ABA Exam Coach

A.5: Identify and describe dimensions of applied behavior analysis.

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

A new behavior technician is given a behavior plan that says only, 'Provide support when the client becomes upset and redirect as needed.' Two technicians carry out the plan in very different ways. Which dimension of applied behavior analysis is this plan most clearly missing?
  1. A. Technological
    Correct. A technological procedure is described clearly and completely enough that a typically trained reader could replicate it. Vague terms like 'support' and 'redirect as needed' produce the inconsistent implementation described.
  2. B. Generality
    Generality is about behavior change lasting over time and appearing in other settings or behaviors. It does not address how clearly the procedure is written.
  3. C. Analytic
    Analytic means showing a functional relation between the intervention and the behavior. The problem described is unclear procedures, not a missing experimental demonstration.
  4. D. Conceptually systematic
    Conceptually systematic means describing procedures in terms of the basic principles they come from. The problem in the stem is that two implementers could not reproduce the same procedure from the written description. That is a replicability problem, not a problem of linking procedures to principles.
In a reversal design, self-injury drops from about 40 to about 32 instances per hour during each intervention phase and returns to baseline levels during reversal. The functional relation is clear. However, the client still has frequent tissue damage, and caregivers report no meaningful improvement in daily life. Which dimension of ABA is this intervention most clearly failing to meet?
  1. A. Analytic
    The intervention meets the analytic dimension because the reversal design reliably shows experimental control.
  2. B. Applied
    The applied dimension is about choosing socially significant targets. Self-injury clearly is one, so this dimension is met.
  3. C. Effective
    Correct. An effective intervention changes behavior enough to make a practical, meaningful difference for the client. A change that is reliable but clinically trivial does not meet this dimension.
  4. D. Behavioral
    The behavioral dimension requires direct, reliable measurement of the actual behavior. Self-injury was measured directly.
A BCBA writes a treatment summary for a funding agency. Instead of listing 'tips that worked,' she explains that the program uses differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, extinction of escape-maintained responding, and systematic prompt fading. She ties each procedure to the basic principles it relies on. Which dimension of ABA is she showing most directly?
  1. A. Conceptually systematic
    Correct. Procedures are conceptually systematic when they are described and explained in terms of the basic principles they come from. This avoids a 'bag of tricks' approach.
  2. B. Applied
    Applied is about choosing socially significant behavior to change. It does not involve connecting procedures to principles.
  3. C. Technological
    Technological means writing procedures in enough operational detail to replicate them. Naming the principles behind them is a separate dimension.
  4. D. Generality
    Generality is about behavior change lasting over time and spreading to other settings or behaviors. The summary is about linking procedures to theory.

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