Practice question
Concepts and Principles

Stimulus and response generalization: Stimulus control, discrimination, and generalization.

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

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Question

Difficulty: medium. Skill: apply. Type: concept discrimination.

In a home program, child's dropping to the floor when demands are presented changes after a specific antecedent and consequence arrangement. Which analysis best matches stimulus and response generalization? The case file includes 3 recent sessions, 2 implementers, and 3 settings.

A
Use a familiar protocol even though it does not address stimulus control, discrimination, and generalization
B
Rely on parent's report alone and stop collecting direct evidence
C
Analyze the antecedent conditions and whether responding occurs across trained and untrained stimuli in relation to child's dropping to the floor when demands are presented

Correct answer

D
Change the intervention immediately based on the concern alone

Explanation

Answer C

The clue is the combination of caregiver notes plus one direct observation, dropping to the floor when demands are presented, and the required task: Stimulus and response generalization. The case file includes 3 recent sessions, 2 implementers, and 3 settings. Analyze the antecedent conditions and whether responding occurs across trained and untrained stimuli in relation to child's dropping to the floor when demands are presented is best because it answers that clue through stimulus control, discrimination, and generalization 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 caregiver notes plus one direct observation, dropping to the floor when demands are presented, and the required task: Stimulus and response generalization. The case file includes 3 recent sessions, 2 implementers, and 3 settings.

Trap
Common trap

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

Next
If you missed it, review Motivating operations versus discriminative stimuli

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

Why the other choices are weaker

A
Choice A

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

B
Choice B

Stakeholder input matters, but direct data, context, and integrity checks are still needed for a defensible answer.

D
Choice D

This is weaker because it skips the assessment, integrity, or decision rule needed before changing procedures.

Study tags

Stimulus control, discrimination, and generalizationStimulus and response generalizationstimulus controldiscrimination

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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 Stimulus control, discrimination, and generalization, Stimulus and response generalization, stimulus control, discrimination.

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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