Practice question
Behavior Assessment

Conduct assessment before selecting intervention.

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

Question

Difficulty: medium. Skill: apply. Type: applied scenario.

A teacher reports that the learner engages in dropping to the floor, but no direct data or baseline information are available. What should the BCBA do first? The caregiver asks for a rationale that can be written in the treatment note.

A
Define the behavior and collect assessment data on antecedents, consequences, and patterns

Correct answer

B
Implement extinction in every setting immediately
C
Choose a reward menu without assessing the behavior
D
Add a punishment procedure before assessment is complete

Explanation

Answer A

Intervention selection should be based on operational definitions, baseline data, and assessment of relevant variables.

Why the other choices are weaker

B
Choice B

Extinction requires identifying the maintaining reinforcer and planning for safety.

C
Choice C

Preference information may help later, but function and baseline are missing.

D
Choice D

Punishment-first choices are weaker when function, safety, and less intrusive options have not been addressed.

Study tags

Functional AssessmentBaselineFunctional Analysis

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