G.18: Evaluate emotional and elicited effects of behavior-change procedures.
Free practice questions for this part of the BCBA, with an explanation for every option.
An extinction procedure is used for a child's tantrums that are maintained by access to tablet time. In the first few sessions, the child starts hitting the therapist and crying intensely, which had not happened before. What best explains this?
- A. Positive punishment of tantrumsNo stimulus is added after tantrums, so there is no punishment.
- B. Spontaneous recovery of the tantrumsSpontaneous recovery is a return of the behavior after it has decreased and there has been a break. This is a new topography appearing early in treatment.
- C. Evidence that the function of tantrums was misidentifiedSide effects early in extinction are expected and do not by themselves mean the function was wrong.
- D. Extinction-induced aggression and emotional responding, a common side effect of extinctionCorrect. Extinction often comes with emotional responding and new aggression early in treatment. These effects should be anticipated and planned for.
A punishment component (contingent brief restraint) is part of a client's plan. The BCBA notices the client now cries, cowers, and tries to leave whenever the implementing staff member enters the room, even at times when no target behavior has occurred. What is the most appropriate interpretation and action?
- A. These are signs of satiation; reduce the number of daily sessionsSatiation applies to reinforcers and does not explain fear-related avoidance.
- B. This is response generalization of the punishment effect and shows the procedure is workingThese elicited emotional effects are undesirable side effects, not an indication of success.
- C. Through respondent and operant pairing, the staff member has come to elicit fear and evoke avoidance; review the plan to reduce or replace the aversive component and increase reinforcement from that staff memberCorrect. Punishment can condition fear responses and avoidance toward the person delivering it. Risks should be minimized and less intrusive, reinforcement-based alternatives prioritized.
- D. The staff member has become an SD for target behavior; replace that staff memberThe staff member signals aversive stimulation, not availability of reinforcement for the target behavior.
A middle school teacher often reprimands a student loudly in front of the class for off-task behavior. Off-task behavior in that class decreases, but the student starts arriving late and asking to see the nurse during that period. These new behaviors are best explained as:
- A. Spontaneous recovery of the punished off-task behaviorSpontaneous recovery is the return of a previously reduced behavior. Lateness and nurse visits are new behaviors, not a return of off-task behavior.
- B. Response generalization of the punished off-task behaviorResponse generalization refers to changes in untrained responses similar to a target behavior. These behaviors work to avoid the class, so they are explained by their function, not by similarity.
- C. Escape and avoidance, an undesirable side effect of punishmentCorrect. Punishment can lead to escape and avoidance of the punishing setting or person. Arriving late and going to the nurse reduce the student's contact with the reprimands.
- D. Behavioral contrast caused by punishment in another settingBehavioral contrast refers to the punished behavior increasing in a setting where it is not punished. These are different behaviors, and they occur around the same class.