Spring 2023 ABA (Questions with complete solutions)

A multielement design should not be used with unstable data. correct answers False You are interested in evaluating the effects of a response cost procedure on students' disruptive behaviors. Give an appropriate experimental design for this evaluation. correct answers The dependent variable would be disruptive behavior and the independent variable would be response cost. An A-B-A-B (or reversal) design would be appropriate in this instance. You are interested in comparing the effects of two distinctly different study session procedures (Procedure X and Procedure Y) on next session quiz scores. Give the independent variable(s), dependent variable(s), and experimental design you would use to evaluate the two procedures. correct answers The dependent variable would be quiz scores and the independent variable would be Procedures X and Y. A multielement design would be appropriate here. Describe the logic and how experimental control would be demonstrated in a multielement design. correct answers In a multielement design, the rapid alternation of treatments, along with different SDs under the two (or more) treatment conditions and other counterbalancing measures (e.g., time of day) ensures that any differential responding that occurs under the various conditions will be the result of those conditions. This is made evident by a graphical display of responding under one condition (graphed as one data series) being consistently higher than responding under another condition (graphed as a different data series). Describe the logic and how experimental control would be demonstrated in a reversal design. correct answers If a behavior is occurring at a particular level it is likely to continue at that level unless something changes. If the behavior level changes (i.e., deviates from the baseline level) with the onset of an intervention and this effect is reversed with the offset of the intervention and then changes again with a second onset, then evidence is provided of a functional relation between the intervention and the change in behavior. Not "Reversal" in a reversal design most often refers to reversing the effect of the behavior, not the focus of treatment. Researchers who focus on a reversal of treatment sometimes use the term "withdrawal design." correct answers True A reversal design is an appropriate element of an experiment investigating the effects of a variable that cannot be withdrawn once it has been introduced (e.g., instruction). correct answers False With a multielement design, a functional relation is demonstrated when the behavior changes abruptly in level and trend at the onset of the treatment conditions. correct answers False A properly conducted alternating treatments design minimizes the extent to which an experimenter's results are confounded by sequence effects. correct answers True