Practitioners who use applied behavior analysis to bring about behavior change in a student or client do

not always rely solely on behaviorist principles; in many cases, they also incorporate cognitive elements
into the strategies they employ. As examples of such cognitive behavior modification, they may use three
of the following strategies. Which strategy is not likely to be part of cognitive behavior modification?

They may give verbal guidance to help the learner execute desired behaviors effectively.

They may have the learner read case studies about how other people have responded in similar
problem situations.

They may model desired behaviors while the learner observes them doing so.

They may ask the learner to think about various ways of solving a social problem and then identify
the most effective response.

Ans: They may have the learner read case studies about how other people have responded in similar
problem situations.

Question 2 - Matthew knows his teacher will give him credit for each assignment he completes on time,
without regard for the accuracy of what he does. As a result, Matthew often completes his work quickly,
sloppily, and sometimes incorrectly. This situation illustrates which one of the following concerns
regarding the use of behaviorist techniques in the classroom?

Reinforcement of some behaviors may impede optimal learning.

Applied behavior analysis ignores the cognitive factors that affect learning.

Even very mild punishment adversely affects his self-esteem.

Reinforcement is a form of bribery.

Ans: Reinforcement of some behaviors may impede optimal learning.

Question 3 - Using behavioral objectives to describe classroom goals sometimes results in a lengthy list
of seemingly trivial behaviors. In such situations, which one of the following is, according to the
textbook, an acceptable alternative?

Constructing a mixture of behavioral and nonbehavioral objectives.

Constructing a small list of abstract objectives, giving examples of behaviors that reflect each one.

Foregoing instructional objectives when a teacher wants to focus on higher-level skills.

Ans: Constructing a small list of abstract objectives, giving examples of behaviors that reflect each one.

Question 4 - Ms. Hernandez is concerned about Brian, a student in her high school chemistry class who
rarely interacts with other students. Ms. Hernandez decides to smile at Brian on those occasions when
she happens to notice him talking with another student. Yet after three weeks she sees little change in
his behavior. Based on this information, which one of the following is definitely wrong with Ms.
Hernandez’s approach?

Brian has little to gain by changing his behavior.

Brian is receiving intermittent rather than continuous reinforcement.

Social interaction is not an intrinsically reinforcing activity.

A smile is not an effective reinforcer.

Ans: Brian is receiving intermittent rather than continuous reinforcement.

Question 5 - Which one of the following is an example of reinforcing an incompatible behavior as a way
of eliminating an undesirable behavior?

Jerry must stay after school on days when he arrives late.

Samantha is very shy and socially withdrawn. Her teacher reinforces her with a smile whenever she
interacts with her classmates.

Mary has learned to reinforce herself whenever she gets all her spelling words correct.

Johnny’s wisecracks have become so annoying that his teacher keeps him in from recess whenever he
speaks inappropriately.

Ans: Samantha is very shy and socially withdrawn. Her teacher reinforces her with a smile whenever she
interacts with her classmates.

Question 6 - In applied behavior analysis, it is often important to promote, quite explicitly, the
generalization of newly acquired behavior to a variety of contexts. Three of the following are
recommended strategies for promoting such generalization. Which one of the following, although
possibly beneficial for other reasons, will not necessarily promote generalization?

Teach various forms of the desired behavior.

Reinforce desired responses on a variable interval schedule.

Teach the desired behavior in a variety of contexts to begin with.

Ans: Reinforce desired responses on a variable interval schedule.

Question 7 - Three of the following are disadvantages of taxonomies and standards described in the
textbook. Which of the following is not a disadvantage?

They do not take into account students’ different abilities.

They are often lengthy lists that are not realistic goals for a single school.

They often do not incorporate developmental research, and therefore are not reliably sensitive to the
skills of different age groups.

They can miss goals that lie outside of a specific content area.

Ans: They do not take into account students’ different abilities.

Question 8 - Mrs. Berk gives extra credit to each of his students who pick up 5 pieces of trash in the
classroom before the bell rings at the end of the day. Despite the fact that most of the students pick up 5
pieces of trash before the end of the day, some students never participate in the cleanup. Which of the
following statements explains why some students do not participate in the cleanup at the end of the day.

When a group of students are reinforced together, the reinforced behavior is acquired more slowly
than if the students are reinforced individually.

Some students will never produce socially desirable behaviors.

