Behavioral assessments
Behavioral assessments in applied behavior
analysis exam 1 –2025 study guide questions
and approved answers
Seven Dimensions of ABA: Conceptually Systematic - ✔✔✔Conceptually systematic: The interventions
used in ABA are based on empirically validated principles of behavior.
Seven Dimensions of ABA: Effective - ✔✔✔Effective: Interventions are considered effective if they
produce a change in behavior that is considered to have practical value or social significance, as opposed to
statistical significance.
Seven Dimensions of ABA: Generality - ✔✔✔Generalizable: Behavioral interventions are only effective if
the results extend to a variety of settings, caregivers, or related behaviors and if they are maintained over
time.
Behaviorist Approaches used by ABA - ✔✔✔- Discrete Trial Training
- Incidental Training
- Pivotal Response Training
Example of DTT - ✔✔✔A session of DTT might involve a therapist placing a red card and a blue card on a
table and asking the child to touch the one that is red. If the child does so correctly, the child is rewarded; if
not, the trial is repeated until the correct response is provided several times in a row. If a child has difficulty
performing the task, the therapist might provide a prompt. For example, the therapist may point or look in
the direction of the red card. Prompts are usually faded out gradually as the frequency of correct responses
increases.
What is Incidental Training? - ✔✔✔- Incidental training: This method employs the same approach as DTT,
but it works to teach behaviors within the context of the child's daily life. A child could therefore be taught a
new behavior while sitting in a classroom and interacting with peers (as opposed to sitting in an office and
interacting with a therapist).
@ pg. 1
, Behavioral assessments
Incidental Training Example - ✔✔✔During a break, a girl might say to her teacher, "Want ball." The
teacher could use this as an opportunity for incidental training by asking, "Do you want the red ball or the
blue ball?" If the girl elaborates on her initial request by naming the color of the ball she wants, the teacher
would reward her with that ball. This aspect of ABA may also be conducted by parents at home. For
example, a mother coloring with her son might ask him to pass her the blue crayon. If he does, he would be
rewarded, and if he does not, the mother might provide assistance in the form of a prompt.
What is Pivotal Response Training? - ✔✔✔Pivotal response training: This approach teaches children skills
that affect a wide variety of behaviors. When a child masters a pivotal skill, parents typically notice
improvement in several other areas.
Pivotal Response Training Example - ✔✔✔A child who learns to sit quietly, for example, may exhibit
better behavior in school, get along with teachers more easily, and listen more attentively to directions.
Pivotal response training therefore helps to generalize behaviors that have been learned or improved on in a
therapy setting by applying them to everyday situations.
Autism and ABA - ✔✔✔- to increase behaviors (eg reinforcement procedures increase on-task behavior, or
social interactions);
History of ABA - ✔✔✔- Evolved and uses concepts of behaviorism developed by John B. Watson and B.F
Skinner.
- The emergence of ABA as a distinct scientific field occurred in the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1968, Donald
Baer, Montrose Wolf, and Todd Risley introduced seven dimensions of ABA in the inaugural issue of the
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Six key components of ABA - ✔✔✔- guided by methods of scientific inquiry
- All behavior change procedures are described and implemented systematically and technologically
- Focus is socially significant behavior
- make meaningful improvement in behavior
- analyses factors responsible for improvement
- Concepts are derived from the basic principles of behavior.
ABC's of ABA - ✔✔✔- Antecedent
@ pg. 2
Behavioral assessments in applied behavior
analysis exam 1 –2025 study guide questions
and approved answers
Seven Dimensions of ABA: Conceptually Systematic - ✔✔✔Conceptually systematic: The interventions
used in ABA are based on empirically validated principles of behavior.
Seven Dimensions of ABA: Effective - ✔✔✔Effective: Interventions are considered effective if they
produce a change in behavior that is considered to have practical value or social significance, as opposed to
statistical significance.
Seven Dimensions of ABA: Generality - ✔✔✔Generalizable: Behavioral interventions are only effective if
the results extend to a variety of settings, caregivers, or related behaviors and if they are maintained over
time.
Behaviorist Approaches used by ABA - ✔✔✔- Discrete Trial Training
- Incidental Training
- Pivotal Response Training
Example of DTT - ✔✔✔A session of DTT might involve a therapist placing a red card and a blue card on a
table and asking the child to touch the one that is red. If the child does so correctly, the child is rewarded; if
not, the trial is repeated until the correct response is provided several times in a row. If a child has difficulty
performing the task, the therapist might provide a prompt. For example, the therapist may point or look in
the direction of the red card. Prompts are usually faded out gradually as the frequency of correct responses
increases.
What is Incidental Training? - ✔✔✔- Incidental training: This method employs the same approach as DTT,
but it works to teach behaviors within the context of the child's daily life. A child could therefore be taught a
new behavior while sitting in a classroom and interacting with peers (as opposed to sitting in an office and
interacting with a therapist).
@ pg. 1
, Behavioral assessments
Incidental Training Example - ✔✔✔During a break, a girl might say to her teacher, "Want ball." The
teacher could use this as an opportunity for incidental training by asking, "Do you want the red ball or the
blue ball?" If the girl elaborates on her initial request by naming the color of the ball she wants, the teacher
would reward her with that ball. This aspect of ABA may also be conducted by parents at home. For
example, a mother coloring with her son might ask him to pass her the blue crayon. If he does, he would be
rewarded, and if he does not, the mother might provide assistance in the form of a prompt.
What is Pivotal Response Training? - ✔✔✔Pivotal response training: This approach teaches children skills
that affect a wide variety of behaviors. When a child masters a pivotal skill, parents typically notice
improvement in several other areas.
Pivotal Response Training Example - ✔✔✔A child who learns to sit quietly, for example, may exhibit
better behavior in school, get along with teachers more easily, and listen more attentively to directions.
Pivotal response training therefore helps to generalize behaviors that have been learned or improved on in a
therapy setting by applying them to everyday situations.
Autism and ABA - ✔✔✔- to increase behaviors (eg reinforcement procedures increase on-task behavior, or
social interactions);
History of ABA - ✔✔✔- Evolved and uses concepts of behaviorism developed by John B. Watson and B.F
Skinner.
- The emergence of ABA as a distinct scientific field occurred in the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1968, Donald
Baer, Montrose Wolf, and Todd Risley introduced seven dimensions of ABA in the inaugural issue of the
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis.
Six key components of ABA - ✔✔✔- guided by methods of scientific inquiry
- All behavior change procedures are described and implemented systematically and technologically
- Focus is socially significant behavior
- make meaningful improvement in behavior
- analyses factors responsible for improvement
- Concepts are derived from the basic principles of behavior.
ABC's of ABA - ✔✔✔- Antecedent
@ pg. 2
