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Original BCBA practice questions for Domains A–I, aligned to the public BACB 6th Edition Test Content Outline. Every answer comes with its reason, and with why the wrong answers are tempting.
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A girl has been practicing the piano most days. Her father begins praising her each time she practices. Over the next three weeks, she practices less and less often. What best explains the change?
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Why D is correct
A consequence is classified by its effect on the behavior it follows. If adding a stimulus after a response is followed by a decrease in that response, the stimulus has functioned as a punisher, however pleasant it seems and whatever it was meant to do (Ayvaci, Cox & Dimopoulos, 2025, introduction, on the functional definition of punishment). Practicing began producing praise, and from then on she practiced less and less often, so for her the praise is functioning as a punisher for practicing. Whether praise reinforces or punishes is judged from its effect on the individual's behavior, not from its form.
Why B is tempting
This is tempting because the idea that rewards spoil enjoyment is widely repeated. But "undermined intrinsic motivation" is an inner state inferred from the same decline it is offered to explain, so it names no observed cause; the observed relation, a decrease after praise was added, is what defines punishment. In a meta-analysis of 128 studies, positive feedback also enhanced, rather than undermined, free-choice behavior and self-reported interest overall (Deci, Koestner & Ryan, 1999, abstract).
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