- Applied Behavior Analysis Core ABA Principles Questions and Answers Flashcards

A behavior analyst is using differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) with a client who engages in self-injurious behavior (SIB) maintained by automatic reinforcement. After several weeks, the SIB has not decreased despite consistent implementation. Which modification is MOST likely to improve outcomes?

Answer: Identify a functionally equivalent alternative behavior that also produces sensory stimulation and reinforce it on a continuous schedule

When SIB is maintained by automatic (sensory) reinforcement, the alternative behavior selected in DRA must produce similar sensory consequences to compete effectively. Increasing the magnitude of a socially mediated reinforcer (e.g., praise) is unlikely to compete with automatic reinforcement. Blocking alone does not address the reinforcement function. DRO does not teach a replacement behavior. Matching the sensory properties of the alternative behavior is the critical variable.

During a functional analysis, a therapist observes that a client's aggressive behavior occurs at high rates in BOTH the attention condition AND the alone condition, but at low rates in the demand and control conditions. What is the MOST appropriate interpretation?

Answer: The behavior is maintained by multiple functions: attention and automatic reinforcement

Elevated responding in both the attention condition and the alone condition indicates the behavior may be multiply controlled — by social positive reinforcement (attention) and by automatic reinforcement (which manifests in the alone condition where no social consequences are delivered). Dismissing the alone condition as carry-over is not justified without specific data, and the pattern clearly implicates two functions rather than one.

A BCBA designs a token economy for a classroom. Tokens are delivered on a fixed-ratio 3 (FR3) schedule for on-task behavior and can be exchanged for backup reinforcers at the end of each class period. A new ABAT notices that students show a post-reinforcement pause after each token exchange. What is the MOST accurate behavioral interpretation and recommended adjustment?

Answer: The pause is characteristic of fixed schedules; thinning to a variable-ratio schedule for token delivery would reduce the pause

Post-reinforcement pauses are a defining characteristic of fixed schedules (both FR and FI). The pause occurs after reinforcement is delivered because the organism 'knows' reinforcement is not immediately available again. Variable-ratio schedules eliminate the predictable pause because reinforcement can occur at any response, maintaining steady responding. The exchange schedule at the end of class functions as a fixed interval, but the token delivery schedule (FR3) is the primary driver of response-level pausing during the class period.

A behavior analyst is assessing stimulus control and notices that a learner correctly identifies the color 'red' only when red objects are presented against a white background, failing with colored backgrounds. This BEST exemplifies which concept?

Answer: Faulty stimulus control where the background color, not 'red,' has acquired discriminative control

This scenario describes faulty stimulus control — the white background, rather than the property 'redness,' has become the controlling stimulus. The learner has not truly acquired the concept of red; instead, the extraneous element of the compound stimulus (white background) controls responding. This is distinct from generalization failure, which implies correct but non-generalized control, and from compound stimulus control in the technical sense. The fix requires systematic training across varied backgrounds to bring responding under control of the relevant stimulus dimension.

According to the matching law, an organism divides its behavior between two concurrent variable-interval schedules. Schedule A delivers reinforcement at a rate of 40 per hour and Schedule B delivers reinforcement at a rate of 10 per hour. Approximately what proportion of responses will be allocated to Schedule A?

Answer: 0.80 — because behavior matches the relative rate of reinforcement

The matching law (Herrnstein, 1961) states that the proportion of responses allocated to an alternative equals the proportion of total reinforcement obtained from that alternative. Schedule A provides 40/(40+10) = 40/50 = 0.80 of total reinforcement, so approximately 80% of responses will be allocated to Schedule A. Overmatching (choice C) is a deviation from strict matching and is not the baseline prediction of the law. Equal allocation would only occur if rates were equal.

A behavior analyst uses a reversal (ABAB) design to evaluate a self-management intervention. During the second B phase, the target behavior does not return to baseline levels when the intervention is withdrawn. Which of the following is the MOST scientifically defensible conclusion?

Answer: The failure to reverse may indicate that the behavior has come under control of natural contingencies, which is a socially significant outcome but limits experimental control

In an ABAB design, failure of behavior to reverse during the second A phase does not automatically mean the intervention was ineffective. A common explanation is that the behavior has been 'trapped' by natural reinforcement contingencies in the environment — the behavior now contacts reinforcers that sustain it independently of the formal intervention. While this undermines demonstration of experimental control (the hallmark of the reversal design), it is often considered a socially desirable outcome. The behavior analyst must distinguish between experimental failure and a clinically meaningful durable behavior change.