ABAT Antecedent-Based Interventions 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A behavior analyst uses a high-probability (high-p) request sequence before presenting a low-probability demand. What is the primary purpose of this strategy?
- To increase behavioral momentum and compliance (Correct answer)
- To teach new skills through repetition
- To provide negative reinforcement for problem behavior
- To assess the function of problem behavior
Correct answer: To increase behavioral momentum and compliance
High-p sequences build behavioral momentum by establishing a pattern of compliance before presenting difficult demands.
Question 2: Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) as an antecedent-based intervention works primarily by:
- Delivering reinforcement only after desired behavior
- Abolishing the motivating operation for problem behavior (Correct answer)
- Punishing problem behavior before it occurs
- Establishing a new discriminative stimulus
Correct answer: Abolishing the motivating operation for problem behavior
NCR delivers reinforcement on a time-based schedule, thereby abolishing the establishing operation that motivates problem behavior.
Question 3: A student engages in disruptive behavior to escape math tasks. Which antecedent-based intervention directly targets the establishing operation for this behavior?
- Providing escape contingent on compliance
- Using errorless learning to reduce task difficulty
- Offering frequent, brief breaks before problem behavior occurs (Correct answer)
- Teaching the student to request a break
Correct answer: Offering frequent, brief breaks before problem behavior occurs
Providing non-contingent breaks (NCR for escape) abolishes the EO by reducing aversiveness of the task context before problem behavior occurs.
Question 4: In the context of antecedent-based interventions, environmental modification refers to:
- Changing consequences that follow problem behavior
- Altering physical or social stimuli in the environment to reduce problem behavior (Correct answer)
- Teaching replacement behaviors through differential reinforcement
- Using medication to reduce problem behavior
Correct answer: Altering physical or social stimuli in the environment to reduce problem behavior
Environmental modification involves changing antecedent conditions (e.g., seating, noise level, task materials) to reduce triggers for problem behavior.
Question 5: An abolishing operation (AO) has which effect on behavior?
- Increases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus and increases related behavior
- Decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus and decreases behavior maintained by it (Correct answer)
- Creates a new discriminative stimulus for behavior
- Increases punishment effectiveness
Correct answer: Decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus and decreases behavior maintained by it
An abolishing operation decreases the current reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus, thereby decreasing behavior maintained by that stimulus.
Question 6: Behavioral momentum in the high-p sequence is best described as:
- The tendency for behavior to persist once a pattern of compliance is established (Correct answer)
- The speed at which a student completes tasks
- The rate of reinforcement delivery during a session
- The number of requests made before presenting a difficult demand
Correct answer: The tendency for behavior to persist once a pattern of compliance is established
Behavioral momentum describes the tendency for compliance to continue even when a difficult request is introduced after a series of easy, reinforced requests.
Question 7: Errorless learning is considered an antecedent-based strategy because:
- It provides correction feedback after errors occur
- It delivers prompts before errors can happen, ensuring correct responses (Correct answer)
- It removes reinforcement following incorrect responses
- It uses extinction to eliminate errors
Correct answer: It delivers prompts before errors can happen, ensuring correct responses
Errorless learning uses antecedent prompts to prevent errors from occurring rather than correcting them after the fact.
ABAT Antecedent-Based Interventions 2
A behavior analyst uses a high-probability (high-p) request sequence before presenting a low-probability demand.
What is the primary purpose of this strategy?