SPCE 630 CORE EXAM 2026 SET QUESTIONS AND
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔comparison of competing interventions - ✔✔when faced with the same problem or
issues, different investigators study different interventions. one may focus on
intervention B and study it several times through systematic replications, and another
may do the same with intervention C. the question is, which of those effective
interventions will result in more efficient learning or more rapid deceleration of the
challenging behaviors?
✔✔comparison of an innovation to an established intervention - ✔✔goal to determine
whether the innovation or established intervention results in better outcomes. two
requirements are important. a) the established intervention must be used as its
developers recommend and be applied to behaviors, participants, and contexts similar
to those in original research. b) the innovation should be sufficiently well studied so an
effective and refined form of it can be used.
✔✔comparisons to refine interventions - ✔✔evaluate variations of the same intervention
to develop and refine it. the variations may include parametric questions, such as
whether using more or less of a procedure results in differential behavior changes. other
variations may focus on component analyses. some can focus on procedural fidelity. the
goal of these studies is to compare a form of the intervention that was effective in
previous studies to a variation of that form.
✔✔comparisons to understand interactions - ✔✔research focuses on whether two or
more interventions are more or less effective given a couple contextual variables.
contextual variables can be categorized on at least four dimensions a) physical space
and materials b) social structure c) temporal structure, d) instructional characteristics.
the goal of such studies is to discern whether one intervention produces differential
patterns of responding under varying conditions.
✔✔comparison of popular and research based interventions - ✔✔when a widely used
intervention with little or no research support is suggested for use it is prudent to
compare the effects of the untested interventions with an intervention supported by
research. assess the effectiveness of two different interventions, one research based
and one widely used exist in the recent literature.
these studies use a sequential demonstration approach or a comparison design.
✔✔multi treatment interference - ✔✔the influence one experimental condition has on
performance under another experimental condition. these effects can occur in
demonstration designs, but they are more likely when the experimental conditions are
both therapeutic in nature.
, ✔✔carryover effects (multi treatment interference) - ✔✔the influence of one
experimental condition on performance under another condition due to the nature of the
initial condition
✔✔sequence effects (multi treatment interference) - ✔✔the influence of one condition
on another due to the ordering of experimental conditions.
✔✔rapid alternation effects (multi treatment interference) - ✔✔the effects on
performance due to rapidly changing conditions
✔✔non reversibility of effects - ✔✔when comparing two interventions, one threat to
internal validity is this. it refers to the likelihood that once behavior change occurs, it will
maintain even when the condition resulting in the behavior change is removed.
✔✔separation of treatments issue - ✔✔most comparative studies are conducted to
evaluate the superiority of one intervention over others. this occurs when using some
comparison designs: when two or more interventions are applied to the same behavior,
the ultimate levels of the behavior cannot be attributed to only one intervention.
✔✔multi treatment designs - ✔✔variations of the ABAB design developed to compare
treatments are called this. the simplest multi treatment design includes BCBC
sequence.
these designs require only one dependent variable, but more are recommended.
these designs can be used with or without a baseline condition.
useful for answering many research questions, including comparisons of two different
interventions, analyses of components of treatment packages, and parametric analyses.
✔✔alternating treatment designs - ✔✔and the multi element design are procedurally
similar. this is used to compare interventions while the multi element design is used to
assess factors that may be maintaining challenging behaviors.
ATD uses rapid and repeated manipulation of at least two conditions. It might look like
ABBAABBABAABAB
ATD requires measurement of one reversible behavior. the purpose of the ATD
variation is to compare two or more interventions.
✔✔adapted alternating treatments design - ✔✔developed to compare instructional
practices with non reversible behaviors. the AATD is useful when comparing
interventions for teaching functional, developmental, or academic behaviors.
when this is used, independent variables are each applied to different behavior sets or
behavior chains.
✔✔selecting behaviors of equal difficulty - ✔✔a convincing method is an experimental
evaluation of the difficulty of behavior sets/chains. this is done by teaching behaviors to
non participant individuals who are similar to participants who will be recruited for the
actual study using the same intervention.
SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
✔✔comparison of competing interventions - ✔✔when faced with the same problem or
issues, different investigators study different interventions. one may focus on
intervention B and study it several times through systematic replications, and another
may do the same with intervention C. the question is, which of those effective
interventions will result in more efficient learning or more rapid deceleration of the
challenging behaviors?
✔✔comparison of an innovation to an established intervention - ✔✔goal to determine
whether the innovation or established intervention results in better outcomes. two
requirements are important. a) the established intervention must be used as its
developers recommend and be applied to behaviors, participants, and contexts similar
to those in original research. b) the innovation should be sufficiently well studied so an
effective and refined form of it can be used.
✔✔comparisons to refine interventions - ✔✔evaluate variations of the same intervention
to develop and refine it. the variations may include parametric questions, such as
whether using more or less of a procedure results in differential behavior changes. other
variations may focus on component analyses. some can focus on procedural fidelity. the
goal of these studies is to compare a form of the intervention that was effective in
previous studies to a variation of that form.
✔✔comparisons to understand interactions - ✔✔research focuses on whether two or
more interventions are more or less effective given a couple contextual variables.
contextual variables can be categorized on at least four dimensions a) physical space
and materials b) social structure c) temporal structure, d) instructional characteristics.
the goal of such studies is to discern whether one intervention produces differential
patterns of responding under varying conditions.
✔✔comparison of popular and research based interventions - ✔✔when a widely used
intervention with little or no research support is suggested for use it is prudent to
compare the effects of the untested interventions with an intervention supported by
research. assess the effectiveness of two different interventions, one research based
and one widely used exist in the recent literature.
these studies use a sequential demonstration approach or a comparison design.
✔✔multi treatment interference - ✔✔the influence one experimental condition has on
performance under another experimental condition. these effects can occur in
demonstration designs, but they are more likely when the experimental conditions are
both therapeutic in nature.
, ✔✔carryover effects (multi treatment interference) - ✔✔the influence of one
experimental condition on performance under another condition due to the nature of the
initial condition
✔✔sequence effects (multi treatment interference) - ✔✔the influence of one condition
on another due to the ordering of experimental conditions.
✔✔rapid alternation effects (multi treatment interference) - ✔✔the effects on
performance due to rapidly changing conditions
✔✔non reversibility of effects - ✔✔when comparing two interventions, one threat to
internal validity is this. it refers to the likelihood that once behavior change occurs, it will
maintain even when the condition resulting in the behavior change is removed.
✔✔separation of treatments issue - ✔✔most comparative studies are conducted to
evaluate the superiority of one intervention over others. this occurs when using some
comparison designs: when two or more interventions are applied to the same behavior,
the ultimate levels of the behavior cannot be attributed to only one intervention.
✔✔multi treatment designs - ✔✔variations of the ABAB design developed to compare
treatments are called this. the simplest multi treatment design includes BCBC
sequence.
these designs require only one dependent variable, but more are recommended.
these designs can be used with or without a baseline condition.
useful for answering many research questions, including comparisons of two different
interventions, analyses of components of treatment packages, and parametric analyses.
✔✔alternating treatment designs - ✔✔and the multi element design are procedurally
similar. this is used to compare interventions while the multi element design is used to
assess factors that may be maintaining challenging behaviors.
ATD uses rapid and repeated manipulation of at least two conditions. It might look like
ABBAABBABAABAB
ATD requires measurement of one reversible behavior. the purpose of the ATD
variation is to compare two or more interventions.
✔✔adapted alternating treatments design - ✔✔developed to compare instructional
practices with non reversible behaviors. the AATD is useful when comparing
interventions for teaching functional, developmental, or academic behaviors.
when this is used, independent variables are each applied to different behavior sets or
behavior chains.
✔✔selecting behaviors of equal difficulty - ✔✔a convincing method is an experimental
evaluation of the difficulty of behavior sets/chains. this is done by teaching behaviors to
non participant individuals who are similar to participants who will be recruited for the
actual study using the same intervention.
