BCAT Behavior Reduction Strategies 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A learner screams every time a preferred item is taken away. The technician is instructed to withhold attention after the screaming begins and only interact after 10 seconds of quiet. This procedure is best described as:
- Extinction with DRO
- Non-contingent reinforcement
- Response cost
- Planned ignoring combined with DRO (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Planned ignoring combined with DRO
Withholding attention (planned ignoring/extinction) paired with reinforcing the absence of behavior for a set interval is a DRO-plus-extinction combination.
Question 2: Which of the following BEST describes the 'motivating operation' concept and its relevance to behavior reduction?
- MOs permanently change which behaviors are in a learner's repertoire
- MOs temporarily alter the value of reinforcers and the frequency of behavior maintained by those reinforcers (Correct answer)
- MOs increase the strength of punishment procedures
- MOs are only relevant when using positive reinforcement
Correct answer: MOs temporarily alter the value of reinforcers and the frequency of behavior maintained by those reinforcers
Motivating operations temporarily alter the reinforcing or punishing value of stimuli and thereby affect the current frequency of related behaviors.
Question 3: A BCBA instructs a technician to use 'response blocking' when a learner attempts to self-injure. The technician should understand that response blocking is:
- A positive punishment procedure requiring parental consent
- An antecedent intervention that prevents the behavior from being completed
- A consequence-based extinction procedure (Correct answer)
- Only appropriate for verbal learners
Correct answer: A consequence-based extinction procedure
Response blocking is an extinction procedure in which the technician physically prevents the behavior from being completed, thereby blocking access to the maintaining reinforcer.
Question 4: When implementing extinction for attention-maintained behavior, the technician notices the learner's behavior initially gets worse before improving. This is called:
- Resurgence
- Spontaneous recovery
- An extinction burst (Correct answer)
- Behavioral contrast
Correct answer: An extinction burst
An extinction burst is the temporary increase in rate, duration, or intensity of a behavior immediately following the removal of its reinforcing consequence.
Question 5: A learner engages in property destruction that is maintained by escape from demands. The MOST effective function-based intervention would be to:
- Remove all demands from the learner's schedule
- Teach an appropriate escape response and reinforce it while placing property destruction on extinction (Correct answer)
- Increase the intensity of demands to build frustration tolerance
- Apply a brief time-out following each instance of property destruction
Correct answer: Teach an appropriate escape response and reinforce it while placing property destruction on extinction
Teaching a functionally equivalent replacement behavior (appropriate escape request) and extinguishing the problem behavior is the recommended function-based approach.
Question 6: Which data collection method is MOST appropriate for measuring a behavior reduction target that occurs at very high rates and in rapid bursts?
- Frequency count
- Duration recording
- Interval recording (partial or whole) (Correct answer)
- ABC narrative recording
Correct answer: Interval recording (partial or whole)
Interval recording is preferred for high-rate behaviors because it samples behavior occurrence within time intervals rather than requiring a count of every instance.
Question 7: A technician is implementing a punishment procedure and notices the learner begins crying and becomes more aggressive. The technician should FIRST:
- Increase the intensity of the punishment to override the emotional response
- Continue the procedure exactly as written since emotional responses are expected
- Consult with the supervising BCBA before continuing (Correct answer)
- Immediately discontinue all programming for the day
Correct answer: Consult with the supervising BCBA before continuing
Unexpected or escalating emotional or aggressive reactions during a punishment procedure require consultation with the supervising BCBA before continuing.
