Principles of Behavior Practice Quiz (18 questions)

All questions and answers

1. A student raises a hand more frequently when a particular teacher is present, after hand-raising has repeatedly been reinforced in that teacher’s presence. What does this pattern illustrate?

Punishment of hand-raising
Generalization across different teachers
Stimulus control by the teacher’s presence
Reinforcement delivered for the teacher’s presence

Stimulus control by the teacher’s presence

Explanation

Stimulus control occurs when a behavior happens more often in the presence of a stimulus consistently associated with reinforcement. Generalization concerns responding across stimuli, punishment decreases behavior, and the teacher’s presence is the stimulus rather than the reinforcer.

2. A child’s requests for a toy previously led to receiving it, but caregivers stop providing the toy after those requests. If the requests decrease over time, what process is occurring?

An extinction burst in the requesting behavior
Extinction of the requesting behavior
Reinforcement of the requesting behavior
Punishment of the requesting behavior

Extinction of the requesting behavior

Explanation

Extinction occurs when a previously reinforced behavior no longer produces reinforcement, so the behavior decreases over time. Punishment involves a consequence that reduces behavior, an extinction burst is a temporary increase, and continued reinforcement would not explain the decline described.

3. A team has tried changing the environment and reinforcing an incompatible behavior without success. It now plans to withhold reinforcement for a problem behavior. Which plan follows the guidance for using extinction?

Reinforce the problem behavior while withholding desirable behavior
Use extinction alone to avoid strengthening other behavior
Pair extinction with reinforcement for desirable behavior
Begin extinction before changing the environment

Pair extinction with reinforcement for desirable behavior

Explanation

Extinction should follow unsuccessful environmental changes and reinforcement of incompatible behavior, and it should be paired with reinforcement for desirable behavior. Using extinction alone omits that pairing, while starting before the earlier strategies have been tried reverses the recommended sequence.

4. During a non-preferred task, a learner’s disruptive behavior has previously allowed them to escape the task. Which procedure is an example of implementing extinction for that behavior?

Prevent reinforcing sensory feedback following the behavior
Ignore the behavior while allowing the task to end
Deny access to a preferred item following the behavior
Prevent escape from the task following the behavior

Prevent escape from the task following the behavior

Explanation

Extinction can be implemented by preventing escape from a non-preferred situation or task when escape has reinforced the behavior. Denying a tangible item or preventing sensory feedback are other procedures, but they do not address the escape consequence in this scenario.

5. After a previously reinforced behavior no longer produces its reinforcer, it briefly becomes more frequent and then starts to decline. What best describes the initial increase?

An extinction burst
Punishment of the behavior
An increase in reinforcement
The long-term effect of extinction

An extinction burst

Explanation

An extinction burst is a temporary increase in behavior after access to its reinforcer is cut off, before the behavior begins to decline. The long-term decrease is a later outcome, while increased reinforcement and punishment do not describe the initial response to removing the reinforcer.

6. A behavior plan uses a consequence that causes a client physical pain in order to reduce a problem behavior. How should this use of punishment be judged?

Ethical if it is less restrictive than other interventions
Ethical if paired with reinforcement for desirable behavior
Unethical because it causes pain or harm to the client
Ethical if it reduces the problem behavior effectively

Unethical because it causes pain or harm to the client

Explanation

Punishment that causes pain or harm to the client is unethical, regardless of whether it reduces behavior. Effectiveness, restrictiveness, and pairing with reinforcement do not make harmful punishment ethical.

7. A team is considering negative punishment to reduce a behavior, but has not yet tried less restrictive interventions. What should the team do first?

Consider punishment alongside less restrictive interventions from the outset
Try less restrictive interventions before considering punishment
Use punishment first and add reinforcement if it fails
Begin negative punishment because it is less restrictive

Try less restrictive interventions before considering punishment

Explanation

Punishment is a last-resort tactic, and less restrictive interventions should be tried first even when negative punishment is being considered. Treating negative punishment as exempt or starting punishment before trying alternatives reverses this rule.

8. A student repeatedly disrupts a group activity, so the teacher removes the student's access to a preferred activity to reduce future disruptions. Which procedure is being used?

Positive punishment
Negative reinforcement
Negative punishment
Positive reinforcement

Negative punishment

Explanation

Negative punishment removes something to reduce the future occurrence of behavior; here, access to a preferred activity is removed to reduce disruption. Positive punishment adds a stimulus or condition, while reinforcement procedures aim to increase behavior.

9. A staff member gives a consequence several minutes after a client engages in a behavior targeted for reduction. What change would best help the client connect the consequence with that behavior?

Deliver it at the end of the day
Deliver it immediately before the behavior
Deliver it after a different behavior
Deliver it swiftly after the behavior

Deliver it swiftly after the behavior

Explanation

A swift consequence helps the individual connect the targeted behavior with the punisher. Delaying it further weakens that connection, delivering it beforehand reverses the timing, and linking it to another behavior creates the wrong association.