One reinforcer does not reinforce behavior for every learner.

The classroom context is a context in which only some children are reinforced.

Ans: One reinforcer does not reinforce behavior for every learner.

Question 9 - Sean is a high school student who is angry much of the time. He often vents his anger by
swearing at his teacher. One day his teacher decides to extinguish Sean’s swearing by ignoring him
whenever he swears. Yet over the next few weeks, Sean continues to swear as frequently as he always
has. Three of the following are possible explanations as to why, from a behaviorist perspective, the
teacher’s “extinction” strategy is not working. Which alternative is the least likely explanation?
 Other students are reinforcing Sean’s swearing.

Sean is being reinforced for swearing by means of the Premack Principle.

Sean’s swearing has previously been reinforced on an intermittent basis.

Swearing allows Sean to release pent-up anger, so he is being negatively reinforced.

Ans: Sean is being reinforced for swearing by means of the Premack Principle.

Question 10 - Research indicates that when appropriate precautions are taken, the most effective
method of reducing inappropriate behavior typically is:

extinction

an intermittent schedule of reinforcement

reinforcement of incompatible behaviors

punishment

Ans: Punishment

Question 11 - Feedback about one’s performance is most likely to be effective when it: CPT

Is given after a short delay (perhaps 30 minutes after the performance)

Provides information about how to improve

Comes from a peer rather than from an authority figure

Describes only the things that the person has done correctly

Ans: Provides information about how to improve

Question 12 - Bill’s behaviors in Ms. Kennedy’s class are really distracting to other students. For example,
he whispers to the boy beside him when Ms. Kennedy is giving directions on how to do any assignment.
He flings paper clips at a girl across the room. He makes strange grunting noises that a few classmates
find amusing. Ms. Kennedy glares at him or admonishes him whenever he behaves in a distracting way,
yet his inappropriate behaviors are increasing rather than decreasing. Which one of the following
interpretations of this situation best explains why Bill’s behaviors are increasing?

Ms. Kennedy is vicariously reinforcing him for the distracting behaviors.

Ms. Kennedy is negatively reinforcing him for the distracting behaviors.

Ms. Kennedy is punishing him for the distracting behaviors.

Ans: Ms. Kennedy is positively reinforcing him for the distracting behaviors.

Question 13 - A teacher claps his hands together loudly three times as a way of reminding his students
that they need to talk more quietly during their free time at the end of the day. In behaviorist
terminology, his strategy can best be described as: CPT

cueing

negative reinforcement

a setting event

an intermittent schedule

Ans: cueing (In behaviorist terms, cueing refers to providing a signal or reminder to encourage a specific
behavior. In this case, the loud hand claps serve as a signal to the students to adjust their behavior by
talking more quietly. Negative reinforcement involves removing an unpleasant stimulus to encourage
behavior, while a setting event and intermittent schedule relate to broader behavioral contexts and
reinforcement timing, respectively, and don't fit this scenario as well as cueing does.).

Question 14 - In the basement of Marcy’s college dormitory is a Coke machine that dispenses a can of
Coke whenever someone firmly pounds the side of the machine. Marcy is delighted when she discovers
this fact, because she can now get Cokes from the machine without having to pay for them. One morning
a repairman fixes the machine. The next time Marcy goes to get a soft drink from the machine, she finds
that her usual pounding strategy doesn’t yield her the Coke she wants. But rather than insert the
required coins to purchase a drink, Marcy begins pounding the side of the machine vigorously for several
minutes. In behaviorist terminology, Marcy’s behavior at this point can best be described as:

an extinction burst

shaping

a response reinforced by an activity reinforcer

discrimination

Ans: an extinction burst

An organism makes many responses even in the absence of any observed external stimulus.

Learning processes occurring within the organism cannot be studied scientifically

Many stimuli have no noticeable effect on the organism.

Learning is, by its very nature, something that takes place outside the organism.

Ans: Learning processes occurring within the organism cannot be studied scientifically. (When
behaviorists refer to an organism as a "black box," they imply that the internal mental processes (like
thoughts, emotions, and intentions) are not directly observable and, therefore, not the focus of scientific
study. Instead, behaviorists focus on observable stimuli and responses, believing that only external
behaviors and environmental influences can be studied empirically. The internal workings of the "black
box" (the mind) are considered inaccessible or irrelevant for behaviorist research.).

