Practice question
Concepts and Principles

Operant and respondent extinction: Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.

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

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Question

Difficulty: hard. Skill: analyze. Type: concept discrimination.

Client responds differently when the antecedent, consequence, or learning history changes. Which concept from operant and respondent extinction is most relevant? The case file includes 11 recent sessions, 1 implementer, and 3 settings.

A
Tell everyone to try harder and review the case next month
B
Treat the most recent data point as proof of the final conclusion
C
Base the decision on the descriptive label for repeating questions after instructions and bypass operant and respondent extinction
D
Classify the consequence by whether behavior increases or decreases and whether a stimulus is added or removed in relation to client's repeating questions after instructions

Correct answer

Explanation

Answer D

The clue is the combination of parent report that conflicts with recent session data, repeating questions after instructions, and the required task: Operant and respondent extinction. The case file includes 11 recent sessions, 1 implementer, and 3 settings. Classify the consequence by whether behavior increases or decreases and whether a stimulus is added or removed in relation to client's repeating questions after instructions is best because it answers that clue through reinforcement and punishment by behavior change 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 parent report that conflicts with recent session data, repeating questions after instructions, and the required task: Operant and respondent extinction. The case file includes 11 recent sessions, 1 implementer, and 3 settings.

Trap
Common trap

Vague delayed feedback does not create a measurable plan for improvement.

Next
If you missed it, review Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change

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

Why the other choices are weaker

A
Choice A

Vague delayed feedback does not create a measurable plan for improvement.

B
Choice B

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

C
Choice C

This is weaker because the label does not answer the Operant and respondent extinction decision point or test Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.

Study tags

Reinforcement and punishment by behavior changeOperant and respondent extinctionpositive reinforcementnegative reinforcement

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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 Concepts and Principles. It also includes study tags for Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change, Operant and respondent extinction, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement.

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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