BCBA Exam Prep Questions and Answers 2023

BCBA Exam Prep Questions and Answers 2023 Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) a) a scientific approach for discovering environmental variables that reliably influence socially significant behavior & for developing a technology of behavior change that is practical & applicable. b) ABA is an evidence-based APPLIED science. Science A systematic approach for seeking & organizing knowledge about the natural world. Science is based on Determinism. Purpose of Science To achieve a thorough understanding of the phenomena under study. In ABA, the phenomena are socially important behaviors. 3 Levels of Scientific Understanding Hint: DPC Dana Priya Can 1. D-Description: Systematic observations that can be quantified & classified. Not causal explanations. Ex. Number of praise statements made by teachers in a classroom. 2. P-Prediction (AKA: Correlation; Covariation): Two events may regularly occur at the same time. This does not necessarily mean one causes the other. Ex. When the weather is hot, there are more drowning deaths. 3. C-Control (AKA: Causation): Functional Relation. The Highest Level of Scientific Understanding. Experimental demonstration that manipulating one event (i.e., independent variable) results in another event (i.e., dependent variable). Ex. In a classroom, students that were given breaks every 20 minutes exhibited zero out of seat behavior. When breaks were given every 45 minutes, out of seat behavior increased by 80%. This was repeated many times, yielding the same results. 6 Attitudes of Science/Philosophical Assumptions of Behavior Hint: DEER PP 1. D-Determinism: a) cause & effect b) lawfulness: If/Then statements c) the world is orderly & predictable 2. E-Empiricism: a) FACTS b) experimental, data-based scientific approach, drawing upon observation & experience. c) requires objective quantification & detailed description of events. 3. E-Experimentation (AKA: Experimental Analysis): a) the basic strategy of most sciences b) requires manipulating variables so as to see the effects on the dependent variable (DV) c) an assessment to determine if one event caused another event d) requires that all variables be controlled except the DV 4. R-Replication: a) repeating experiments b) the method that scientists use to determine the Reliability & usefulness of their findings. c) How scientists discover their mistakes, thus making science a self-correcting enterprise. 5. P-Parsimony: a) the simplest theory b) all simple & logical explanations must be ruled out before considering more complex explanations c) helps scientists fit findings within the field's existing knowledge base 6. P-Philosophical Doubt: a) having healthy skepticism & a critical eye about the results of studies & your work with clients. 7 Dimensions of ABA (Defined by Baer, Wolf, & Risley (1968)) Hint: GRIZZLY BEAR WOLF Hint: BATCAGE These elements of ABA were outlined in the First Edition of the Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis (JABA) in 1968. 1. B-Behavioral: a) observable events b) the behavior one chooses must be the behavior in need of improvement. Ex. If you were trying to see how to improve academic grades of students, you would not measure the behavior of social skills. You would measure the behavior of academic grades. c) behavior must be measurable (e.g., not a description of feelings). 2. A-Applied: a) ABA improves everyday life of clients b) improves socially significant behaviors c) also helps significant others (e.g., parents, peers, employers, etc.) so that they behave more positively towards the client 3. T-Technological: a) defines procedures clearly & in detail so they are Replicable (like RECIPE) 4. C-Conceptually Systematic: a)all procedures used should be tied to the basic principles of behavior analysis from which they were derived 5. A-Analytical (AKA: Functional relation, Experimentation, Control, Causation): a) A Functional Relationship Is Demonstrated b) describes when the experimenter has demonstrated a functional relation between the manipulated events & a reliable change in some measurable dimension of the targeted behavior c) ultimate issue is Believability: Is the experimental control sufficient to prove a reliable functional relation? 