BCBA Questions and Answers 2022/2023

BCBA Questions and Answers 2022/2023 Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for the improvement in behavior. Identify the goals of behavior analysis as a science. 3 Levels of Scientific Understanding: Description, Prediction, and Control Description Facts that are derived from systematically observed events. Prediction When repeated observations show that there is a consistent relationship between the occurrence of 2 events. Control An experimental demonstration that manipulating 1 event (IV) results in a change in another event (DV) and this change can only be attributable to the independent variable. Explain the Philosophical Assumptions underlying the science of behavior analysis. (DEPPS-PER) Determinism Empiricism Pragmatism Parsimony Selectionism Philosophical Doubt Experimentation Replication Determinism The assumption that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in which phenomena occur in relation to other events and not in a willy-nilly, accidental fashion. Empiricism The act of objective observation and measurement. Parsimony The practice of ruling out simple, logical explanations, experimentally or conceptually, before considering more complex or abstract explanations. Pragmatism A practical approach to problems in which truth is found in the process of verification. Selectionism A theory that all forms of life naturally and continually evolve as a result of the interaction between function and the survival value of that function. Operant selection by consequences is the conceptual and empirical foundation of behavior analysis. Describe and explain behavior from the perspective of radical behaviorism. Radical behaviorism is a types of behaviorism that seeks to understand all forms of behavior, including private events such as thoughts and feelings, in terms of controlling variables in the history of the person (ontogeny) and the species (phylogeny) Ontogeny The history of development of an individual organism during its lifetime. Phylogeny The history of the natural evolution of a species. Distinguish among behaviorism, the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and professional practice guided by the science of behavior analysis. (BEAP) Behaviorism Experimental Analysis of Behavior Applied Behavior Analysis Professional Practice Guided by the Science of ABA Behaviorism The philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms of behaviorism (methodological behaviorism and radical behaviorism) Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) a natural science approach to the study of behavior as a subject matter in its own right founded by B.F.Skinner; methodological features include rate of response as a basic dependent vairable, repeated or continuous measurement of clearly defined response classes, within-subject experimental comparisons instead of group design, visual analysis of graphed data instead of statistical inference, and an emphasis on describing functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment over formal theory testing Applied Behavior Analysis-Domain Technology for improving socially significant behavior, focuses on humans, applied research, aligns with 7 dimensions of ABA Professional Practice Guided by the Science of Behavior Analysis Implementation of direct services or ABA procedures within their professions; natural environment; socially valid methods/results; results focus on current behavior or setting and remediating symptoms Describe and define the dimensions of applied behavior analysis (Baer, Wolfe, Risley, 1968). (GETACAB) Generality Effective Technological Applied Conceptually Systematic Analytic Behavioral Generality Any behavior change that persists across time, across settings, and across people Effective ABA technologies should improve behavior enough that it makes socially significant differences in a person's life. Technological Clear and concise procedures so that they are replicable Applied Improves socially significant behaviors in real-world settings Conceptually Systematic All ABA procedures should be derived from the basic principles of behavior analysis (reinforcement, punishment, and extinction) Analytic A functional relationship is demonstrated when manipulated events produce a reliable change in any measurable dimension of the targeted behavior and an experimenter can control the occurrence and non-occurrence of the target behavior Behavioral Observable, measurable, objective behavior Mentalism An approach to explaining behavior that assumes that a mental, or "inner," dimension exists that differs from a behavioral dimension and that phenomena in this dimension either directly cause or at least mediate some forms of behavior. Philosophic Doubt An attitude that the truthfulness and validity of all scientific theory and knowledge should be continually questioned. Experimentation A carefully controlled comparison of some measure of the phenomenon of interest (the dependent variable) used two or more different conditions in which only one factor at a time (the independent variable) differs from one condition to another. Replication (a) repeating conditions within an experiment to determine the reliability of effects and increase internal validity. (b) repeating whole experiments to determine the generality of finding of previous experiments to other subjects, settings, and/or behaviors.