Exam 4: Applications of Behaviorist Principles

Loretta has been painting graffiti on the school walls after school hours. The school principal and the school counselor discuss the problem. The counselor thinks they should try to eliminate the graffiti-painting by asking her to chair a clean-up-the-school committee, then giving her school-wide recognition for her efforts. The counselor is suggesting:

Which one of the following is an example of reinforcing an incompatible behavior as a way of eliminating an undesirable behavior?

Vanessa frequently complains of getting terrible headaches and so ends up at the nurse's office several times a week. Yet two different physicians have been unable to find a cause for Vanessa's headaches, and Vanessa's parents report that their daughter rarely has headaches at home. Vanessa is falling further and further behind in her schoolwork, so Vanessa's teacher and parents meet with the nurse and school psychologist to brainstorm possible solutions to Vanessa's problem. The school psychologist suggests that the teacher keep track of the occasions when Vanessa complains about a headache. Two weeks later, the teacher reports that all of Vanessa's complaints occur just before a test or difficult assignment. Suddenly the teacher and parents begin to suspect that perhaps Vanessa complains of headaches as a way of getting out of having to do difficult assignments. Here we see the initial steps in a process known as:

One of the following strategies, in addition to suppressing the punished behavior, is likely to suppress similar misbehaviors as well. Furthermore, it is likely to be effective even when punishment does not occur immediately. Which strategy best fits this description?

Judging from the brief descriptions below, which of these four teachers is most likely to be using a mastery learning approach?

"The student will correctly point to the location of all fifty states." This statement is missing one of the three recommended components of behavioral objectives. Which component is missing?

Describe the mastery learning approach to instruction, identifying five major components that are typically included. Then give a concrete example of how you might use mastery learning to teach a specific topic, being sure to illustrate all five of the components you listed.

Three of the following are typical components of positive behavior support in classroom settings. Which one is not typical?

Describe three major characteristics of programmed instruction, and relate each one to a principle or concept from behaviorism.

An instructional objective that requires students to identify the different parts of speech in a sentence is at the ________ level in Bloom's taxonomy.

Three of the following are almost always found in applied behavior analysis ABA). Which one is not necessarily characteristic of ABA?

An instructional objective that requires students to recite a definition exactly as it has been presented is at the ________ level in Bloom's taxonomy.

A variety of discipline-specific professional organizations have developed context area standards e.g., Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards) that educators might apply in identifying instructional objectives for a classroom or school district. Three of the following are accurate statements about these standards. Which one is not necessarily true?

Judging from the brief descriptions below, which one of these four teachers is most likely to be using a mastery learning approach?

Mrs. Sloan wanted to use behaviorist approaches in her classroom. She decided to test the students many times throughout her course. Which assessment practice is she employing?

Mrs. Berk gives extra credit to each of his students who pick up 5 pieces of trash in the classroom before the bell rings at the end of the day. Despite the fact that most of the students pick up 5 pieces of trash before the end of the day, some students never participate in the cleanup. Which of the following statements explains why some students do not participate in the cleanup at the end of the day.

A mastery learning approach would probably be most suitable for teaching:

Which one of the following alternatives best describes schoolwide positive behavior support?

For which of the following students would behaviorist approaches to instruction be least helpful?

Matthew knows his teacher will give him credit for each assignment he completes on time, without regard for the accuracy of what he does. As a result, Matthew often completes his work quickly, sloppily, and sometimes incorrectly. This situation illustrates which one of the following concerns regarding the use of behaviorist techniques in the classroom?