ABA Exam Coach

G.4: Identify procedures to establish and use conditioned reinforcers (e.g., token economies).

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

A BCBA wants praise ("Great job!") to become a conditioned reinforcer for a young child who does not currently respond to it. Which procedure is most likely to work?
  1. A. Delivering the edible first and then praise a few seconds later
    Backward pairing, where praise follows the reinforcer, is generally ineffective for conditioning.
  2. B. Delivering praise and an edible together at random times, unrelated to any behavior
    Pairing can happen without a contingency, but praise needs to reliably come before the reinforcer. Simultaneous random delivery is less effective.
  3. C. Delivering praise alone after correct responses until the child starts to respond to it
    Praise without pairing has no reinforcing function to build on, so responding would not be expected to change.
  4. D. Delivering praise just before an established reinforcer (for example, an edible) across many pairings
    Correct. A neutral stimulus becomes a conditioned reinforcer when it is repeatedly paired with, and comes just before, an established reinforcer.
In a classroom token economy, students earn points for work completion and can exchange them on Friday for a small prize from a box that has had the same items all year. Work completion was high at first but has steadily declined. What should the BCBA evaluate first?
  1. A. Whether the response cost component is strict enough
    No response cost is described, and adding punishment does not address why the tokens have lost value.
  2. B. Whether the backup reinforcers are still preferred and exchange opportunities are frequent enough
    Correct. Tokens get their value from backup reinforcers. Satiation on unchanging items and infrequent exchange can weaken the whole system.
  3. C. Whether to replace points with physical tokens
    The type of token matters less than the value of what tokens can be exchanged for.
  4. D. Whether students have learned the target behaviors
    Students did the work at first, so this is a performance problem, not a skill deficit.
A BCBA is starting a token system with a 5-year-old who has never used tokens. Which initial exchange arrangement is most likely to establish the tokens as effective conditioned reinforcers?
  1. A. Require 10 tokens before any exchange, starting on the first day
    A large exchange requirement at the start means long delays between earning a token and getting a backup reinforcer. The token may never gain reinforcing value.
  2. B. Exchange each token right away for a backup item, then raise the requirement
    Correct. Pairing each token immediately with a backup reinforcer quickly builds the token's conditioned value. The number of tokens needed for exchange can then be raised gradually as the token starts to maintain behavior.
  3. C. Allow tokens to be exchanged only once, at the end of each day
    Exchanging only once a day adds a long delay early in training. Tokens are less likely to become reinforcers before the child has a strong history with them.
  4. D. Hand out tokens noncontingently at the end of each session
    Giving tokens without regard to behavior can pair them with backup items, but it does not teach the child to respond in order to earn them, and it breaks the link between behavior and the token.

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