6. Generality (AKA: Generalization): a) extends behavior change across time, settings, or other behaviors 7. E-Effective: a) improves behavior in a practical manner, not simply making a change that is statistically significant Mentalism Terminology 1. Hypothetical Construct 2. Explanatory Fiction 3. Circular Reasoning Mentalism (AKA: Spiritual; Psychic; Subjective; Feelings; Attitudes; Processing) a) an approach to explaining behavior that assumes an inner dimension exists & causes behavior b) traditional psychology has been & continues to be dominated by mentalism Ex. Freud, talk therapy, LMFT, LCSW, etc. Hypothetical Construct (AKA: Imaginary Constructs) presumed, but unobserved, entities Ex. Free will, readiness, unobservable storage & retrieval mechanisms for memory, information processing, etc Explanatory Fictions a) fictitious variables that are another name for the observed behavior. They contribute nothing to an understanding of the variables responsible for maintaining behavior b) words that are associated with explanatory fiction include the following: "knows," "wants," "figures out," etc. Circular Reasoning the cause & effect are both inferred from the same information Ex. "He cried because he felt sad." The sad feeling & crying are both inferred from the same depressive behaviors. Behaviorism a) the philosophy of the science of behavior b) it emerged in the early 20th century as a reaction to "mentalistic" psychology, which often had difficulty making predictions that could be tested using experimental methods c) Environmental (i.e., not mentalistic) explanation of behavior 4 Branches of Behavior Analysis (HINT: CASE) 1) C-Conceptual Analysis of Behavior: (AKA: Behaviorism): a) examines philosophical, theoretical, historical, & methodological issues 2) A-ABA: a) refers to behavior analysts that assess, monitor, analyze, revise (if needed), & communicate the effects of their work b) they create behavior-change tactics that can increase behavior, teach & maintain behavior, make behavior sensitive to environmental events, generalize behavior, reduce problem behavior, etc. 3) S-Behavior Service Delivery: a) refers to the many people in various fields of work (not BCBAs/BCaBAs) implementing ABA within their professions b) think of education, sports, psychology, job safety, health, business, animal training, commerce, etc. c) because ABA has a lot of research to support it, other professions &/or people implement ABA strategies 4) E-Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB): a) research on basic processes & principles b) done mainly in laboratories Brief History of Behaviorism 1850s - early 1900s: Ivan Petrovich Pavlov () & Classical Conditioning a) Respondent conditioning with dogs b) 1906 Pavlov published first studies 1900s: Mentalism Dominated Psychology 1913: John Broadus Watson () & Methodological Behaviorism (AKA: Stimulus-Response Behaviorism; S-R Psychology; Watsonian Behaviorism) a) 1913 First person to describe behaviorism as a formal system b) influenced by Pavlov c) Methodological behaviorism only looks at publicly observable events in their analysis of behavior d) They do Not concern themselves with private events e) Watson said we should study behavior by direct observation of the relationship between environmental stimuli (S) & the responses (R) they bring about f) 1920 Little Albert Experiment: A case study that illustrated classical conditioning on a 9-month-old baby boy they named "Albert". A white rat was paired with a loud clanking noise, resulting in Albert crying & showing fear when he saw the rat s: Burrhus Frederic Skinner () & Radical Behaviorism a) 1938 Skinner unveiled radical behaviorism to the world! b) it is called Radical Behaviorism because it included private events into an understanding of behavior c) this was a very new philosophy & was considered radical at the time d) influenced by Watson, Pavlov, Thorndike, Peirce, & James How did Skinner come up with radical behaviorism? 2 Main Sources: 1. Darwinian Selectionism (AKA: Selection by consequence): a) discussed a 3-term contingency with regard to species & survival b) a belief that all forms of life, from single cells to complex cultures, evolve as a result of selection with respect to Function c) selection by consequences operates during the lifetime of the individual (i.e., Ontogeny) & is similar to natural selection in the evolutionary history of a species (i.e., Phylogeny) d) operant selection by consequences requires variation in behavior. Behaviors that result in the best outcomes are selected & survive, leading to more adaptive repertoires 2. Pragmatism: a) a probabilistic AB-because-of-C philosophy. At