Behavior Reduction
When a student screams to get attention, the teacher begins to ignore the behavior and does not provide any attention when it occurs. Over time, the screaming decreases. This is an example of _______.
Extinction
Maya presents her client with two items at a time — bubbles and a ball — and records which one the client chooses. She repeats this process with all possible pairs of items from a list of five. What type of preference assessment is Maya using?
Aiden, an RBT, wants to measure how often his client Sophie interrupts during small-group instruction. On Monday’s 20-minute session, she interrupts 10 times. On Tuesday’s 40-minute session, she interrupts 20 times. What’s the best way to compare Sophie’s behavior across the two sessions?
Rate
Maya’s client’s parent often vents to her about family problems during sessions and asks for advice. What is Maya’s best response?
Politely redirect the parent and notify the BCBA
After a long outdoor session in 90°F weather, your client is given a cold drink of water. They immediately drink it and smile. Which type of reinforcer is the water in this scenario?
Unconditioned reinforcer
Lily, an RBT, is working with her client Evan, whose problem behavior is maintained by attention. Evan’s BCBA implements a procedure where attention is delivered every 5 minutes when a timer goes off, regardless of Evan’s behavior. Over time, Evan’s problem behavior begins to decrease. Which procedure is most likely being used?
Noncontingent attention
A BCBA asks you to help determine why your client engages in frequent tantrums. You begin collecting ABC data to identify patterns in antecedents and consequences. What is the purpose of this type of assessment?
Ethan, an RBT, is measuring his client’s on-task behavior during a 30-minute homework period. He divides the session into 1-minute intervals and marks “YES” only if his client remains on-task for the entire 1-minute interval. If the client looks away or gets up even once, he records “NO.” Which measurement method is being used?
Whole interval recording
Sarah, an RBT, begins feeling emotionally attached to a client’s family and starts texting the client’s mom about non-therapy topics. Which of the following best describes this?
Dual relationship
During discrete-trial training, your client earns tokens for correct answers. Later, they exchange tokens for a favorite snack. What type of reinforcer are the tokens?
Conditioned reinforcer
Brandon arrives for his morning session and learns that his client, Ella, has been acting out all day at school. Her teacher tells Brandon she wants him to “punish” Ella for her earlier behavior. What should Brandon do?
Politely explain that he cannot use punishment unless it’s written in the plan and supervised by the BCBA
Your BCBA provides you with a questionnaire for the client’s teacher and parent to complete about the situations in which the child’s aggression occurs. What type of assessment is this?
Indirect assessment
Sarah, an RBT, works with a 10-year-old student on independent work completion. Instead of watching him the whole time, she counts how many math problems he correctly solved after the session ends. What type of measurement procedure is Sarah using?
Permanent product recording
You notice that a fellow RBT often leaves data sheets incomplete but still submits them at the end of the day. What is the best course of action?
Report your observation to your BCBA supervisor privately
A student loses 5 minutes of iPad time every time they throw materials. Over time, throwing decreases. The loss of iPad time functions as:
Unconditioned punisher
Sophia’s client, Noah, frequently yells during transitions. After Sophia begins ignoring the yelling (as directed by her BCBA), the yelling decreases for several days but then returns briefly the following week before decreasing again. What is this temporary reappearance of the behavior called?
Spontaneous recovery
During a clinic session, the BCBA arranges different conditions — attention, escape, alone, and play — and observes which condition produces the most problem behavior. What type of assessment is being conducted?
Functional analysis
Ethan, an RBT, gives his client Mila the instruction, “Please start your math worksheet.” He starts a timer at the moment he delivers the instruction and stops it when Mila picks up her pencil to begin. What type of data is Ethan collecting?
Latency
Olivia is asked by a client’s mother to babysit their child outside of therapy hours “because you already know him so well.” What is the most ethical action?
Natalie, an RBT, teaches her client Mason to label a microwave using a 2D picture card during therapy. The next day, Mason’s mother reports that Mason pointed to the microwave in their kitchen and said “microwave!” What concept does this demonstrate?
Generalization
In a Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO) procedure, what is reinforced?
All behaviors other than the behavior targeted for reduction
Alyssa, an RBT, conducts a Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement (MSWO) preference assessment with her client Lucas. She presents several items at once, and after Lucas selects an item, that item is removed from the array before the next trial. At the end of the assessment, one item is chosen most frequently across trials. That item is most likely to function as a:
Rachel, an RBT, is teaching her client Jackson to complete a multi-step household chore using a chaining procedure. The task consists of 7 steps. During baseline assessment, Jackson is already able to independently complete 5 of the 7 steps. Rachel’s supervising BCBA asks her to select the most appropriate chaining procedure. Which type of chaining procedure should Rachel use?
Total task chaining
Hannah conducts a multiple-stimulus preference assessment but forgets to record the second round of item selections. She decides to estimate the missing data based on memory before giving the results to her BCBA. What should Hannah have done instead?
Leave the missing data blank and report it to the BCBA
Ashley, an RBT, begins a session with her client Connor by giving 10–15 very easy instructions she knows he can follow (e.g., “high five,” “clap hands”). She provides enthusiastic reinforcement for each correct response. After this sequence of easy tasks, Ashley presents a more challenging instruction. What is the purpose of this procedure?
Negative reinforcement