Question 16 - Extinction is one method of eliminating undesirable conditioned responses, but there are
several problems associated with its use. Which one is not a problem encountered in using extinction?

Extinguished responses may reappear through spontaneous recovery.

Organisms tend to stay away from stimuli they have learned to fear, thus preventing their exposure to
the conditioned stimulus in the absence of the unconditioned stimulus.

Extinction often occurs too quickly to be controlled.

Some responses extinguish slowly, if at all.

Ans: Extinction often occurs too quickly to be controlled

Extinction typically doesn't happen too quickly; in fact, it often takes time and repeated exposure to the
conditioned stimulus without the unconditioned stimulus for extinction to occur. The other options
reflect actual challenges in the extinction process, such as the possibility of spontaneous recovery (a),
avoidance of feared stimuli (b), and the slow or resistant extinction of some conditioned responses (d).
Therefore, option c is not a common issue.

Question 17 - Gina became ill after eating Turkey on Thanksgiving and was unable to look at turkey
without feeling ill for two months. However, during that two-month period Gina was able to look at
chicken without feeling ill. Gina’s behavior when presented with chicken is explained by:

extinguishing a conditioned
 response

counterconditioning

stimulus discrimination

Generalization

Ans: stimulus discrimination

Stimulus discrimination occurs when an individual can differentiate between similar stimuli and responds
differently to them. In this case, Gina became ill after eating turkey, but she did not feel ill when
presented with chicken, even though they are both similar foods. This shows that she can discriminate
between the two stimuli (turkey and chicken) and only associates the illness with turkey.

Question 18 - Which one of the following statements best reflects behaviorists’ notion of tabula rasa
(“blank slate”)?

Learning is more a function of what the environment does to the organism than of what the
organism does to the environment; in other words, the organism plays a relatively passive role in the
learning process.

Stimuli that occur after responses are made are usually more influential on an organism’s learning
that stimuli that occur before responses are made.

The things that organisms learn in a new situation largely override the things that they’ve learned in
previous situations; as a result, newly learned behaviors often replace previously learned behaviors.

Organisms inherit few predispositions to behave in particular ways; instead, the behaviors they
exhibit are largely the result of environmental experiences.

Ans: Organisms inherit few predispositions to behave in particular ways; instead, the behaviors they
exhibit are largely the result of environmental experiences.

The notion of tabula rasa (or "blank slate") suggests that individuals are born without built-in mental
content, and that all knowledge and behavior arise from experience. This reflects the behaviorist view
that behavior is shaped primarily by interactions with the environment rather than by innate
predispositions or biological factors. The other options refer to specific aspects of learning processes but
do not capture the essence of the tabula rasa concept.

Question 19 - Imagine that you want to improve a distractible child’s ability to sit still and listen in class.
Which one of the following procedures illustrates how you might use shaping to do so?
 Frequently change the specific consequence you use to reinforce sitting still-and-listening behavior
(e.g., you might use candy a few times, then praise, then privileges, and so on).

Reinforce the child for sitting still on some occasions, but not on others.

Reinforce the child for sitting still and listening for only a minute, then for progressively longer and
longer periods of time

Explain the purpose of sitting quietly before reinforcement begins.

Ans: Reinforce the child for sitting still and listening for only a minute, then for progressively longer and
longer periods of time

This option describes shaping, which involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired
behavior. In this case, you would start by reinforcing the child for sitting still and listening for a short
period, then gradually increase the required duration of sitting still before providing reinforcement. This
method helps the child gradually improve the behavior over time. The other options do not reflect the
step-by-step reinforcement process central to shaping.

Question 20 - Ivan Pavlov conducted a series of studies that led him to propose his theory of classical
conditioning. In these studies, Pavlov observed how a dog learned to:

Bark when meat was presented

Bark when meat was taken away

Wake up when an auditory stimulus (e.g., a bell) was presented

Salivate to a simple stimulus such as a light or bell

Ans: Salivate to a simple stimulus such as a light or bell

In Pavlov's famous studies on classical conditioning, he demonstrated that a dog could be conditioned to
salivate in response to a neutral stimulus (such as a bell) after repeatedly pairing it with an
unconditioned stimulus (meat), which naturally triggered salivation. Over time, the dog learned to
associate the bell with the food and would salivate when the bell was rung, even without the presence
of the meat.