Applied Behavior Analysis Technician (ABAT) Practice Test

The concept of terminal behavior refers to the specific, desired outcome or final behavior that one aims to achieve in a teaching or behavioral intervention context. Successive approximations represent gradual steps toward this terminal behavior, making this option the most aligned with the idea of progressing towards the desired goal.

In practice, successive approximations involve reinforcing behaviors that increasingly resemble the terminal behavior, thereby shaping the individual’s actions through a series of closer and closer approximations to that goal. This process is essential in applied behavior analysis to develop complex behaviors in incremental steps, which helps in effectively achieving the final target behavior.

The other options do not directly capture the idea of progressive steps leading to the terminal behavior as effectively. Initial behavior refers to the starting point that may not be significantly close to the terminal behavior. Intermediate behavior could describe behaviors that occur between the initial and terminal behavior but does not imply that they are systematically shaped towards the terminal behavior. Reinforced behavior indicates any behavior that has received reinforcement but does not specify whether it is progressively moving towards the terminal behavior or if it is simply maintained without systematic shaping. Thus, successive approximations are the most precise representation of behaviors on the pathway to achieving a terminal behavior.