Skill Acquisition Programming Flashcards

A behavior analyst is teaching a learner to tact 'dog' across multiple exemplars. The learner reliably tacts dogs in session but fails to tact a neighbor's dog during a home visit. Which programming strategy most directly addresses this failure?

Answer: Introduce sufficient exemplar training using dogs from varied contexts, sizes, and settings

Failure to generalize across untrained stimuli indicates stimulus over-selectivity or insufficient exemplar training. Sufficient exemplar training — exposing the learner to enough varied examples that common features of the stimulus class control responding — is the evidence-based strategy to promote generalization across novel stimuli. Massed trials, token economies, or restricting to DTT do not directly address this generalization failure.

During backward chaining instruction for a 7-step self-care routine, a learner consistently fails on step 4 despite mastering all later steps. The MOST technically correct adjustment is to:

Answer: Provide most-to-least prompting on step 4 while maintaining independence on steps 5–7

In backward chaining, the learner completes the terminal link independently and receives reinforcement at the end. When an error occurs at a specific step, targeted most-to-least prompting on that step while preserving independent responding on already-mastered later steps is appropriate. Switching to forward chaining is not indicated by a single step error, nor is removing the step or restarting the entire chain.

A BCBA programs three separate skill acquisition programs for a child: shoe-tying, tooth-brushing, and hair-combing. Each uses a different task analysis. After 6 weeks, none have reached mastery criterion. An efficiency review suggests the programs may violate a key principle of skill acquisition programming. What is the MOST likely issue?

Answer: Concurrent teaching of multiple chained behaviors may be creating response competition without adequate discrimination training between contexts

Teaching multiple topographically similar chained behaviors simultaneously can produce response competition and stimulus confusion — the learner may blend steps across chains. Without explicit contextual cues (discriminative stimuli) making each chain's context distinctive, acquisition is impeded. While vague definitions and stale reinforcer assessments are potential issues, the scenario — concurrent similar chains failing together — points most directly to response competition and inadequate context discrimination.

A learner demonstrates mastery of receptive identification of 'cup' in a structured table-top setting. To assess whether a new skill or generalization has occurred, the analyst should probe the response:

Answer: Both across novel exemplars and in novel settings and with different instructors to comprehensively assess generalization dimensions

Generalization is multidimensional: stimulus generalization (novel exemplars), setting generalization (novel locations), and response generalization (novel instructors or formats) each represent distinct dimensions that must be probed independently. Probing only one dimension gives an incomplete generalization picture. Comprehensive assessment requires probing across all relevant dimensions, not waiting for maintenance data first.

A learner's skill acquisition program specifies a mastery criterion of '80% correct across 3 consecutive sessions.' The learner achieves this criterion but regresses to 40% accuracy two weeks later with no program changes. Which factor is MOST likely responsible, and what is the appropriate programmatic response?

Answer: The mastery criterion was set too low or maintenance probes were not scheduled; raise the criterion and implement a systematic maintenance schedule

Rapid regression after meeting criterion typically indicates the criterion was insufficient to establish durable responding, or that maintenance probing and thinned reinforcement schedules were not built into the program. The appropriate response is to raise the mastery criterion (e.g., 90% across 5 sessions) and implement a formal maintenance schedule with distributed practice. Lowering the criterion or restarting with a new task analysis does not address the maintenance failure.

A behavior analyst is using a prompt fading procedure and inadvertently creates prompt dependency in a learner. Which of the following scenarios BEST illustrates prompt dependency, and which fading strategy would MOST effectively remediate it?

Answer: The learner waits for any level of prompt before responding even when capable of independent responding; switch to a time delay procedure to create an opportunity for independent responding before the prompt is delivered

Prompt dependency occurs when the learner's behavior comes under control of the prompt rather than the natural discriminative stimulus — resulting in waiting for any prompt before responding even when the skill is present. Progressive time delay (or constant time delay) is the most effective remediation: by inserting a delay between the SD and the prompt, the procedure creates an opportunity for independent responding before the prompt is delivered, gradually transferring stimulus control to the natural SD. Errorless teaching with most-to-least prompting would likely worsen prompt dependency.