BCBA VOCABULARY QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS WITH SOLUTIONS 2024
Abative Effect - ANSWER A decrease in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by the
stimulus that is increased in reinforcing effectiveness by the same motivating operation.
Abolishing Operation (AO) - ANSWER A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness
of a stimulus, objects, or event.
Adjunctive Behavior/Schedule-Induced Behavior - ANSWER Behavior that occurs as a collateral effect of a
schedule of periodic reinforcement for other behavior
Antecedent - ANSWER An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a
behavior of interest.
Antecedent Intervention - ANSWER A behavior change strategy that manipulates contingency-
independent antecedent stimuli (motivating operations).
Applied Behavior Analysis - ANSWER The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior
are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables
responsible for the improvement in behavior.
Arbitrary Stimulus Class - ANSWER Antecedent stimuli that evoke the same response but do not
resemble each other in physical form or share a relational aspect.
Artifact - ANSWER An outcome or result that appears to exist because of the way it is measured but in
fact does not correspond to what actually happened.
Autoclitic - ANSWER A secondary verbal operant in which some aspect of a speaker's own verbal
behavior functions as an SD or an MO for an additional speaker verbal behavior.
Automatic Reinforcement - ANSWER Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of
others.
,Automaticity (of reinforcement) - ANSWER Refers to the fact that behavior is modified by its
consequences irrespective of the person's awareness.
Aversive Stimulus - ANSWER In general, an unpleasant or noxious stimulus, more technically, a stimulus
change or condition that functions (a) to evoke a behavior that has terminated it in the past; (b) as a
punisher when presented following behavior, and/or (c) as a reinforcer when withdrawn following
behavior.
Back-up Reinforcers - ANSWER Tangible objects, activities, or privileges that serve as reinforcers and that
can be purchased with tokens.
Backward Chaining - ANSWER A teaching procedure in which a trainer completes all but the last behavior
in a chain.
Baseline - ANSWER A condition of an experiment in which the independent variable is not present; data
obtained are the basis for determining the effects of the independent variable.
Behavior - ANSWER The activity of living organisms
Behavior-Altering Effect - ANSWER An alteration in the current frequency of behavior that has been
reinforced by the stimulus that is altered in effectiveness by the same motivating operation
Behavioral Contrast - ANSWER The phenomenon in which a change in one compound of a multiple
schedule that increases or decrease the rate of responding on that component is accompanied by a
change in the response rate in the opposite direction on the other, unaltered component of the
schedule.
Behavioral Cusp - ANSWER A behavior that has sudden and dramatic consequences that extend well
beyond the idiosyncratic change itself because it exposes the person to new environments, reinforcers,
contingencies, responses, and stimulus controls.
Behavioral Momentum - ANSWER A metaphor to describe a rate of responding and its resistance to
change following an alteration in reinforcement conditions.
, Behaviorism - ANSWER The philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms.
Component Analysis - ANSWER Any experiment designed to identify the active elements of a treatment
condition, the relative contributions of different variables in a treatment package, and/or the necessary
and sufficient components of an intervention.
Concurrent Schedule - ANSWER A schedule of reinforcement in which two or more contingencies of
reinforcement (elements) operate independently and simultaneously for two or more behaviors.
Conditional Probability - ANSWER The likelihood that a target behavior will occur in a given
circumstance.
Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO) - ANSWER A motivating operation whose value-altering effect
depends on a learning history.
Conditioned Punisher - ANSWER A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher
because of prior pairing with one or more other punishers.
Conditioned Reinforcer - ANSWER A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of prior
pairing with one or more other reinforcers.
Conditioned Stimulus - ANSWER The stimulus component of a conditioned reflex; a formerly neutral
stimulus change that elicits respondent behavior only after it has been paired with an unconditioned
stimulus (US) or another CS.
Conflict of Interest - ANSWER A situation in which a person in a position of responsibility or trust has
competing professional or personal interests that make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially.
Confounding Variable - ANSWER An uncontrolled factor known or suspected to exert influence on the
dependent variable.
Consequence - ANSWER A stimulus change that follows a behavior of interest.
ANSWERS WITH SOLUTIONS 2024
Abative Effect - ANSWER A decrease in the current frequency of behavior that has been reinforced by the
stimulus that is increased in reinforcing effectiveness by the same motivating operation.
