ABAT COMPREHENSIVE EXAM 2025/2026 QUESTIONS
WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔What is joint attention? - ✔✔Occurs when two people share interests in an object
-when the child points to something, not because they want it, but to show it to someone
for a social purpose
-child can respond to someone initiating the joint attention or they can initiate it
EXAMPLE: pointing to a toy, bringing attention to something
✔✔What is HYPERsensitivity? - ✔✔-over reactivity to sensory input
-being overwhelmed by a stimulus that most people would consider normal or common
EXAMPLE: whenever the phone rings, a child with hypersensitivity might close their
ears shut because they are sensitive to the noise
✔✔What is HYPOsensitivity? - ✔✔- under reactivity to sensory input
- brain does not register incoming stimuli appropriately so the child is not as affected by
the stimuli
EXAMPLE: child spinning constantly and never appears to be dizzy
✔✔What is serial memory processing? - ✔✔-the act of attending to and processing one
item at a time
- information is sequential or in stages
-similar to DTT
EXAMPLE: when teaching a kid about coins, you introduce each coin individually
✔✔What is parallel memory processing? - ✔✔-the act of attending to and processing all
items simultaneously
—knowing your color, motion, shape, and depth
-similar to PRT
✔✔What are the functions of behaviors? - ✔✔1. SELF STIMULATORY : the individual
behaves in a specific way because it feels good to them
2. ESCAPE/AVOIDANCE : the individual engages in a behavior to get out of doing
something he/she does not want to do
3. ATTENTION SEEKING : the individual engages in a behavior to get focuses attention
from parents, teachers, siblings, or peers
4. TANGIBLES (ACCESS/TARGETING) : individual engages in a hagiography in order
to get a highly preferred item or participate in a highly preferred activity
✔✔What is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? - ✔✔- GOAL : to
provide students with disabilities the same opportunity for education as those students
who do not have a disability; providing free appropriate public education (FAPE) with no
cost and Special Education specifically designed to meet the needs of the students
unique needs
, ✔✔What is Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)? - ✔✔-part of IDEA
-states that children who receive special education, should learn in a least restrictive
environment
-children should get to spend as much time as possible in the general education
classroom with other children who are not in special education
✔✔What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)? - ✔✔- a written legal document that is
tailored to a public school child who qualifies for special education
- describes how the students learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning
and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more
effectively
-intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise
would
✔✔What is Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP)? - ✔✔- an assessment
instrument designed for teachers to observe, document, and reflect on learning,
development and progress of children birth - 12 years of age, who are enrolled in early
care and education programs and before and after school programs
✔✔The four goals of DRDP - ✔✔1. Children are personally and socially competent
2. Children are effective learners
3. Children show physical and motor competence
4. Children are safe and healthy
✔✔What is Functional Performance Assessment (FBA)? - ✔✔- used as part Applied
Behavior Analysis (ABA)
- designed to help healthcare professionals uncover the function of behavior which then
guides the development and selection of appropriate treatment
✔✔What does a FBA do? - ✔✔- enables a hypothesis about relations between the
environment and the problem behavior
- gathers information about the function of the behavior
- identifies reinforcers that maintain the behavior and uses this information as a basis for
intervention efforts
- fosters proactive, positive autism interventions
✔✔What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)? - ✔✔- ABA is the science in which the
principles of the analysis of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially
significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for
behavior change
- a way to teach, manage and reduce behaviors
- GOAL : to directly observe, measure, and analyze the relations between environment
and behavior
WITH ANSWERS RATED A+
✔✔What is joint attention? - ✔✔Occurs when two people share interests in an object
-when the child points to something, not because they want it, but to show it to someone
for a social purpose
-child can respond to someone initiating the joint attention or they can initiate it
EXAMPLE: pointing to a toy, bringing attention to something
✔✔What is HYPERsensitivity? - ✔✔-over reactivity to sensory input
-being overwhelmed by a stimulus that most people would consider normal or common
EXAMPLE: whenever the phone rings, a child with hypersensitivity might close their
ears shut because they are sensitive to the noise
✔✔What is HYPOsensitivity? - ✔✔- under reactivity to sensory input
- brain does not register incoming stimuli appropriately so the child is not as affected by
the stimuli
EXAMPLE: child spinning constantly and never appears to be dizzy
✔✔What is serial memory processing? - ✔✔-the act of attending to and processing one
item at a time
- information is sequential or in stages
-similar to DTT
EXAMPLE: when teaching a kid about coins, you introduce each coin individually
✔✔What is parallel memory processing? - ✔✔-the act of attending to and processing all
items simultaneously
—knowing your color, motion, shape, and depth
-similar to PRT
✔✔What are the functions of behaviors? - ✔✔1. SELF STIMULATORY : the individual
behaves in a specific way because it feels good to them
2. ESCAPE/AVOIDANCE : the individual engages in a behavior to get out of doing
something he/she does not want to do
3. ATTENTION SEEKING : the individual engages in a behavior to get focuses attention
from parents, teachers, siblings, or peers
4. TANGIBLES (ACCESS/TARGETING) : individual engages in a hagiography in order
to get a highly preferred item or participate in a highly preferred activity
✔✔What is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)? - ✔✔- GOAL : to
provide students with disabilities the same opportunity for education as those students
who do not have a disability; providing free appropriate public education (FAPE) with no
cost and Special Education specifically designed to meet the needs of the students
unique needs
, ✔✔What is Least Restrictive Environment (LRE)? - ✔✔-part of IDEA
-states that children who receive special education, should learn in a least restrictive
environment
-children should get to spend as much time as possible in the general education
classroom with other children who are not in special education
✔✔What is an Individual Education Plan (IEP)? - ✔✔- a written legal document that is
tailored to a public school child who qualifies for special education
- describes how the students learns, how the student best demonstrates that learning
and what teachers and service providers will do to help the student learn more
effectively
-intended to help children reach educational goals more easily than they otherwise
would
✔✔What is Desired Results Developmental Profile (DRDP)? - ✔✔- an assessment
instrument designed for teachers to observe, document, and reflect on learning,
development and progress of children birth - 12 years of age, who are enrolled in early
care and education programs and before and after school programs
✔✔The four goals of DRDP - ✔✔1. Children are personally and socially competent
2. Children are effective learners
3. Children show physical and motor competence
4. Children are safe and healthy
✔✔What is Functional Performance Assessment (FBA)? - ✔✔- used as part Applied
Behavior Analysis (ABA)
- designed to help healthcare professionals uncover the function of behavior which then
guides the development and selection of appropriate treatment
✔✔What does a FBA do? - ✔✔- enables a hypothesis about relations between the
environment and the problem behavior
- gathers information about the function of the behavior
- identifies reinforcers that maintain the behavior and uses this information as a basis for
intervention efforts
- fosters proactive, positive autism interventions
✔✔What is Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)? - ✔✔- ABA is the science in which the
principles of the analysis of behavior are applied systematically to improve socially
significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables responsible for
behavior change
- a way to teach, manage and reduce behaviors
- GOAL : to directly observe, measure, and analyze the relations between environment
and behavior
