The Goals of Behavior Analysis: Description, Prediction, Control | BCBA Exam | BxM Education
Test your clinical discrimination skills with these three exam-style questions built specifically around the heavy-hitting domains of the 6th Edition Test Content Outline.
Question 1 (Domain A: Philosophical Foundations) A behavior analyst is observing a student in a 3rd-grade classroom. The analyst records that “when the teacher presents a math worksheet (Antecedent), the student tears the paper (Behavior), and the teacher removes the worksheet (Consequence).” The analyst does not yet attempt to explain why this happens or how to stop it; they are strictly documenting the observable events as they occur in real-time.
Which goal of the science of behavior analysis is the analyst currently executing?
A) Prediction
B) Control
C) Description
D) Explanation
Question 2 (Domain A: Predictive Analytics) An agency director reviews historical data for a client with severe elopement. The data shows that every time the client’s bedroom door is left unlocked during the night (Antecedent), the client leaves the house within 15 minutes (Behavior). Based on this consistent functional relation, the director states, “If we leave the door unlocked tonight, the client will likely elope.”
Which goal of behavior analysis is represented by this statement?
A) Description
B) Prediction
C) Control
D) Parsimony
Question 3 (Domain A: Applied Intervention) A BCBA designs an intervention where a specific antecedent stimulus (a visual “Break” card) is taught to a non-verbal child. When the child hands over the card, they are immediately granted access to a preferred sensory toy. Over time, the rate of aggressive head-banging decreases to near-zero, and the use of the break card increases. The analyst has successfully altered the environment to change the behavior.
Which ultimate goal of behavior analysis has been achieved?
A) Description
B) Prediction
C) Control
D) Selectionism
Written Answer Explained
Question 1 Breakdown (Domain A: Philosophical Foundations)
Core Scenario Summary: An analyst records antecedents, behaviors, and consequences without interpreting function or changing the environment.
Correct Answer: C) Description
Clinical Analysis & Distractor Rationales:
- Why C is Correct: Description is the first goal of science. It involves the objective observation and recording of events (what happened, when, and under what conditions) without yet establishing functional relations or manipulating variables. The analyst is simply “describing” the ABCs.
- Why A is Incorrect: Prediction requires demonstrating a correlation between two events over time (if X happens, Y will likely happen). This scenario is a single instance of recording, not a predictive statement based on repeated measures.
- Why B is Incorrect: Control involves the manipulation of an independent variable to produce a reliable change in a dependent variable. The analyst is not intervening or changing the environment here.
- Why D is Incorrect: Explanation is not one of the three primary goals of behavior analysis as defined by Baer, Wolf, and Risley (Description, Prediction, Control). While we seek functional explanations, the operational goals are the triad above.
Question 2 Breakdown (Domain A: Predictive Analytics)
Core Scenario Summary: A director uses past data to forecast future behavior based on a known antecedent-behavior relationship.
Correct Answer: B) Prediction
Clinical Analysis & Distractor Rationales:
- Why B is Correct: Prediction is achieved when repeated observations reveal a consistent functional relation between two events. If the analyst can reliably state that “Event A will be followed by Event B,” they have achieved prediction. The director is using historical consistency to forecast the outcome.
- Why A is Incorrect: Description is merely noting that the event occurred. Prediction goes a step further by using that description to forecast future occurrences.
- Why C is Incorrect: Control would involve the director locking the door to prevent the elopement. Merely stating that it will happen is prediction; stopping it is control.
- Why D is Incorrect: Parsimony is a philosophical assumption (choosing the simplest explanation), not one of the three primary goals of the science.
Question 3 Breakdown (Domain A: Applied Intervention)
Core Scenario Summary: An analyst manipulates the environment (teaching a card exchange) to produce a desired change in behavior (reducing aggression).
Correct Answer: C) Control
Clinical Analysis & Distractor Rationales:
- Why C is Correct: Control is the highest level of scientific understanding in behavior analysis. It occurs when a practitioner can manipulate an independent variable (the availability of the break card/reinforcement) to produce a reliable, socially significant change in the dependent variable (aggression). The analyst is “controlling” the outcome through environmental design.
- Why A is Incorrect: Description is passive recording. This scenario involves active intervention and change.
- Why B is Incorrect: Prediction is forecasting. This scenario involves causing the change, not just guessing it will happen.
- Why D is Incorrect: Selectionism is a philosophical assumption regarding how behavior is selected by consequences, not the operational goal of the intervention itself.