MHS 1002
Behavior Assessment
Q & A w/ Rationales
2024
,1. A behavior analyst is conducting a functional analysis of
a child's tantrums in a classroom setting. The analyst
manipulates four conditions: attention, demand, play, and
alone. In which condition does the analyst present attention
contingent on the occurrence of tantrums?
a) Attention
b) Demand
c) Play
d) Alone
*Answer: a) Attention. Rationale: In the attention
condition, the analyst provides attention to the child only
when he or she engages in tantrums, to test whether
attention is a maintaining reinforcer for the behavior.*
2. A teacher wants to increase the frequency of a student's
homework completion. The teacher decides to use a token
economy system, in which the student earns tokens for
completing homework assignments and can exchange them
for preferred items or activities. What type of
reinforcement schedule is the teacher using?
a) Fixed ratio
b) Variable ratio
c) Fixed interval
d) Variable interval
*Answer: a) Fixed ratio. Rationale: In a fixed ratio
schedule, reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number
of responses. In this case, the student earns tokens for every
homework assignment completed.*
, 3. A parent is concerned about her daughter's nail biting
habit. She decides to use a habit reversal procedure to help
her daughter reduce the behavior. What are the two main
components of habit reversal?
a) Awareness training and competing response training
b) Differential reinforcement and extinction
c) Response prevention and stimulus control
d) Shaping and chaining
*Answer: a) Awareness training and competing response
training. Rationale: Habit reversal is a behavioral
intervention that consists of two main components:
awareness training, in which the client learns to identify the
occurrence and antecedents of the habit behavior, and
competing response training, in which the client learns to
perform an incompatible behavior when he or she feels the
urge to engage in the habit behavior.*
4. A therapist is working with a client who has a phobia of
spiders. The therapist uses exposure therapy to help the
client overcome his fear. The therapist first asks the client
to rate his level of anxiety on a scale from 0 to 100 when he
thinks about spiders, then when he sees a picture of a
spider, then when he sees a toy spider, and so on, until he is
able to touch a live spider without experiencing high
anxiety. What type of exposure therapy is the therapist
using?
a) Flooding
b) Systematic desensitization
c) In vivo exposure
d) Virtual reality exposure
Behavior Assessment
Q & A w/ Rationales
2024
,1. A behavior analyst is conducting a functional analysis of
a child's tantrums in a classroom setting. The analyst
manipulates four conditions: attention, demand, play, and
alone. In which condition does the analyst present attention
contingent on the occurrence of tantrums?
a) Attention
b) Demand
c) Play
d) Alone
*Answer: a) Attention. Rationale: In the attention
condition, the analyst provides attention to the child only
when he or she engages in tantrums, to test whether
attention is a maintaining reinforcer for the behavior.*
2. A teacher wants to increase the frequency of a student's
homework completion. The teacher decides to use a token
economy system, in which the student earns tokens for
completing homework assignments and can exchange them
for preferred items or activities. What type of
reinforcement schedule is the teacher using?
a) Fixed ratio
b) Variable ratio
c) Fixed interval
d) Variable interval
*Answer: a) Fixed ratio. Rationale: In a fixed ratio
schedule, reinforcement is delivered after a fixed number
of responses. In this case, the student earns tokens for every
homework assignment completed.*
, 3. A parent is concerned about her daughter's nail biting
habit. She decides to use a habit reversal procedure to help
her daughter reduce the behavior. What are the two main
components of habit reversal?
a) Awareness training and competing response training
b) Differential reinforcement and extinction
c) Response prevention and stimulus control
d) Shaping and chaining
*Answer: a) Awareness training and competing response
training. Rationale: Habit reversal is a behavioral
intervention that consists of two main components:
awareness training, in which the client learns to identify the
occurrence and antecedents of the habit behavior, and
competing response training, in which the client learns to
perform an incompatible behavior when he or she feels the
urge to engage in the habit behavior.*
4. A therapist is working with a client who has a phobia of
spiders. The therapist uses exposure therapy to help the
client overcome his fear. The therapist first asks the client
to rate his level of anxiety on a scale from 0 to 100 when he
thinks about spiders, then when he sees a picture of a
spider, then when he sees a toy spider, and so on, until he is
able to touch a live spider without experiencing high
anxiety. What type of exposure therapy is the therapist
using?
a) Flooding
b) Systematic desensitization
c) In vivo exposure
d) Virtual reality exposure
