Aslam, a 12-year-old, gets too tired by evening to complete his homework. This is because he goes off for football training soon after school. The school counsellor advised Aslam to reduce his football training time and increase his weekend practice time. This way, Aslam will not be too tired and will be able to complete his homework. Identify the antecedent operation:
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In ABA questions, an "antecedent operation" is the specific \textit{change} you make to the environment \textit{before} the behavior happens to make the desired behavior more likely. It's a proactive strategy.
Step 1: Conceptual Foundation: This question requires understanding Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) principles, specifically the ABC model of behavior:
A - Antecedent: Precedes a behavior; the "trigger."
B - Behavior: The action itself.
C - Consequence: Follows a behavior.
An antecedent operation is an intervention modifying the environment or context (antecedent) to influence behavior. Step 2: Detailed Analysis: Applying ABC terms, the problematic behavior (B) is "failure to complete homework." The desired behavior is "homework completion."
The initial antecedent leading to fatigue is "football practice post-school" (Option B).
The undesirable consequence is "not completing homework" (Option A).
The desired outcome is "completing homework willingly" (Option D).
The counsellor's advice targets antecedent modification. The intervention aims to alter the antecedent from "extensive football practice" to something else. This antecedent operation is "decreasing weekday football training duration" (Option C). Modifying this trigger is intended to alter the subsequent behavior (enabling homework completion). Step 3: Conclusion: The antecedent operation (intervention to modify antecedent conditions) is to reduce weekday football training time.