BCBA Stimulus Control and Verbal Behavior 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which procedure involves gradually removing prompts across trials to transfer stimulus control to natural cues?
- Prompt delay
- Stimulus fading (Correct answer)
- Shaping
- Chaining
Correct answer: Stimulus fading
Stimulus fading systematically removes or dims artificial prompts so that the natural discriminative stimulus gains full control over the response.
Question 2: A child fills in 'twinkle twinkle little ___' when prompted by the phrase. Which verbal operant best describes this response?
- Tact
- Mand
- Intraverbal (Correct answer)
- Echoic
Correct answer: Intraverbal
An intraverbal is a verbal response to a verbal antecedent where the response does not match the antecedent (non-echoing, non-transcriptive).
Question 3: Equivalence-based instruction capitalizes on which property of stimulus classes?
- Transitivity, reflexivity, and symmetry (Correct answer)
- Generalization, discrimination, and blocking
- Extinction, satiation, and deprivation
- Shaping, chaining, and prompting
Correct answer: Transitivity, reflexivity, and symmetry
Derived stimulus relations (equivalence) require demonstrations of reflexivity (A=A), symmetry (if A→B then B→A), and transitivity (if A→B and B→C then A→C).
Question 4: In errorless learning, a prompt is delivered _____ the natural SD to ensure the learner responds correctly from the start.
- After
- Instead of
- Before or simultaneously with (Correct answer)
- Only on error trials following
Correct answer: Before or simultaneously with
Errorless procedures present the prompt immediately before or at the same time as the SD so the learner makes the correct response before errors can occur.
Question 5: Which schedule of reinforcement produces a high, steady response rate and is most resistant to extinction?
- Fixed ratio
- Fixed interval
- Variable ratio (Correct answer)
- Variable interval
Correct answer: Variable ratio
Variable ratio schedules produce the highest and most persistent rates of responding because reinforcement is unpredictable in number.
Question 6: Blocking, in stimulus control research, refers to:
- Preventing a new stimulus from gaining discriminative control due to a pre-trained stimulus (Correct answer)
- Stopping unwanted behavior by physical intervention
- Scheduling reinforcement to prevent satiation
- Pairing stimuli to create conditioned reinforcers
Correct answer: Preventing a new stimulus from gaining discriminative control due to a pre-trained stimulus
Blocking occurs when prior training with one stimulus prevents a second stimulus, presented in compound, from acquiring control over the response.
BCBA Stimulus Control and Verbal Behavior 2
Which procedure involves gradually removing prompts across trials to transfer stimulus control to natural cues?