SPCE 609 EXAM QUESTIONS WITH CORRECT ANSWERS LATEST UPDATE 2026
Antecedent - Answers An environmental condition or stimulus change that exists or occurs prior to
the behavior.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) - Answers The process of analyzing and improving socially significant
behaviors through the scientific method.
Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) - Answers A natural science that studies behavior by
identifying functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment.
Automatic Reinforcement - Answers Reinforcement that occurs in the absence of social
consequences. This terminology is preferred over 'sensory reinforcement'.
Automatic Punishment - Answers Punishment that occurs in the absence of social consequences.
Behavioral Functions - Answers The reason a behavior occurs typically to gain attention, access to
tangibles, escape, or automatic reinforcement.
Behavior - Answers The portion of an organism's interaction with the environment that involves some
movement of the organism.
Behavior Altering Effect - Answers An increase or decrease in behavior due to the reinforcement
history.
Behavioral Cusp - Answers A behavior that opens access to new environments, reinforcers, or learning
opportunities, leading to broad developmental change.
Calibration - Answers The degree to which data from a measurement system match a true value or
standard. Identified errors guide corrections to improve the system.
Celeration - Answers The change in rate of responding over time.
Concurrent Chains (Schedule) Design - Answers An experimental design in which participants have
two or more response options resulting in different treatment procedures.
Conditioned Punisher - Answers A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher due
to prior pairing with other punishers.
Conditioned Reflex - Answers A learned stimulus-response functional relation with an antecedent
stimulus and the response it elicits.
Conditioned Reinforcer - Answers A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer due to prior pairing
with other reinforcers.
Conditioned Stimulus - Answers A neutral stimulus that becomes conditioned when paired with an
unconditioned or conditioned stimulus.
Consequence - Answers A stimulus change that follows a behavior.
Contingency - Answers Dependent and temporal relations between operant behavior and its
controlling variables.
Contingency-Shaped Behavior - Answers Behavior that is shaped through direct experience with
contingencies.
Continuous Schedule of Reinforcement - Answers Reinforcing every occurrence of behavior (known as
an FR1 or CRF).
Deprivation - Answers The increase in the effectiveness of a reinforcer after limited to no exposure.
Direct Measurement - Answers The behavior that is measured is the same as the behavior that is the
focus of the investigation.
Discrete Trial - Answers A structured teaching method involving a clear antecedent, a specific
behavior, and a consequence.
Discriminated Operant - Answers An operant that occurs more frequently under certain antecedents.
Discriminative Stimulus - Answers A stimulus that signals the availability of reinforcement for a
specific behavior.
Environment - Answers The physical and social surroundings in which behavior occurs.
Event Recording - Answers A method of measuring behavior by counting each time it occurs.
Explanatory Fiction - Answers A presumed cause of behavior that lacks observable evidence and
doesn't improve understanding or prediction.
Exclusionary Time Out - Answers Following a behavior targeted for reduction, the individual is
removed from the current environment for a set time. Tactic based on negative punishment.
Fixed Interval - Answers Reinforcement is delivered for the first response after a fixed amount of time
has passed.
Fixed Ratio - Answers Reinforcement is delivered after a set number of responses.
Antecedent - Answers An environmental condition or stimulus change that exists or occurs prior to
the behavior.
Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) - Answers The process of analyzing and improving socially significant
behaviors through the scientific method.
Experimental Analysis of Behavior (EAB) - Answers A natural science that studies behavior by
identifying functional relations between behavior and controlling variables in the environment.
Automatic Reinforcement - Answers Reinforcement that occurs in the absence of social
consequences. This terminology is preferred over 'sensory reinforcement'.
Automatic Punishment - Answers Punishment that occurs in the absence of social consequences.
Behavioral Functions - Answers The reason a behavior occurs typically to gain attention, access to
tangibles, escape, or automatic reinforcement.
Behavior - Answers The portion of an organism's interaction with the environment that involves some
movement of the organism.
Behavior Altering Effect - Answers An increase or decrease in behavior due to the reinforcement
history.
Behavioral Cusp - Answers A behavior that opens access to new environments, reinforcers, or learning
opportunities, leading to broad developmental change.
Calibration - Answers The degree to which data from a measurement system match a true value or
standard. Identified errors guide corrections to improve the system.
Celeration - Answers The change in rate of responding over time.
Concurrent Chains (Schedule) Design - Answers An experimental design in which participants have
two or more response options resulting in different treatment procedures.
Conditioned Punisher - Answers A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher due
to prior pairing with other punishers.
Conditioned Reflex - Answers A learned stimulus-response functional relation with an antecedent
stimulus and the response it elicits.
Conditioned Reinforcer - Answers A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer due to prior pairing
with other reinforcers.
Conditioned Stimulus - Answers A neutral stimulus that becomes conditioned when paired with an
unconditioned or conditioned stimulus.
Consequence - Answers A stimulus change that follows a behavior.
Contingency - Answers Dependent and temporal relations between operant behavior and its
controlling variables.
Contingency-Shaped Behavior - Answers Behavior that is shaped through direct experience with
contingencies.
Continuous Schedule of Reinforcement - Answers Reinforcing every occurrence of behavior (known as
an FR1 or CRF).
Deprivation - Answers The increase in the effectiveness of a reinforcer after limited to no exposure.
Direct Measurement - Answers The behavior that is measured is the same as the behavior that is the
focus of the investigation.
Discrete Trial - Answers A structured teaching method involving a clear antecedent, a specific
behavior, and a consequence.
Discriminated Operant - Answers An operant that occurs more frequently under certain antecedents.
Discriminative Stimulus - Answers A stimulus that signals the availability of reinforcement for a
specific behavior.
Environment - Answers The physical and social surroundings in which behavior occurs.
Event Recording - Answers A method of measuring behavior by counting each time it occurs.
Explanatory Fiction - Answers A presumed cause of behavior that lacks observable evidence and
doesn't improve understanding or prediction.
Exclusionary Time Out - Answers Following a behavior targeted for reduction, the individual is
removed from the current environment for a set time. Tactic based on negative punishment.
Fixed Interval - Answers Reinforcement is delivered for the first response after a fixed amount of time
has passed.
Fixed Ratio - Answers Reinforcement is delivered after a set number of responses.