the level of behavior, the relation between the setting (A) & the behavior (B) is because of the consequence (C) b) it focuses on answering the questions, "How do things come to be as they are?" & "How can things be changed?" c) originally developed by Charles S. Peirce & William James, the doctrine stresses that the meaning of an idea or a proposition lies in its observable practical consequences, rather than by theory or dogma 2 Primary Types of Behavior 1. Respondent Behavior 2. Operant Behavior Respondent Behavior AKA: Reflex, Reflexive Relations, Unconditioned Stimulus - Unconditioned Response (US-UR) a) Elicited, or "brought out", by stimuli that immediately precede them (i.e., antecedent stimuli) b) Involuntary c) Behaviors someone does not have to learn d) Reflex: The eliciting stimulus (i.e., unconditioned stimulus or US) & the behavior it produces (i.e., unconditioned response or UR) that is part of an organism's genetic endowment. Ex. Gag reflex (the UR) when you choke on food (the US). Ex. Leg going up (the UR) when a doctor strikes your knee (the US). e) changes little, if at all, during a person's lifetime f) product of natural evolution because it sometimes has survival value for a species g) Habituation: When the eliciting stimulus is presented repeatedly over a short time, the strength of the respondent behavior diminishes Ex. A bright light shone in the eyes repeatedly makes pupil contraction lessen. Ex. The startle response to a loud noise diminishes with repeated presentations Phylogenic/Phylogeny a) behavior that is inherited genetically b) Respondent behavior is due to Phylogenic history Respondent Conditioning AKA: Classical Conditioning, Pavlovian Conditioning, S-S (stimulus-stimulus) Pairing, conditioned stimulus-conditioned response (CS-CR) a) Ivan Pavlov (Does that name ring a bell?) b) when new stimuli acquire the ability to elicit respondents c) Key: 1. US = Unconditioned Stimulus 2. UR = Unconditioned Response 3. NS = Neutral Stimulus 4. CR = Conditioned Response 5. CS = Conditioned Stimulus classical conditioning (Pavlovian conditioning) a type of associative learning in which a neutral stimulus comes to elicit a response when it is associated with a stimulus that already produces that response operant behavior AKA: S-R-S (Stimulus-Response-Stimulus) Model, 3-term contingency, ABC a) Emit/Evoke b) any behavior whose probability of occurrence is determined by its history of consequences c) Voluntary Action d) Operants must be defined in terms of their relationship to controlling variables (i.e., function) e) An operant cannot be defined by topography. It is Not what it looks like, but the Function that matters f) Encompasses both reinforcement & punishment g) Adaptation : reductions in responding evoked by an antecedent stimulus over repeated or prolonged presentations. Ex. A client no longer reacts to the presence of the observer. Ex. You hear a funny joke & laugh the first time or 2 you hear it. But if you hear the same joke over & over, you are likely to laugh less at the joke. Ontogenic/Ontogeny Hint: "O" is for Operant & Ontogenic a) learning that results from an organism's interaction with his/her environment b) Operant behavior is due to Ontogenic history Operant Contingency AKA: Behavioral contingency, Contingency, 3-term Contingency, ABC a) the occasion for a response (i.e., SD), the response, & the outcome of the response b) The dependency of a particular consequence on the occurrence of the behavior c) When a reinforcer or punisher is said to be "contingent" on a behavior, the behavior must be emitted for the consequence to occur. Ex. You tell your child that he/she can stay up one extra hour late at night if he/she finishes his/her chores. Your child being able to stay up one extra hour late is Contingent on chore completion d) A-B-C What is the primary unit of Analysis in ABA 3-term Contingency (A-B-C) Contiguity AKA: Temporal Contiguity a) when 2 stimuli occur close together IN TIME, resulting in an association of those 2 stimuli b) How contiguity applies to respondent conditioning: i) temporal contiguity (i.e., how close together in time) affects the pairing of the CS & US c) How contiguity applies to operant conditioning: i) temporal contiguity (i.e., how close together in time) affects the pairing of the behavior & consequence ii) this is how superstitious behavior can be developed because of the temporal contiguity between a specific response & reinforcer or punisher