Unit 4

Question 1

According to the study cited by Dr DeLeon (Graff & Karsten, 2012) how often do most BCBAs conduct full-scale preference assessments?

Answer 1

Less than once a month

Question 2

Studies cited by Dr. DeLeon indicate that individuals diagnosed with autism tend to display _______ in stimulus preference assessments

Answer 2

More stability in preferences than individuals without an ASD diagnosis

Question 3

When comparing food and leisure items, which of the two tend to show greater stability over time?

Answer 3

Food

Question 4

Research has shown that changes in preferences are most highly correlated with:

Answer 4

Changes in the value of items as reinforcers

Question 5

As demonstrated by DeLeon (2001), when several preference assessments are conducted over time, the stimuli most often selected on the X preference assessments tend to be the stimuli which are Y likely to function as reinforcers

Answer 5

X = Most recent

Y = most

Question 6

The term, “effectiveness of a reinforcer” refers, at least in part, to which of the following?

Answer 6

The capacity of a stimulus to support response(s) that just preceded it

Question 7

Results of a study conducted by Hanley, Iwata, Roscoe, Thompson, and Lindberg (2003) demonstrated that the delivery of non-contingent appetitive stimuli (presumed to be reinforcers) during engagement in non-preferred activities resulted in:

Answer 7

A shift in response allocation toward the low preference activity

Question 8

Which of the following statements are true regarding determinants of stimulus value as related to reinforcement?

Answer 8

Better quality items may function as more potent reinforcers

Question 9

In general, reinforcement delays have :

Answer 9

An abolishing effect on the value of reinforcers

Question 10

The matching law predicts that organisms will distribute behavior among X available alternatives in same proportion that the Y is distributed among those alternatives.

Answer 10

X = Concurrently

Y = Rate of reinforcement

Question 11

Studies on quality of reinforcement equate “higher quality” with which of the following?

Answer 11

Higher preference

Question 12

Which of the following schedules is often used in research literature to study the relative (increasing) amount of work one is willing to complete to earn various stimuli as reinforcers?

Answer 12

Progressive ratio schedule (PR)

Question 13

Satiation has the following effects: It momentarily ___ the reinforcer effectiveness of a stimulus and ___ the frequency of behavior that produced the stimulus as a consequence

Answer 13

Decreases; Decreases

Question 14

In a study conducted by Zhou, Iwata, and Shore (2002) the effects of deprivation and satiation were evaluated under more natural arrangements than typical contrived experimental conditions. In this case, they looked at the effectiveness of food as a reinforcer right before or right after lunch. The presence of establishing operations or abolishing operations were presumed, due either to the time before a meal that the food was used (30 minutes before lunch was the deprivation-EO condition), or the time after a meal that the food was used (30 minutes after lunch was the satiation-AO condition). Results suggested that when food is used as a reinforcer under these conditions…

Answer 14

(Presumed) deprivation or satiation seemed to affect immediate rates of responding for some, but not all participants

Question 15

“Defense of consumption” is greater for X , and is greater when the demand is Y .

Answer 15

X = Necessities

Y = Inelastic

You defend (i.e., maintain a rate closer to baseline) your consumption of things you need (versus things you do not really need)—and you do so by continuing to obtain those items even when reinforcer rate is reduced and/or response effort increases. The demand curve declines less quickly (i.e., it bends less—so is less “elastic”) the more you “defend consumption”.

Question 16

What do behavioral economists call the condition where changes in price (the number of responses required to produce a reinforcer) produce little or no change in consumption of a reinforcer?

Answer 16

An inelastic demand function

Question 17

Allen is obtaining attention on an FR5 schedule for appropriate behavior. When the schedule requirement is increased to an FR7 schedule, Allen stops engaging in appropriate behavior. In behavioral economics, Allen’s sensitivity to the “price” of attention can be described as:

Answer 17

Elastic demand

Question 18

Which of the following is an example of an inelastic demand curve? When the price of

Answer 18

Water increases by 50%, consumption is not affected

Question 19

Cashews (a type of nut) are highly preferred by Lily. Lily is only allowed to earn and consume cashews during experimental sessions. Cashews are not available to Lily at any other time. In behavioral economics this describes a:

Answer 19

Closed Economy

Question 20

There is greater defense of consumption (less elasticity of demand) under which type of economy?

Answer 20

Closed economy

Question 21

Demand is more likely to be elastic when (1) alternative reinforcers are X available, and/or when (2) they Y important functional properties with the current reinforcer in use.

Answer 21

X = concurrently

Y = share

Question 22

According to a stimulus preference assessment, Stimulus A and Stimulus B are equally preferred. Stimulus A is provided non-contingently every day for a month. For the same month, Stimulus B is only provided contingent on completing effortful tasks. Subsequently, another preference assessment is conducted. According to results of past studies, what is likely to result?

Answer 22

B will be preferred over A

Question 23

When reinforcers are not consumed following each completion of a scheduled requirement, but are collected and consumed later, this is referred to as:

Answer 23

Accumulated reinforcement

Question 24

Oliver’s teacher gives him a half a biscuit each time he correctly identifies 5 pictures. He eats the piece of biscuit as soon as he earns it. This is an example of:

Answer 24

Distributed reinforcement

Question 25

In the study conducted by DeLeon et al. (in press) on token reinforcers, how did the rates of responding compare between the accumulated reinforcement condition and the distributed reinforcement condition?

Answer 25

Higher rates during accumulated reinforcement

Question 26

Accumulated access, mediated through tokens…

Answer 26

• Supports faster work
• Is preferred by learners
• Supports greater overall quantity of work

Question 27

Which term correctly describes procedures in which a different reinforcer is selected and delivered by the therapist each time a schedule requirement is met?

Answer 27

Stimulus variation

Question 28

Asking the learner which reinforcer they would like to earn during the following instructional period describes:

Answer 28

Pre-session selection

Question 29

When a learner selects a reinforcer from a small array each time the schedule requirement is met this describes:

Answer 29

Within- session choice

Question 30

Which statement is TRUE concerning yoking procedures in studies on choice

Answer 30

Yoking is not perfect, since preferences can change over brief periods of time (e.g., between sessions

Question 31

What is a potential reason why “reinforcement” may not “work”?

Answer 31

There is some kind of mismatch between the target response and the programmed consequence, which thus fails to function as a reinforcer

Question 32

Programmed delivery of “reinforcement” can result in a decrease in responding when a contingency is arranged where:

Answer 32

The participant prefers a task more than the stimulus identified by assessment as highly preferred