ABAT UPDATED EXAMS COMPREHENSIVE
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Behavioral Deficits - ✔✔skills that are lacking/not fully developed, want to increase
(language, communication, play, attention, cognition)
✔✔Diagnosis of Autism typically involves: - ✔✔obtaining developmental history of child
& observing child/performing assessments
✔✔Diagnostic Tools: ADOS - ✔✔semi structured assessment that analyzes
communication, social interaction, play/imaginative use of materials; mainly used for
people SUSPECTED of having autism/developmental disorder
✔✔Diagnostic Tools: DSM 5 - ✔✔used to diagnose autism & other disorders
✔✔Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - ✔✔Level 1: requires support, level 2: requires
substantial support, level 3: requires very substantial support
✔✔Symptoms of Autism - ✔✔may be present and detectable from infancy, child may
seem to develop normally at first then show signs of autism later
,✔✔Autism Screening - ✔✔American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that
doctors use general developmental screening tool and validated autism spectrum tool to
screen for autism at 18 months, then re-screened at 24-30 months, or after any
encounter when parents raise concern
✔✔Autism Screening: Encounter when Parents Raise Concern - ✔✔most parents don't
seek help until 21-25 months, regression occurs in 20-50% at mean age of 20 months,
increases chance of detecting cases missed due to imperfect sensitivity of test, autism
symptoms must be present before 3 years old
✔✔Treatment for Autism - ✔✔interventions based on ABA w/ sound scientific support
showing effectiveness in treating autism
✔✔During Treatment for Autism - ✔✔intervention should begin as soon as possible,
intervention should be intensive, individualized, comprehensive, and family should get
involved
✔✔Screening for Autism - ✔✔call child's name, ask child to point at common
objects/body parts , point somewhere to see if child can follow, shine light to see if child
points at it, play w/ toy & hand it to child to see if they imitate, wave to child &
OBSERVE RESPONSE AFTER ALL
✔✔Relationship Building - ✔✔deficits in social interaction & communication are 2 core
features of ASD
✔✔Importance of Relationship Building - ✔✔address deficits, model appropriate skills,
make time spent together more enjoyable, increase productivity & learning, estab.
teacher as reinforcer, use fewer contrived reinforcers
✔✔How to Establish Yourself as a Reinforcer - ✔✔pairing yourself w/ preferred
activities makes you a conditioned reinforcer, give access to preferred activities, make
activities better when you are involved, be consistent, enthusiastic, caring, respectful
✔✔Reinforcement - ✔✔process whereby behavior is followed by some consequence,
resulting in behavior being strengthened
✔✔Extinction - ✔✔process whereby reinforcer is no longer given based on a response
✔✔Extinction Burst - ✔✔temporary increase in behavior that occurs when reinforcers
are no longer provided for that behavior
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement is affected by - ✔✔immediacy, contingency, quality,
magnitude, effort, history, motivating operations
, ✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: immediacy - ✔✔time between occurrence of
behavior and presentation of reinforcing consequence
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Contingency - ✔✔rule about when a behavior will
be reinforced; reinforcer always occurs following response, never in absence of
response
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Quality - ✔✔relative preference for the reinforcing
stimulus (favorites)
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Magnitude - ✔✔size/duration of reinforcer
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Effort - ✔✔response effort needed to obtain/access
reinforcement
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: History - ✔✔important to consider what has worked
in past for each individual
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Motivating Operations - ✔✔refer to some
environmental event that temporarily alters effectiveness of reinforcer - can cause
reinforcer to be more/less effective
✔✔2 most common demonstrations of Motivation Operations - ✔✔Satiaion - item/event
has been used too much/too recently & Deprivation - time prior to training session
during which individual is not reinforced a.k.a. deprived
✔✔Schedule of Reinforcement - ✔✔reinforcement is scheduled to occur along a
continuum (extinction - intermittent - continuous)
✔✔Schedule of Reinforcement: Interval - ✔✔time based, require time interval to pass
between presentation of reinforcers - reinforcer is delivered for first response that
occurs after time interval ends, interval time can be fixed or variable
✔✔Schedule of Reinforcement: Ratio - ✔✔response based, reinforcer is delivered after
fixed/variable number of repsonses have occurred
✔✔continuous schedule of reinforcement - ✔✔used when teaching new skills
✔✔Schedule thinning - ✔✔process in which we transition gradually from continuous
schedules to intermittent
✔✔How to thin a Ratio Schedule - ✔✔gradually increase # of responses learner must
give before reinforcer can be delivered; increase response ratio in small increments
