BCBA Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation practice questions

Question 1

Rahul, a BCBA, defined aggression for Theo, 9, as "hitting a peer with an open or closed hand." Baseline was stable at 10 to 12 hits per school day. During intervention, weekly means fell to 6, 3, and 1 hits per day. Theo's teacher now reports frequent kicking and shoving of peers, none of which was recorded. What should Rahul conclude and do?

Accepted Answer

Hitting may have been replaced by other forms; redefine aggression as forceful contact with a peer by any body part and collect new data

Answer

The plan is effective; continue it as written, because the recorded hitting data are more objective than the teacher's report

Answer

Kicking and shoving signal an extinction burst; keep the plan and the definition unchanged until those responses decline on their own

Answer

The teacher's report is suspect; run interobserver agreement checks on the hitting data before changing the definition or the plan

Question 2

Grace, a BCBA, is evaluating a tantrum plan for Kai, 6. An RBT counts each tantrum during daily 2-hour home sessions, and Kai's father rates the week's tantrums from 1 (easy) to 5 (very hard). Baseline, weeks 1-3: mean tantrums per session 8, 9, 8; ratings 5, 5, 4. Intervention, weeks 4-6: mean tantrums per session 9, 8, 9; ratings 3, 2, 2. What should Grace conclude?

Accepted Answer

The plan has not yet reduced tantrums, because the direct counts show no change, so review the plan

Answer

The plan is working, because the ratings show a clear downward trend, so continue it unchanged

Answer

The session counts are suspect because they disagree with the ratings, so run agreement checks before judging

Answer

The ratings are more sensitive to change, so make them the main outcome measure from now on

Question 3

Lena, a BCBA, wants hand raising to replace calling out for Marcus, age 8, who can seek his teacher's attention at any time during 30-minute lessons. The teacher graphs hand raises as a percentage of all his bids: baseline 50%, 48%, 52%, 50%; intervention 50%, 49%, 51%, 50%. Tally sheets show about 6 hand raises and 6 call-outs per lesson in baseline and about 18 of each during intervention. What should Lena conclude and do?

Accepted Answer

Call-outs tripled along with hand raises, so graph each one as a rate per minute

Answer

The intervention had no effect, because the percentage stayed level at about 50%

Answer

The replacement goal was met, because hand raises tripled from 0.2 to 0.6 per minute

Answer

Hand raises depend on teacher questions, so report them as a percentage of questions

Question 4

Rosa, 6, has tantrums at home. Baseline (2 weeks): about 6 tantrums per day, mean duration per occurrence 5 minutes. Intervention (3 weeks, stable data): about 2 tantrums per day, mean duration per occurrence 20 minutes. Rosa's parents say evenings feel harder, but the RBT's weekly summary calls the plan a success. What should the BCBA conclude from these data?

Accepted Answer

The plan is not working: daily tantrum time rose from 30 to 40 minutes

Answer

The plan is working: tantrum count fell by about two-thirds from baseline

Answer

The data conflict: mean duration rose, but total daily tantrum time fell

Answer

An extinction burst explains the longer tantrums, so continue the plan unchanged

Question 5

To check a sampling method, Dr. Haddad, a BCBA, has two observers watch Kofi, age 9, during the same 10-minute observation. One times every episode of vocal stereotypy: 8 episodes of 15 seconds each. The other uses partial-interval recording with twenty 30-second intervals and scores 10 intervals, because two episodes crossed an interval boundary. What percentage of the observation did Kofi spend in vocal stereotypy?

Accepted Answer

20%, from 2 minutes of timed behavior in a 10-minute observation

Answer

50%, the share of 30-second intervals the second observer scored

Answer

40%, from 2 minutes of behavior within the 5 minutes of scored intervals

Answer

12%, from 120 seconds of timed behavior in a 10-minute observation

Question 6

During a 20-minute session, an observer used continuous duration recording and found that Jamal, age 10, was off task for 25% of the session. Two other observers recorded the same session using 10-second intervals. One used partial-interval recording, and the other used whole-interval recording. Which pair of results is most likely?

Accepted Answer

Partial-interval 40%, whole-interval 15%

Answer

Partial-interval 15%, whole-interval 40%

Answer

Partial-interval 25%, whole-interval 25%

Answer

Partial-interval 40%, whole-interval 35%

Question 7

A clinic trial-runs two training packages for new RBTs on a discrete-trial protocol. With Package A, 12 RBTs each received 4 supervisor hours, and 8 met the treatment-integrity criterion. With Package B, 12 RBTs each received 2 supervisor hours, and 3 met the criterion. RBTs who missed the criterion went on to extra coaching, not counted here. Which comparison correctly expresses the efficiency of the two packages?

Accepted Answer

Package A, because it used 6 supervisor hours per RBT who met criterion versus 8 for Package B

Answer

Package B, because it used 24 supervisor hours in total versus 48 for Package A

Answer

Package B, because it used 2 supervisor hours per RBT enrolled versus 4 for Package A

Answer

Package A, because 67% of its RBTs met the criterion versus 25% for Package B

Question 8

Two observers independently record Malik's out-of-seat behavior with 10-second partial-interval recording across 20 intervals. Each observer scores 10 intervals. Both score the same 6 intervals, both leave the same 6 intervals blank, and they disagree on the other 8. The team requires at least 80% agreement. What is the interval-by-interval interobserver agreement (IOA), and what should the BCBA conclude?

Accepted Answer

60%; below the standard, so clarify the definition and retrain before relying on the data

Answer

100%; the two observers' totals match, so the data meet the team's standard

Answer

30%; below the standard, so clarify the definition and retrain before relying on the data

Answer

40%; below the standard, so clarify the definition and retrain before relying on the data

BCBA Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation practice questions

8 Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation questions

Ready for a 20-question BCBA practice test?

BCBA Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation practice questions

8 Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation questions

Ready for a 20-question BCBA practice test?