BCBA Selecting and Implementing Interventions practice questions

Question 1

Hana, age 7, has this objective: "Given 10 sight-word cards, Hana will read each word aloud within 3 seconds with at least 80% accuracy." The team marked it met after the first session (90%). In the next 4 sessions she scored 50%, 60%, 85% and 40%. Which revision to the criterion best prevents another premature mastery decision?

Accepted Answer

Require at least 80% accuracy in each of 3 consecutive sessions

Answer

Raise the criterion to 100% accuracy in a single session

Answer

Require an average of at least 80% accuracy across 5 sessions

Answer

Add a target date by which the 80% accuracy must be reached

Question 2

Lucia, 4, cries and throws herself to the floor several times a day at home. A functional analysis shows the tantrums are maintained by adult attention; home baseline is 6–8 per day, stable. The draft plan relies on planned ignoring. At the planning meeting, her grandmother, who cares for her each day, says ignoring a crying child goes against how her family raises children and she would not do it. What should the BCBA, Samuel, recommend?

Accepted Answer

Build a plan with the family using scheduled attention and praise for calm requests

Answer

Keep planned ignoring and review the extinction research with her until she agrees

Answer

Have Lucia's parents use planned ignoring in the evenings, when they are home

Answer

Replace planned ignoring with time-out in another room, so no one ignores the crying

Question 3

Hyun-woo, 7, pushes materials off the table during tabletop work. A functional analysis showed demand condition 7–9 per session; all other conditions 0–1. His team began functional communication training (FCT), teaching him to type "I need a break, please" on his speech-generating device (four screens per request). Staff give a break immediately after every request. FCT weeks 1–3: independent requests 0, 1, 0 per session; pushing 7, 8, 7 per session. Which change should the BCBA make first?

Accepted Answer

Replace the sentence with a single "break" button on his home screen

Answer

Teach him to request adult attention, since break requests have not reduced pushing

Answer

Add response cost for pushing while continuing to teach the full sentence

Answer

Repeat the functional analysis to confirm that pushing is escape-maintained

Question 4

Aisha, 14, breaks classroom materials. Baseline was 18–22 times per week; after 8 weeks of functional communication training and extinction, it is 12–14 per week and stable. With her mother's informed consent and Aisha's assent, the team adds response cost (loss of points) at school. Her mother can record behavior at home. Which data plan best lets the BCBA catch unwanted effects of the new procedure early?

Accepted Answer

Destruction at school and home, plus aggression, staff avoidance, and break requests

Answer

Daily counts of property destruction at school, with interobserver agreement checked weekly

Answer

A daily log of points removed, checked against the plan to confirm staff fidelity

Answer

A social validity survey of Aisha, her mother, and her teachers at the end of the month

Question 5

Rosa, 11, used to scream for adult attention (baseline 10–14 per hour). With differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) for saying "excuse me" plus extinction, screaming has stayed at 0–1 per hour for six weeks at home and school, and her parents implement the plan with 95% integrity. The BCBA is writing the discharge plan. Which addition best addresses the risk of relapse?

Accepted Answer

Schedule follow-up probes at set intervals, with a stated screaming level that triggers booster sessions

Answer

Close the case now, since six stable weeks near zero show that screaming has been eliminated

Answer

Keep weekly sessions at the current intensity indefinitely so that any recurrence is prevented

Answer

Ask the parents to call if screaming returns, and conduct a new functional analysis at that point

Question 6

Lucia, age 16, has a plan for self-injury at her residential program. Across eight monthly integrity checks, staff scored 94–100%, and her self-injury fell from 10 per hour in baseline to 1–2 per hour. In the past two weeks it has risen to 6–8 per hour. Two new staff began working evening shifts this month, and the next integrity check is scheduled in three weeks. What should the BCBA do first?

Accepted Answer

Check integrity now, including the new staff's shifts, before deciding on any plan change

Answer

Modify the plan, since eight months of high integrity rule out an implementation problem

Answer

Conduct a new functional analysis, since the function of self-injury may have changed

Answer

Continue the plan and wait for the scheduled check, since past integrity has been high

Question 7

Lena, 14, has a plan to reduce disruptive behavior at school. Her data are highly variable: some days show 2 disruptions and others 15, with no clear trend. Her parents' notes show that the high days follow nights with under five hours of sleep. Integrity is high. What is the best next step?

Accepted Answer

Measure sleep alongside disruption and analyze their relation

Answer

Conclude the plan is ineffective, because the mean has not dropped

Answer

Thin the reinforcement schedule to make the plan more efficient

Answer

Average the data by week so the graph shows a clearer pattern

Question 8

With the family's consent on file, Jordan, a BCBA, learns that Aaliyah's first-grade teacher sends her to the hallway to calm down whenever she screams during group work. Jordan's assessment suggests the screaming is maintained by escape from difficult tasks. What is Jordan's best next step?

Accepted Answer

Meet the teacher to share the function and plan a feasible approach together

Answer

Tell the teacher that hallway breaks reinforce screaming and must stop

Answer

Ask Aaliyah's caregivers to raise the issue with the school principal

Answer

Leave classroom procedures alone because they are the school's role

BCBA Selecting and Implementing Interventions practice questions

8 Selecting and Implementing Interventions questions

Ready for a 20-question BCBA practice test?

BCBA Selecting and Implementing Interventions practice questions

8 Selecting and Implementing Interventions questions

Ready for a 20-question BCBA practice test?