BCBA Behavior-Change Procedures practice questions

Question 1

Priya, 14, learned the rule "Raise your hand and wait to be called on" and follows it in every class. In a new small discussion group, the teacher invites open comments and praises them, but Priya sits with her hand up. Over 2 weeks she makes 0–1 comments per 30-minute group while watching peers make 6–8 and get praised. She comments readily when called on and tells her BCBA, "You always have to raise your hand." What should the BCBA do?

Accepted Answer

Give a setting-specific rule, "In group, speak up when someone finishes," and praise her first open comments

Answer

Keep the group unchanged so the teacher's praise for open comments gradually shapes Priya's commenting

Answer

Teach joining discussions through peer modeling and role-play, then praise her comments during group

Answer

Have the teacher stop calling on Priya's raised hand in group so open comments become her only option

Question 2

Dana, an RBT, has been reinforcing Malik, 7, for staying seated during table work. Malik reliably met a 2-minute criterion for a week, so Dana raised it to 10 minutes. Now Malik rarely earns reinforcement, leaves his seat more often, and has started crying at the table. What should the supervising BCBA recommend?

Accepted Answer

Return to the 2-minute criterion, then raise it in smaller steps

Answer

Keep the 10-minute criterion and add extinction for leaving the seat

Answer

Switch to backward chaining so the last minute of sitting is taught first

Answer

Deliver the reinforcer every 10 minutes regardless of whether he stays seated

Question 3

Kiara, a BCBA, is planning a 14-step meal-prep program for Jamal, 16. In three single-opportunity probes, Jamal erred at step 2 each time, so steps 3-14 were scored incorrect. His father reports that Jamal does several of the later steps, such as stirring and plating, at home. What should Kiara do next?

Accepted Answer

Reprobe with the multiple-opportunity method, doing any missed step for Jamal so every later step is measured

Answer

Begin forward chaining, because the probes show that the chain first breaks down early, at step 2

Answer

Begin total-task chaining, because his father reports that Jamal already does several of the later steps

Answer

Run three more single-opportunity probes to confirm that the baseline is stable before teaching begins

Question 4

Rosa, age 10, does one-minute timings on addition facts using a worksheet of 25 problems. Her fluency aim is 40 correct per minute. Her last six timings: 23, 24, 25, 25, 25 and 25 correct, with no errors; each time she finishes the sheet before the timer ends. Her teacher says Rosa has stalled and proposes a token system. What should Malik, her BCBA, recommend first?

Accepted Answer

Use worksheets with more problems than Rosa can finish so the timing no longer caps her count

Answer

Add tokens for each timing in which Rosa beats her previous best number of correct answers

Answer

Switch to percentage correct, since her accuracy is already at 100% on every timing

Answer

Return to discrete trials with a short intertrial interval to strengthen accuracy before more timings

Question 5

A BCBA consults to a group home for four teenagers. Staff want the residents to start prompting and helping one another so the evening kitchen cleanup gets done every night. Each resident finishes their assigned part on only 2 to 4 of 7 evenings, and each one performs every step correctly once they start. Which arrangement best fits this goal?

Accepted Answer

Interdependent: everyone earns late screen time only if the whole kitchen cleanup is finished

Answer

Independent: each resident who finishes their own part of the cleanup earns late screen time

Answer

Dependent: everyone earns late screen time if Leo, who finishes least often, completes his part

Answer

Response cost: each resident loses late screen time for any step of their part left undone

Question 6

Ana, 16, learned in clinic role-plays, with staff beside her, to ask a store employee where to find an item. In the same stores, she asks on 5 of 6 opportunities when her job coach stands nearby without prompting or praising, and on 0 of 6 when the coach waits outside. Coaching ends next month; the goal is independent shopping. Which plan best promotes generalization to shopping alone?

Accepted Answer

Teach her to use a pocket cue card in role-plays, then have her carry it into stores

Answer

Have the job coach prompt and praise her requests in each store until she meets mastery

Answer

Bring store shelving, product labels, and a checkout counter into the clinic role-plays

Answer

Reinforce her requests in clinic on an unpredictable, intermittent schedule instead of every time

Question 7

Nadia, 16, attends a day program with a token economy. Each profane outburst costs her 2 tokens. Outbursts per day: baseline 9, 8, 10; after three weeks of response cost, 9, 10, 8. Her token balance has grown from 40 to 310, and she has made no exchanges in two weeks, saying the backup items are "boring." Which change is most likely to make the response cost effective?

Accepted Answer

Update backup items with a preference assessment and schedule regular exchanges

Answer

Raise the fine from 2 tokens to 10 tokens per outburst

Answer

Replace response cost with a brief exclusion time-out

Answer

Give bonus tokens for each hour without an outburst

Question 8

For a year, Elijah, 8, had haircuts at home while two adults held him still. Now he trembles, cries, and runs from the room as soon as he sees the clippers, even on days when no haircut is planned. His parents ask his BCBA for a new haircut plan. Weighing the emotional and elicited effects each plan is likely to produce, which should the BCBA select first?

Accepted Answer

Show the clippers at a distance with snacks, moving closer in small steps only while he stays calm

Answer

Seat him for a full haircut and keep him in the chair until it ends, so that leaving no longer works

Answer

Let him watch his tablet through full-length haircuts from the first session, with no one holding him

Answer

Remove tablet time for each attempt to leave the chair, and give it back after a calm haircut

BCBA Behavior-Change Procedures practice questions

8 Behavior-Change Procedures questions

Ready for a 20-question BCBA practice test?

BCBA Behavior-Change Procedures practice questions

8 Behavior-Change Procedures questions

Ready for a 20-question BCBA practice test?