ABA Exam Coach

G.10: Design and evaluate instructions and rules.

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

A BCBA is writing a rule to help a teen complete daily physical therapy exercises, which have delayed health benefits. Which rule is most likely to be effective?
  1. A. "Exercise is important for your health, so try to do it."
    This is vague about the behavior and gives no specific contingency.
  2. B. "If you finish all 10 exercises before 7 p.m., you get 30 minutes of game time tonight."
    Correct. Effective rules state the specific behavior, a deadline, and a likely, meaningful, and fairly prompt outcome.
  3. C. "You should do some exercises most days."
    Neither the behavior nor the consequence is clearly specified.
  4. D. "Doing your exercises will help you walk better in a year or two."
    The outcome is delayed and uncertain, and the behavior is not specified, so the rule is likely to have little effect.
Staff are told: "Press the green button to get the snack dispenser to work." Later, the dispenser is reprogrammed so that only the red button works, but staff keep pressing green for several days even though it no longer produces snacks. This pattern best illustrates:
  1. A. Stimulus overselectivity
    Overselectivity is control by a limited feature of a complex stimulus.
  2. B. Insensitivity of rule-governed behavior to changes in direct contingencies
    Correct. Behavior controlled by rules can persist even when the actual contingencies change, which is a well-known limitation of instructions.
  3. C. Spontaneous recovery
    Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of an extinguished behavior after a break. It does not describe continued responding under a rule.
  4. D. Response generalization
    Response generalization would be untrained new responses. These staff keep repeating the same response.
A BCBA is writing mealtime instructions for direct-care staff in an adult day program. Which instruction is most likely to produce consistent, accurate staff performance?
  1. A. "Encourage Sam to be more independent and tidy during meals, and help as needed."
    This instruction does not say what staff should do, when to do it, or what counts as success. Different staff will interpret it differently.
  2. B. "Remind Sam often during lunch that good manners and a clean face are important."
    Frequent general reminders do not specify the behavior, timing, or consequence. Repeated nagging is also unlikely to build the skill.
  3. C. "Support Sam's hygiene goals at meals in a positive, respectful, person-centered way."
    "Support" and "positive, respectful, person-centered" are worthwhile values, but they are not observable steps. Staff are left without a clear action to perform.
  4. D. "When Sam finishes eating, hand him a napkin and say 'clean up'; praise him if he wipes within 5 s."
    Correct. Effective instructions name the occasion (when Sam finishes eating), the exact staff action (hand a napkin and say "clean up"), the target response, a time limit, and the consequence (praise). This makes accurate, consistent use much more likely.

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