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B.19: Identify and distinguish among verbal operants.

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

While walking outside, a child looks up at an airplane and says "Airplane!" without any prompt. His father replies, "Yes, a big airplane!" The child's response is a(n):
  1. A. Mand
    Incorrect. A mand is controlled by an MO and specifies its reinforcer. Nothing suggests he wants the airplane.
  2. B. Tact
    Correct. A verbal response evoked by a nonverbal stimulus and maintained by generalized social reinforcement is a tact.
  3. C. Intraverbal
    Incorrect. An intraverbal is controlled by a verbal stimulus without point-to-point correspondence. The antecedent here is nonverbal.
  4. D. Echoic
    Incorrect. An echoic repeats someone else's vocal verbal stimulus. No one said "airplane" first.
A therapist says the word "dog" aloud, and the student writes D-O-G on a whiteboard. Which verbal operant has the student emitted?
  1. A. Transcription
    Correct. Writing in response to a spoken verbal stimulus, with point-to-point correspondence, is transcription (taking dictation).
  2. B. Textual
    Incorrect. Textual behavior is vocal responding to written words, the reverse of this.
  3. C. Echoic
    Incorrect. An echoic is vocal responding to a vocal stimulus. The student's response was written.
  4. D. Copying a text
    Incorrect. Copying a text is writing in response to written words with formal similarity. The antecedent here was spoken.
In an adult literacy program, a 45-year-old reads aloud the printed words "chicken soup" on a menu. Which verbal operant is this?
  1. A. Textual
    Correct. A textual response is a vocal response controlled by a written verbal stimulus. The response matches the stimulus point to point, but in a different form (print to speech).
  2. B. Transcription
    Transcription means writing or spelling in response to a spoken verbal stimulus. Here, the stimulus is printed and the response is spoken.
  3. C. Echoic
    An echoic response repeats a spoken verbal stimulus in the same form. Here, the stimulus is printed, not spoken.
  4. D. Tact
    A tact is controlled by a nonverbal stimulus, such as an actual bowl of soup. Printed words are a verbal stimulus.

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