Question
Difficulty: easy. Skill: recognize. Type: experimental design critique.
A decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should:
AStart several changes at once and attribute later improvement to the preferred component.
BUse a simple pre-post comparison and describe any improvement as experimental control.
CCheck agreement, observer training, and implementation accuracy before changing the plan.Correct answer
DWithdraw an effective safety procedure to make the graph easier to interpret.
Content quality status
machine gate passedOrigOriginal study itemThis question was created for BCBA Scenario Tutor. It is not an official, leaked, or copied BACB exam question.
ChkAutomated validation passedThe item includes an answer key, explanation, wrong-choice notes, domain label, concept tags, and source notes. Automated checks cover structure, coverage, and consistency only. No named, credential-verifiable BCBA external review has occurred, and this is not a clinical or exam-validity certification.
DateLast machine check: 2026-07-05Source note: Original v2 item upgraded from internal task/concept map; not copied from official or commercial question banks.
Explanation
Answer CThe decision point is: Does the answer protect experimental control and avoid unsupported causal claims? This item specifically tests Internal and external validity through a data-review-scenario format. The key clue is in the stem facts: A decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should: Answer C is strongest because it follows this rule: Check agreement, observer training, and implementation accuracy before changing the plan. It fits the source-backed rule without announcing that rule in the stem. The tempting mistake is to choose a shortcut before the scenario's prerequisite is satisfied. This choice is weaker because it does not resolve the key prerequisite in the scenario: a decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should: Exam move: name the missing prerequisite first, then eliminate answers that jump to a label, a familiar procedure, a single data point, or an undocumented action.
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Why this question is hard
ClueKey scenario clueA decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should:
TrapCommon trapThis choice is weaker because it does not resolve the key prerequisite in the scenario: a decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should:
NextIf you missed it, review Internal validity and confoundsThen answer a few related scenarios before moving back to broad practice.
Exam-style review notes
Structured study guidance maintained by Bifang Studio's internal editors and automated quality checks.
RuleInternal and external validity: Measurement quality and procedural integrityDoes the answer protect experimental control and avoid unsupported causal claims?
ClueWhat the stem gives youA decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should:
TrapCommon trapAverage observer scores instead of checking agreement. This often shows up as assuming data are accurate because they are graphed..
FixIf you missed this itemRewrite the miss as a rule: "When I see Measurement quality and procedural integrity, I must identify the relevant evidence before choosing the action." Then answer two related D domain questions without reading explanations first.
NextNext drillPractice 3 more questions tagged to Measurement quality and procedural integrity, then explain why each wrong answer is weaker before moving back to mixed practice.
Source-aware internal editorial maintenance using src-bacb-bcba-tco-6ed for study organization; not an official BACB item and not externally reviewed by a named, verifiable BCBA.
Why the other choices are weaker
AChoice AThis choice is weaker because it does not resolve the key prerequisite in the scenario: a decrease in dropping to the floor after instructions occurs during the same week that staff change prompts, reinforcement, and session length. Across 5 sessions in service week 15, 3 observers recorded 17 minutes of observation in the home program. Before claiming the intervention caused the change, the BCBA should:
BChoice BThis choice weakens the data basis for the decision. A defensible answer must check whether the measurement, observation, or visual-analysis evidence supports the next step.
DChoice DThis choice weakens the data basis for the decision. A defensible answer must check whether the measurement, observation, or visual-analysis evidence supports the next step.
Study tags
Measurement quality and procedural integrityInternal and external validityvalidityreliability
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Machine quality gatePublished by Bifang Studio. Content is maintained by internal editors with automated structure, coverage, and consistency checks. No content has been externally reviewed by a named, credential-verifiable BCBA; these checks do not certify clinical quality or exam validity.