicative response produces the same reinforcer that was maintaining the problem behavior, making the new response equally or more efficient.
Question 4: Which procedure involves the systematic removal of a preferred item or activity contingent on problem behavior?
- Response cost (Correct answer)
- Time-out from positive reinforcement
- Overcorrection
- Extinction
Correct answer: Response cost
Response cost is a penalty-based punishment procedure in which a specified amount of a conditioned positive reinforcer is removed following problem behavior.
Question 5: A behavior analyst recommends high-probability request sequences before asking a learner to complete a low-probability task. This is an example of:
- Behavior momentum (Correct answer)
- Extinction
- Shaping
- Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior
Correct answer: Behavior momentum
Behavioral momentum uses a series of high-p requests reinforced before the low-p request to build compliance momentum and reduce problem behavior associated with transitions.
Question 6: Which of the following best defines an extinction burst?
- A gradual decrease in response rate during extinction
- A temporary increase in frequency, intensity, or variability of behavior at the start of extinction (Correct answer)
- The complete cessation of behavior after repeated extinction sessions
- A reappearance of behavior weeks after successful extinction
Correct answer: A temporary increase in frequency, intensity, or variability of behavior at the start of extinction
An extinction burst is the immediate temporary increase in responding—often accompanied by emotional behavior and response variation—that occurs at the onset of extinction.
BCBA Behavior Reduction and Antecedent Interventions 1
Which antecedent intervention involves altering setting events or motivating operations to reduce the value of problem behavior reinforcers?