ABA Exam Coach

B.12: Identify examples of stimulus control.

Free practice questions for this part of the BCBA, with an explanation for every option.

Kai asks for help with zippers only when his regular RBT is present. She has always helped him, while the substitute staff usually have not. Kai's help-seeking is best described as showing:
  1. A. Respondent conditioning
    Incorrect. Asking for help is operant behavior controlled by its consequences, not a reflex elicited by a stimulus.
  2. B. Stimulus control
    Correct. The rate of a behavior differs depending on whether an antecedent stimulus is present, because of a history of differential reinforcement. That is stimulus control.
  3. C. Response generalization
    Incorrect. Response generalization involves untrained responses. This is about which antecedent conditions occasion one trained response.
  4. D. A motivating operation
    Incorrect. An MO changes the value of a reinforcer. The RBT's presence signals that help is available but does not change how much Kai values it.
In a high school class, Marcus keeps working until a two-minute warning chime sounds, and then he packs up his laptop. Packing up after the chime has always been followed by teacher approval and a smooth exit. Packing up early has led to reminders to keep working. Marcus's packing up is best described as an example of:
  1. A. An abolishing operation
    An abolishing operation reduces the effectiveness of a reinforcer. Nothing here changes how valuable approval or a smooth exit is.
  2. B. Response generalization
    Response generalization means untaught responses that are functionally similar to a trained one. Here a single trained response depends on a specific antecedent.
  3. C. Stimulus control
    Correct. Packing up happens much more often when the chime is present than when it is absent, because of a history of differential reinforcement in its presence. The chime is functioning as a discriminative stimulus, and that is stimulus control.
  4. D. Respondent conditioning
    Packing up is an operant response shaped by its consequences. It is not a reflexive response elicited by a paired stimulus.
An RBT teaches a 4-year-old to name colors. At first, the child says "red" only right after the RBT says "Say red." Over sessions, the RBT fades the verbal prompt. Now, when shown a red card and asked "What color?", the child says "red" without any prompt. What has occurred?
  1. A. Response generalization from the prompted response to new responses
    The child is giving the same response ("red"), not new, untrained response forms, so this is not response generalization.
  2. B. Stimulus generalization from the red card to other red objects
    No data show the child naming other red objects. The change is in which antecedent controls the response.
  3. C. An establishing operation that increased the value of saying colors
    Nothing changed the value of a reinforcer. The change is in which stimulus evokes the response.
  4. D. Transfer of stimulus control from the prompt to the natural SD
    Correct. Control over the response has shifted from the response prompt ("Say red") to the intended discriminative stimuli (the red card and the question). That is a transfer of stimulus control through prompt fading.

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