Practice question
Concepts and Principles

Matching law and response allocation: Schedules, persistence, and response allocation.

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

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Question

Difficulty: easy. Skill: recognize. Type: concept discrimination.

Client responds differently when the antecedent, consequence, or learning history changes. Which concept from matching law and response allocation is most relevant? The case file includes 12 recent sessions, 2 implementers, and 3 settings.

A
Treat the most recent data point as proof of the final conclusion
B
Base the decision on the descriptive label for repeating questions after instructions and bypass matching law and response allocation
C
Use a familiar protocol even though it does not address schedules, persistence, and response allocation
D
Compare the schedule or relative reinforcement conditions before predicting persistence or allocation 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: Matching law and response allocation. The case file includes 12 recent sessions, 2 implementers, and 3 settings. Compare the schedule or relative reinforcement conditions before predicting persistence or allocation in relation to client's repeating questions after instructions is best because it answers that clue through schedules, persistence, and response allocation 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: Matching law and response allocation. The case file includes 12 recent sessions, 2 implementers, and 3 settings.

Trap
Common trap

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

Next
If you missed it, review Schedules, persistence, and response allocation

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 Matching law and response allocation decision point or test Schedules, persistence, and response allocation.

C
Choice C

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

Study tags

Schedules, persistence, and response allocationMatching law and response allocationschedulesbehavioral momentum

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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 Schedules, persistence, and response allocation, Matching law and response allocation, schedules, behavioral momentum.

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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