CORRECT Answers
1. Define behavioral cusp. - CORRECT ANSWER - A behavioral cusp is skill that is
identified as an instructional priority based on meeting some (not necessarily all) of the
following criteria:
• The skill is socially valid
• Provides access to new reinforcers
• Prerequisite skill (generativeness)
• Competes with inappropriate responses
• Important people affected/many people affected
2. Give three examples of behaviors that can be cusps - CORRECT ANSWER - 1. Initiate
Greetings
2. Ride in car/van
3. Wash Hands
3. Define prompt and state the terminal goal of prompting - CORRECT ANSWER -•
Stimuli that enhance instruction (e.g., a point cue) by increasing the likelihood of correct
responding in the presence of the discriminative stimulus.
• The terminal goal is to fade the prompt
4. What are the two decisions that must be made when using prompts? - CORRECT
ANSWER - • Which prompt to use
• How to fade the prompt (how to transfer stimulus control from the prompt to the target
stimulus)
5. Define and distinguish between response and stimulus prompts. Provide a specific example of
each. - CORRECT ANSWER - • Response prompts guide the student to respond during
learning. For example, the teacher touches the student's elbow to turn the water on during a hand
washing sequence.
, • Stimulus prompts involve a change in stimuli designed to guide the student to respond to a
stimulus. For example, position cues (put correct stimulus closer to the student)
6. Define extra-stimulus prompt. Provide a specific example. - CORRECT ANSWER -•
An additional stimulus that is not relevant to the S+.
• Student must respond to multiple cues.
o Example: you are teaching sight words. The student has an array of three words (apple, orange,
banana). the teacher says the word "apple" and points to the word apple in the array.
7. Define within-stimulus prompt. Provide a specific example. - CORRECT ANSWER -•
A feature of the S+ is exaggerated
• The student does not need to respond to multiple cues (prompt is embedded)
o Example: you are teaching sight words to a student who can indicate named pictures. An image
of an apple is superimposed over the printed word apple. The opacity of the apple picture is
faded.
8. What does it mean to transfer stimulus control? Why is transfer of stimulus control an
important element of any teaching procedure that involves prompting? - CORRECT
ANSWER - • Stimulus control transfer occurs when the response that was controlled by
the prompt comes to be controlled by the instructional target stimulus
• This is important because if you don't transfer control, the student will depend on the prompt,
decreasing the likelihood of future independence.
9. Describe the process for implementing and fading a delayed prompting procedure. -
CORRECT ANSWER - • Start with the most restrictive procedure (immediate prompt)
• End with no prompt (the student is expected to respond independently
• Steps in the middle have a progressive delay (as many steps as needed to transfer stimulus
control)
• There are specific criteria to move to the next prompt step or back to a previous step.
10. Describe what is meant by the following statement: "The delayed cue method is often a
useful procedure for transferring stimulus control but can also produce prompt dependency
(Ahearn et al., 2007, p. 62)." - CORRECT ANSWER - • Some students learn quickly using