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.

Test this weak areaPractice this domainDomain study hub

Question

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

Student responds differently when the antecedent, consequence, or learning history changes. Which concept from operant and respondent extinction is most relevant? The case file includes 5 recent sessions, 1 implementer, and 1 setting.

A
Change the intervention immediately based on the concern alone
B
Continue unchanged and ignore the new contextual information
C
Add a punishment procedure before clarifying function, risk, or feasibility
D
Classify the consequence by whether behavior increases or decreases and whether a stimulus is added or removed 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: Operant and respondent extinction. The case file includes 5 recent sessions, 1 implementer, and 1 setting. Classify the consequence by whether behavior increases or decreases and whether a stimulus is added or removed in relation to student's calling out during independent work 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 frequency data that vary from 3 to 11 responses per session, calling out during independent work, and the required task: Operant and respondent extinction. The case file includes 5 recent sessions, 1 implementer, and 1 setting.

Trap
Common trap

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

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

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

B
Choice B

Ignoring relevant data or context prevents a defensible behavior-analytic decision.

C
Choice C

A punishment-first response is weaker when less intrusive, function-based, or assessment steps have not been addressed.

Study tags

Reinforcement and punishment by behavior changeOperant and respondent extinctionpositive reinforcementnegative reinforcement

Turn this into a study plan

If this question felt difficult, practice a short drill from Concepts and Principles and use the review page to turn missed items into a weak-area plan.

Test this weak areaStart B domain drillReview missed questionsExplain my own question

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.

Try 5 similar questions

bcba-008Respondent versus operant conditioning: Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change, Respondent versus operant conditioning, positive reinforcementbcba-009Positive and negative reinforcement contingencies: Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change, Positive and negative reinforcement contingencies, positive reinforcementbcba-010Positive and negative punishment contingencies: Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change, Positive and negative punishment contingencies, positive reinforcementbcba-011Automatic versus socially mediated contingencies: Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change, Automatic versus socially mediated contingencies, positive reinforcementbcba-016Operant and respondent extinction: Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change.Reinforcement and punishment by behavior change, Operant and respondent extinction, positive reinforcement

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.

Practice interactively

Try more BCBA scenario questions in the interactive practice mode, then use review tools to track missed domains and flagged items.

Start diagnosticQuestion directoryMore free questions