Abolishing Operation (AO) - ANSWER A motivating operation that decreases the reinforcing effectiveness
of a stimulus, objects, or event.
Adjunctive Behavior/Schedule-Induced Behavior - ANSWER Behavior that occurs as a collateral effect of a
schedule of periodic reinforcement for other behavior
Antecedent - ANSWER An environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a
behavior of interest.
Antecedent Intervention - ANSWER A behavior change strategy that manipulates contingency-
independent antecedent stimuli (motivating operations).
Applied Behavior Analysis - ANSWER The science in which tactics derived from the principles of behavior
are applied to improve socially significant behavior and experimentation is used to identify the variables
responsible for the improvement in behavior.
Arbitrary Stimulus Class - ANSWER Antecedent stimuli that evoke the same response but do not
resemble each other in physical form or share a relational aspect.
Artifact - ANSWER An outcome or result that appears to exist because of the way it is measured but in
fact does not correspond to what actually happened.
Autoclitic - ANSWER A secondary verbal operant in which some aspect of a speaker's own verbal
behavior functions as an SD or an MO for an additional speaker verbal behavior.
Automatic Reinforcement - ANSWER Reinforcement that occurs independent of the social mediation of
others.
,Automaticity (of reinforcement) - ANSWER Refers to the fact that behavior is modified by its
consequences irrespective of the person's awareness.
Aversive Stimulus - ANSWER In general, an unpleasant or noxious stimulus, more technically, a stimulus
change or condition that functions (a) to evoke a behavior that has terminated it in the past; (b) as a
punisher when presented following behavior, and/or (c) as a reinforcer when withdrawn following
behavior.
Back-up Reinforcers - ANSWER Tangible objects, activities, or privileges that serve as reinforcers and that
can be purchased with tokens.
Backward Chaining - ANSWER A teaching procedure in which a trainer completes all but the last behavior
in a chain.
Baseline - ANSWER A condition of an experiment in which the independent variable is not present; data
obtained are the basis for determining the effects of the independent variable.
Behavior - ANSWER The activity of living organisms
Behavior-Altering Effect - ANSWER An alteration in the current frequency of behavior that has been
reinforced by the stimulus that is altered in effectiveness by the same motivating operation
Behavioral Contrast - ANSWER The phenomenon in which a change in one compound of a multiple
schedule that increases or decrease the rate of responding on that component is accompanied by a
change in the response rate in the opposite direction on the other, unaltered component of the
schedule.
Behavioral Cusp - ANSWER A behavior that has sudden and dramatic consequences that extend well
beyond the idiosyncratic change itself because it exposes the person to new environments, reinforcers,
contingencies, responses, and stimulus controls.
Behavioral Momentum - ANSWER A metaphor to describe a rate of responding and its resistance to
change following an alteration in reinforcement conditions.
, Behaviorism - ANSWER The philosophy of a science of behavior; there are various forms.
Component Analysis - ANSWER Any experiment designed to identify the active elements of a treatment
condition, the relative contributions of different variables in a treatment package, and/or the necessary
and sufficient components of an intervention.
Concurrent Schedule - ANSWER A schedule of reinforcement in which two or more contingencies of
reinforcement (elements) operate independently and simultaneously for two or more behaviors.
Conditional Probability - ANSWER The likelihood that a target behavior will occur in a given
circumstance.
Conditioned Motivating Operation (CMO) - ANSWER A motivating operation whose value-altering effect
depends on a learning history.
Conditioned Punisher - ANSWER A previously neutral stimulus change that functions as a punisher
because of prior pairing with one or more other punishers.
Conditioned Reinforcer - ANSWER A stimulus change that functions as a reinforcer because of prior
pairing with one or more other reinforcers.
Conditioned Stimulus - ANSWER The stimulus component of a conditioned reflex; a formerly neutral
stimulus change that elicits respondent behavior only after it has been paired with an unconditioned
stimulus (US) or another CS.
Conflict of Interest - ANSWER A situation in which a person in a position of responsibility or trust has
competing professional or personal interests that make it difficult to fulfill his or her duties impartially.
Confounding Variable - ANSWER An uncontrolled factor known or suspected to exert influence on the
dependent variable.
Consequence - ANSWER A stimulus change that follows a behavior of interest.