10. Which pair of side effects is commonly associated with positive punishment?

Increased emotional responses and aggression
Increased cooperation and attention
Reduced emotional responses and aggression
Reduced aggression and emotional responses

Increased emotional responses and aggression

Explanation

Common side effects include increased emotional responses and increased displays of aggression. Reduced emotional responding reverses one effect, improved cooperation is not the stated pair, and decreased aggression reverses the other.

11. A team proposes using positive punishment, but its staff have not been trained and no written behavior-change plan exists. What must happen before the procedure is used?

Create a written plan and allow staff to work without supervision
Provide staff training and begin before a plan is written
Create a written plan and provide staff training and supervision
Obtain verbal approval and provide staff with written instructions

Create a written plan and provide staff training and supervision

Explanation

Positive punishment is used within a written behavior-change plan and after staff receive proper training and supervision. Verbal approval is not a written plan, training does not replace supervision, and starting before the plan exists fails the stated safeguards.

12. A practitioner adds a reprimand after a behavior, with the aim of reducing that behavior in the future. Which concept describes this procedure?

Negative reinforcement
Negative punishment
Positive reinforcement
Positive punishment

Positive punishment

Explanation

Positive punishment adds a stimulus or condition to reduce the future occurrence of behavior. Negative punishment removes a stimulus, while reinforcement is defined by increasing future behavior rather than reducing it.

13. A client’s behavior seriously threatens safety, and other options have been exhausted. If punishment is considered, what safeguard is required?

Use it under close supervision by a behavior analyst supervisor
Use it under close supervision by a family member
Use it under routine review by any available staff member
Use it independently once the team documents the safety risk

Use it under close supervision by a behavior analyst supervisor

Explanation

When punishment is warranted because behavior seriously impedes health, safety, or future options and no other option remains, it must be under close supervision by a behavior analyst supervisor. Routine staff review, independent use, and family oversight do not meet that requirement.

14. A team has changed environmental triggers and tried reinforcing incompatible behavior, but it has not addressed possible pain or tried ignoring non-dangerous behavior. What should happen before punishment is considered?

Ignore the behavior regardless of whether it is dangerous
Begin punishment because two intervention steps have been completed
Repeat incompatible-behavior reinforcement without addressing discomforts
Address discomforts and try ignoring the non-dangerous behavior

Address discomforts and try ignoring the non-dangerous behavior

Explanation

Before punishment is used, discomforts such as pain or hunger must be eliminated as sources of problem behavior, and ignoring non-dangerous behavior must have been tried without success. Completing only some steps does not satisfy the process; the ignoring step does not apply to dangerous behavior.

15. A teacher reprimands a student for joking in class, but the student jokes more often afterward. How should the reprimand be classified by its effect on future behavior?

Punishment, because a reprimand was added
Reinforcement, because joking increased
Extinction, because the teacher responded to joking
Punishment, because the teacher intended to reduce joking

Reinforcement, because joking increased

Explanation

A consequence is punishment only when it decreases the future behavior; because joking increased, the reprimand functioned as reinforcement. Calling every reprimand punishment ignores its effect, and the teacher’s intention does not determine the consequence’s function.

16. A learner begins completing a task more often after receiving points that can later be exchanged for a preferred snack. How should the points be classified?

A secondary reinforcer that gains value through association
A primary reinforcer that gains value through association
A primary reinforcer that has biological value without learning
A secondary reinforcer that has biological value without learning

A secondary reinforcer that gains value through association

Explanation

The points are secondary reinforcers because their reinforcing value is learned through association with a preferred item. Calling them primary confuses learned value with biological value; assigning primary status to the snack confuses the exchanged reinforcer with the points; describing a secondary reinforcer as unlearned reverses the distinction.

17. A student starts putting materials away more often because doing so ends an unpleasant noise. Which process best explains the increase in putting materials away?

Negative punishment
Positive punishment
Negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement

Negative reinforcement

Explanation

Negative reinforcement removes an aversive stimulus, and that removal increases the behavior that produced it. Negative punishment also involves removal but decreases behavior; positive reinforcement adds a stimulus, while positive punishment adds a consequence to reduce behavior.

18. A student receives a small token immediately after completing each practice problem, and the student completes more problems in later sessions. What best describes the token’s role?

Negative reinforcement
Positive reinforcement
A motivating operation
Positive punishment

Positive reinforcement

Explanation

Positive reinforcement adds a consequence after a behavior, and that consequence increases the behavior’s future likelihood. Negative reinforcement involves removing an aversive condition, positive punishment decreases behavior, and a motivating operation changes the value of a consequence.

Study with flashcards

Lock in the answers with 23 flashcards on Principles of Behavior.

What is stimulus control?

A behavior occurs more often in the presence of a specific stimulus because it has been consistently associated with reinforcement of that behavior.

What happens to a previously reinforced behavior during extinction?

It decreases over time when reinforcement stops.

When should extinction be used, and what should accompany it?

Only after environmental changes and incompatible-behavior reinforcement fail, paired with reinforcement for desirable behaviors.

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