Certified Brain Injury Specialist Exam (CBIS) Exam Guide - Part I-
Questions with Correct Answers/ Verified
What is pseudobulbar affect - ✔✔neurologic condition in which people are prone to
sudden, unexpected, inexplicable, and often inordinate episodes of crying or laughing
What factors influence the type and extent of behavioral difficulties an individual may
demonstrate after brain injury? - ✔✔site and severity of damage; pre-injury characteristics
of personality, intelligence, and learning style, and the current environment
What is coma-emergent agitation? How long does it last? - ✔✔episode of agitation that may
occur as an individual emerges from coma that is usually brief, lasting less than 10 days in
duration
What is consequence-based programming? - ✔✔interventions focused on learning; not
indicated for individuals emerging from coma and demonstrating agitation or confusion
What is often the safest and most efficient technique for dealing with agitation in a
behavior-based manner? - ✔✔through environmental management, where the focus is on
offering a quiet, organized, and structured environment with limited and carefully managed
stimulation
What is the Stability Triangle? - ✔✔Is a construct which is useful when identifying treatment
priorities and establishing the treatment plan; contains the following: establish medical
stability, promote behavior stability, and develop a stable activity plan
What is applied behavior analysis? - ✔✔the science of prediction and change of socially
significant behaviors
What is behavior? - ✔✔anything an individual does that can be measured, NOT necessarily
yelling/hitting/spitting/etc.
What is the goal of applied behavior analysis? - ✔✔to discover variables that reliably
influence behavior to either predict behavior change or promote behavior change
,What are indirect methods of behavior assessment? - ✔✔interviews, checklists, may be
reviewed with caregivers, family members, and the individual themselves; can be subject to
bias d/t self-reporting
What are direct methods of behavior assessment? - ✔✔direct observations of an individual,
either in a naturally-occurring situation or one in which specific variables have been
controlled or manipulated for assessment purposes
What is Functional Analysis/Functional Assessment - ✔✔methods of direct observation
within the field of behavior analysis conducted by BCBA to pinpoint the potential function or
purpose of a behavior via experimental manipulation
What is a functionally equivalent alternative? - ✔✔a behavior that serves the same function
as the target behavior but is safer or more appropriate and thus more useful for the
individual (e.g., instead of yelling resulting in d/c of a non-preferred task, request a break)
What is an operational definition? - ✔✔a definition that outlines what exactly will be
counted as an occurrence or episode of the behavior; must be observable and measurable,
and the definition must be specific enough such that multiple observers can agree upon
what would count as an occurrence
What are two dimensions of a behavior that will be important to take into account when
developing an operational definition? - ✔✔topography (what the behavior looks like
physically) and intensity (describing the measure of force)
What are five variables of interest when measuring behavior? - ✔✔frequency, rate,
duration, latency, and % correct
What is the four-term contingency within the field of behavior analysis? - ✔✔establishing
operation; discriminative stimulus; response/behavior; consequence
What is A-B-C analysis? - ✔✔A=antecedent, B=behavior/response, C=consequence
,What is positive reinforcement? - ✔✔adding something makes a response more likely to
occur in the future (e.g., if you do your chores, I'll give you $5)
What is negative reinforcement? - ✔✔taking away something makes a response more likely
to occur in the future (e.g., if you do your HW, you can skip chores tonight)
What is positive punishment? - ✔✔adding something to make a response less likely in the
future (e.g., if you hit your sister, you have to do the chores)
What is negative punishment? - ✔✔taking something away to make a response less likely in
the future (e.g., if you hit your sister, you can't play Xbox)
What are 3 kinds of schedules of reinforcement? - ✔✔extinction (decline in previously
reinforced response d/t no more consequence), continuous (response always produces
reinforcer), and intermittent (response sometimes produces a reinforcer)
What are consequence-based interventions? - ✔✔systematic intervention wherein the
target behavior is followed by a specific kind of consequences, which depends on whether
the behavior is targeted for increase or decrease
What is a task analysis? - ✔✔a list of very specific steps involved in completing a task; can
be used to break down larger tasks into smaller component steps
What is a shaping technique? - ✔✔reinforcing actions that loosely resemble the target
behavior and are more easily displayed by an individual (successive approximations)
What is fading? - ✔✔the process by which one learns to produce the same response under
gradually changing conditions
What is generalization? - ✔✔when one begins to respond similarly to different stimuli or
situations in which they have not been trained
, What is discrimination? - ✔✔when an individual responds differently to similar stimuli
What are some examples of paraverbal behavior? - ✔✔personal space, body posture and
motion, facial expression and gaze, and tone, volume and cadence of speech
What are some de-escalation techniques to consider when individuals demonstrate
increased frustration and agitation? - ✔✔active listening, orientation, redirection, setting
limits, withdrawing attention, and contracting (clearly defining the parameters of
expectation)
How many Americans are living with long-term disabilities secondary to brain injury? -
✔✔5.3 million
What is cognition (as described by ACRM)? - ✔✔a complex collection of conscious mental
activity such as attention, perception, comprehension, remembering, or using language and
can generally be thought of as an individual's ability to mentally represent, organize, or
manipulate the environment
What are the five types of attention? - ✔✔focused, sustained, selective, alternating, divided
What is focused attention? - ✔✔ability to respond discretely to specific visual, auditory or
tactile stimuli
What is sustained attention? - ✔✔maintain attention to complete a task accurately and
efficiently over a period of time
What is selective attention? - ✔✔maintain attention in presence of competing distractors
What is alternating attention? - ✔✔shift focus between tasks
What is divided attention? - ✔✔respond simultaneously to multiple task demands while
maintaining speed and accuracy
