Practice question
Experimental Design

Threats to internal validity: Measurement quality and procedural integrity.

Original BCBA scenario practice question with answer explanation and wrong-choice notes.

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Question

Difficulty: hard. Skill: analyze. Type: experimental design critique.

The team wants stronger evidence before scaling a plan for following a visual schedule. Which design decision best fits threats to internal validity? The case file includes 12 recent sessions, 4 implementers, and 1 setting.

A
Treat the most recent data point as proof of the final conclusion
B
Base the decision on the descriptive label for calling out during independent work and bypass threats to internal validity
C
Use a familiar protocol even though it does not address measurement quality and procedural integrity
D
Check measurement quality, observer agreement, and procedural integrity before making a major decision in relation to student's calling out during independent work

Correct answer

Explanation

Answer D

The clue is the combination of frequency data that vary from 3 to 11 responses per session, calling out during independent work, and the required task: Threats to internal validity. The case file includes 12 recent sessions, 4 implementers, and 1 setting. Check measurement quality, observer agreement, and procedural integrity before making a major decision in relation to student's calling out during independent work is best because it answers that clue through measurement quality and procedural integrity instead of treating the scenario as a generic behavior problem. On exam items like this, name the decision point first, then eliminate options that rely on one report, a label, a familiar protocol, or an action that skips the relevant data check.

Why this question is hard

Clue
Key scenario clue

The clue is the combination of frequency data that vary from 3 to 11 responses per session, calling out during independent work, and the required task: Threats to internal validity. The case file includes 12 recent sessions, 4 implementers, and 1 setting.

Trap
Common trap

A single point rarely supports a strong conclusion without considering trend, variability, and context.

Next
If you missed it, review Internal validity and confounds

Then answer a few related scenarios before moving back to broad practice.

Why the other choices are weaker

A
Choice A

A single point rarely supports a strong conclusion without considering trend, variability, and context.

B
Choice B

This is weaker because the label does not answer the Threats to internal validity decision point or test Measurement quality and procedural integrity.

C
Choice C

A familiar protocol is not enough unless it matches the assessed variables and the current decision question.

Study tags

Measurement quality and procedural integrityThreats to internal validityvalidityreliability

Turn this into a study plan

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Related study guides

GuideDistractor patternsUse this if the wrong answer sounded plausible.GuideMissed-question reviewUse this if you want to turn the miss into a study rule.GuideScore plateau guideUse this if similar mistakes keep repeating.

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Question FAQ

What BCBA domain does this question cover?

This practice question is tagged to Experimental Design. It also includes study tags for Measurement quality and procedural integrity, Threats to internal validity, validity, reliability.

How should I review this practice question?

Answer the scenario before reading the explanation, compare your reasoning with the correct answer, then review why the distractors are weaker.

Is this an official BACB exam question?

No. This is an original study question for BCBA Scenario Tutor and is not an official BACB exam item.

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