G.7: Select and evaluate stimulus and response prompting procedures (e.g., errorless, most-to-least, least-to-most).
Free practice questions for this part of the BCBA, with an explanation for every option.
A BCBA is teaching a 4-year-old with limited skills to wash hands. The child's history shows that errors lead to frustration and practiced mistakes. Which prompting strategy is most appropriate at first?
- A. Most-to-least prompting, starting with full physical guidance and fading to less intrusive promptsCorrect. Most-to-least begins with the most assistive prompt, which reduces errors during acquisition. Prompts are then systematically faded.
- B. Least-to-most prompting, starting with a verbal promptLeast-to-most lets errors happen before prompts are given, which is a poor fit for a learner whose errors are costly.
- C. Independent trials with error correction after mistakesWaiting for errors before correcting does the opposite of minimizing errors.
- D. Graduated guidance used only after errors occurDelivering prompts only after errors is reactive and allows practiced mistakes.
An adult client can complete most steps of making a sandwich but sometimes stalls on a few steps. The BCBA wants every step to give the client a chance to respond independently before help is given. Which prompting system fits best?
- A. Full physical guidance with graduated fadingFull physical guidance is unnecessarily intrusive for a learner who can do most steps.
- B. Most-to-least promptingMost-to-least starts with heavy assistance and may give unneeded prompts to a learner who already has many of the steps.
- C. Errorless learning with 0-second delay on every trialPrompting every trial at 0 seconds removes the chance for independent responding.
- D. Least-to-most promptingCorrect. Least-to-most gives an opportunity for independent responding and adds more intrusive prompts only as needed, which suits learners with partial mastery.
To teach sight words, a teacher prints the correct word card in a larger, bold font than the distractor cards. This prompt is best classified as:
- A. A stimulus (within-stimulus) promptCorrect. Changing a feature of the stimulus itself (size, boldness) is a stimulus prompt. Because the change is to the relevant stimulus, it is a within-stimulus prompt.
- B. A verbal response promptNo verbal instruction or hint is given.
- C. A modeling promptA model shows the response for the learner to imitate.
- D. A gestural response promptA gestural prompt involves the instructor pointing or motioning. Here, nothing the instructor does serves as the prompt.