Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) Practice Test

If an experimenter tests the effects of various types of prompts on compliance, what is the independent variable?

1. The compliance level

2. The type of tasks given

3. The types of prompts used

4. The participant's behavior

The correct answer is: The types of prompts used

In an experiment where the aim is to test the effects of various types of prompts on compliance, the independent variable is the factor that the experimenter manipulates to observe its impact on another variable. In this case, the types of prompts used are varied, which means they are systematically changed by the experimenter to assess how they influence compliance levels. By altering the prompts, the researcher can determine if different prompting strategies lead to higher or lower levels of compliance among participants. The compliance level itself is a dependent variable, as it reflects the outcome that is measured as a result of changing the types of prompts. The type of tasks given, while potentially relevant to overall compliance, is not the variable being manipulated for the purpose of this specific experiment. The participant's behavior is also dependent on the prompts and the tasks, thus it does not represent a controlled manipulation in this context. Overall, identifying the types of prompts as the independent variable allows for a clearer understanding of how different instructional methods can influence participant behavior.