Ariana’s mom reports that Ariana is hitting and kicking during bathtime.  Angela, a behavior analyst, visits the home one time for a 1-hour observation of the behavior, during which she collects data on hitting and kicking and then graphs it. Angela then trains Ariana’s mom on the behavior plan, which includes putting fun toys in the bathtub for Ariana and rewarding her with coloring time after she has completed her bath. Which basic operation of the science of behavior analysis is missing from this example?

Sydney does one push-up, and 15 seconds later, does another push-up. This is an example of:

Jody, a BCBA, designs a treatment plan for her client, Brad, that includes: (a) a nonverbal blocking procedure to address Brad’s behavior of spitting on others, which has been maintained by adult attention; (b) a differential reinforcement for other behavior (DRO) procedure to target the removal of Brad’s behavior of spitting on others; (c) a program that trains Brad to choose appropriate self-initiated recreational activities; and (d) a mand-for-adult attention training protocol. When Jody notices Brad’s spitting behavior has decreased to some degree in the past 2 months, Jody eliminates the DRO procedure to see whether the decrease in Lexi’s behavior is maintained. Which type of analysis is Jody conducting?

A behavior analyst evaluates the effects of assessments and training protocols on the reading level of children with autism. Each 5-year-old autistic child takes a standardized reading test. Testing is followed by 3 years of assessments and treatment protocols. At the age of 10, when the children take another standardized reading test, the behavior analyst records that each child’s reading level has increased. Which aspect of this scenario is most likely an example of maturation effects? 

Kyle is interested in observing how often Roger, one of his clients, raises his hand to participate during history class. Kyle enters the classroom, picks up a pen and a piece of paper, and begins recording as soon as the history class starts. He marks each time Roger raises his hand to participate. Kyle ends his observation as soon as the history class ends. This is an example of a(n):

Julie is a BCBA working with her client Jamel on reducing his physical aggression. She implements a differential reinforcement for other behavior (DRO) procedure and measures its effectiveness at reducing Jamel’s total count per week of physical aggression. Julie uses preferred edible items such as peanuts and hard candy for every 30 minutes in which Jamel does not engage in physical aggression. When running the DRO procedure during one of the weeks, Jamel came into the clinic with a severe toothache. Another week, Jamel’s grandmother, who always sneaks him pieces of candy when no one is looking as a special treat, comes to visit from out of town and stays with his family at their house for a few days. Which of the following is the independent variable in this scenario?

Which of the following is an example of an outcome?

Alphonse is determining the effectiveness of a differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) procedure on decreasing his client’s tantrums. For every 10 minutes in which his client does not engage in tantrum behavior, they earn tokens. The amount of tokens varies based on the activity they are engaged in because the client appears to dislike some activities more than others. A week into implementing his DRO procedure, the client comes down with a cold. Despite this, Alphonse still sees an immediate decrease in tantrums and an increase in independent requests to take a break from his client. Which of the following is most likely to be an extraneous variable in this scenario?

Van, a BCBA, provides consulting services for a musician to help her improve her chord accuracy when playing the guitar. Van uses a handheld clicker to measure the number of times the musician presses incorrect chords. He then uses a shaping procedure to determine its effect on the number of times the musician presses incorrect chords. The musician suspects the new strings that she recently added to her guitar are responsible for the change in her performance. However, Van believes the handheld clicker he has been using is not counting all of the times he presses the device and could be affecting the count. Which of the following is the dependent variable in this scenario?

Tetske wants to monitor an employee’s off-task behavior. More specifically, Tetske is interested in the time the employee spends scrolling on their phone after their lunch break. Tetske starts a stopwatch when the employee first pulls out their phone and stops timing when the employee puts their phone away and gets back to work. Which continuous recording method did Tetske use?