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS SURE A+
✔✔Behavioral Deficits - ✔✔skills that are lacking/not fully developed, want to increase
(language, communication, play, attention, cognition)
✔✔Diagnosis of Autism typically involves: - ✔✔obtaining developmental history of child
& observing child/performing assessments
✔✔Diagnostic Tools: ADOS - ✔✔semi structured assessment that analyzes
communication, social interaction, play/imaginative use of materials; mainly used for
people SUSPECTED of having autism/developmental disorder
✔✔Diagnostic Tools: DSM 5 - ✔✔used to diagnose autism & other disorders
✔✔Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) - ✔✔Level 1: requires support, level 2: requires
substantial support, level 3: requires very substantial support
✔✔Symptoms of Autism - ✔✔may be present and detectable from infancy, child may
seem to develop normally at first then show signs of autism later
,✔✔Autism Screening - ✔✔American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends that
doctors use general developmental screening tool and validated autism spectrum tool to
screen for autism at 18 months, then re-screened at 24-30 months, or after any
encounter when parents raise concern
✔✔Autism Screening: Encounter when Parents Raise Concern - ✔✔most parents don't
seek help until 21-25 months, regression occurs in 20-50% at mean age of 20 months,
increases chance of detecting cases missed due to imperfect sensitivity of test, autism
symptoms must be present before 3 years old
✔✔Treatment for Autism - ✔✔interventions based on ABA w/ sound scientific support
showing effectiveness in treating autism
✔✔During Treatment for Autism - ✔✔intervention should begin as soon as possible,
intervention should be intensive, individualized, comprehensive, and family should get
involved
✔✔Screening for Autism - ✔✔call child's name, ask child to point at common
objects/body parts , point somewhere to see if child can follow, shine light to see if child
points at it, play w/ toy & hand it to child to see if they imitate, wave to child &
OBSERVE RESPONSE AFTER ALL
✔✔Relationship Building - ✔✔deficits in social interaction & communication are 2 core
features of ASD
✔✔Importance of Relationship Building - ✔✔address deficits, model appropriate skills,
make time spent together more enjoyable, increase productivity & learning, estab.
teacher as reinforcer, use fewer contrived reinforcers
✔✔How to Establish Yourself as a Reinforcer - ✔✔pairing yourself w/ preferred
activities makes you a conditioned reinforcer, give access to preferred activities, make
activities better when you are involved, be consistent, enthusiastic, caring, respectful
✔✔Reinforcement - ✔✔process whereby behavior is followed by some consequence,
resulting in behavior being strengthened
✔✔Extinction - ✔✔process whereby reinforcer is no longer given based on a response
✔✔Extinction Burst - ✔✔temporary increase in behavior that occurs when reinforcers
are no longer provided for that behavior
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement is affected by - ✔✔immediacy, contingency, quality,
magnitude, effort, history, motivating operations
, ✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: immediacy - ✔✔time between occurrence of
behavior and presentation of reinforcing consequence
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Contingency - ✔✔rule about when a behavior will
be reinforced; reinforcer always occurs following response, never in absence of
response
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Quality - ✔✔relative preference for the reinforcing
stimulus (favorites)
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Magnitude - ✔✔size/duration of reinforcer
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Effort - ✔✔response effort needed to obtain/access
reinforcement
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: History - ✔✔important to consider what has worked
in past for each individual
✔✔Effectiveness of Reinforcement: Motivating Operations - ✔✔refer to some
environmental event that temporarily alters effectiveness of reinforcer - can cause
reinforcer to be more/less effective
✔✔2 most common demonstrations of Motivation Operations - ✔✔Satiaion - item/event
has been used too much/too recently & Deprivation - time prior to training session
during which individual is not reinforced a.k.a. deprived
✔✔Schedule of Reinforcement - ✔✔reinforcement is scheduled to occur along a
continuum (extinction - intermittent - continuous)
✔✔Schedule of Reinforcement: Interval - ✔✔time based, require time interval to pass
between presentation of reinforcers - reinforcer is delivered for first response that
occurs after time interval ends, interval time can be fixed or variable
✔✔Schedule of Reinforcement: Ratio - ✔✔response based, reinforcer is delivered after
fixed/variable number of repsonses have occurred
✔✔continuous schedule of reinforcement - ✔✔used when teaching new skills
✔✔Schedule thinning - ✔✔process in which we transition gradually from continuous
schedules to intermittent
✔✔How to thin a Ratio Schedule - ✔✔gradually increase # of responses learner must
give before reinforcer can be delivered; increase response ratio in small increments
