RBT Practice Exam 2 (2nd edition) 2025

Explanation: When a client consistently selects certain items during a preference assessment, it indicates that those items are highly preferred. In this case, Dylan's consistent selection of the same three items (albeit in different orders) demonstrates that he has clear preferences among the items presented.

Explanation: Successive approximations involves reinforcing behaviors that progressively get closer to the target behavior. In this case, the RBT should reinforce Tyler's success with the first three steps (approximations toward the target) while providing additional support for the challenging fourth step.

Explanation: This intervention involves manipulating antecedent conditions by providing scheduled access to an appropriate alternative that may serve a similar function as the stereotypy. By providing scheduled access to music, the intervention may reduce Emma's need for auditory stimulation through vocal stereotypy.

Explanation: The RBT Ethics Code requires reporting any observed potential violations or ethical concerns to the supervising BCBA immediately. When an RBT observes a colleague using unauthorized punishment procedures, they must report this to ensure client protection and ethical compliance.

Explanation: Escape extinction involves continuing to present demands even when problem behavior occurs, thereby preventing escape from the demand. By requiring the client to complete the original task despite screaming, the escape function of the behavior is targeted with extinction.

Explanation: In a paired stimulus preference assessment, two items are presented simultaneously. The client selects one of the items, and that choice is recorded. This process is repeated with different pairs of items until all possible combinations have been presented.

Explanation: Differential reinforcement involves providing different levels of reinforcement based on the quality or accuracy of responses. In this scenario, providing stronger reinforcement for naming the more difficult animals ("elephant" and "giraffe") would help strengthen those particular responses that Chloe is still learning.

Explanation: Visual prompts provide visual cues to guide correct responses. By placing red and blue cards on the containers, the RBT is using visual prompts to help Mia determine where each colored block should go during the sorting task.

Explanation: When extinction is first implemented, it typically results in an extinction burst, which is a temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of the target behavior. This occurs as the individual initially increases their efforts to obtain the reinforcement that was previously available.

Explanation: The RBT should report the information about bullying to their supervising BCBA and follow organizational procedures for reporting such incidents. This ensures that appropriate actions can be taken to address the situation while maintaining professional boundaries and client welfare.

Explanation: Stimulus control training involves teaching an individual to engage in a behavior in the presence of specific stimuli (such as during break time) but not in the presence of other stimuli (during instructional time). This intervention establishes appropriate contexts for the behavior rather than attempting to eliminate it completely.

Explanation: Stimulus discrimination occurs when a behavior occurs at different rates in the presence of different stimuli. In this case, Isabella's compliance behavior occurs at different rates depending on who delivers the instruction (teacher vs. mother), demonstrating stimulus discrimination.

Explanation: A partial verbal prompt provides part of the verbal response. In this case, the technician says the first sound "r..." to help Alex recall and say the complete word "red," which is a partial verbal prompt.

Explanation: Visual prompts are pictorial cues that guide behavior. The pictures of handwashing steps posted by the sink are visual prompts that serve as antecedent interventions to help Jayden complete the task independently by providing visual reminders of each step in the sequence.

Explanation: Response shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations toward a target behavior. In this case, the BCBA is shaping Ethan's communication from using picture cards to using vocalizations by requiring both responses initially, with the goal of eventually fading the picture card and reinforcing vocal communication alone.

Explanation: When implementing video modeling, the first step is to create or select a video that clearly demonstrates the target behavior. Before Mason can learn from the video, the RBT needs to ensure that a high-quality demonstration of shoe-tying is available for him to observe.

Explanation: A fixed ratio (FR) schedule delivers reinforcement after a specific number of responses. In this case, Jackson receives a reinforcer (tablet time) after earning a set number of tokens by completing academic tasks, which follows a fixed ratio schedule.

Explanation: Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) involves delivering reinforcement on a time-based schedule, independent of the individual's behavior. Unlike differential reinforcement procedures, NCR provides reinforcement regardless of whether problem behavior occurs or not, following a predetermined schedule.

Explanation: Intermittent reinforcement schedules, where reinforcement is provided sometimes but not always, typically result in behaviors that are more resistant to extinction and therefore more likely to maintain over time compared to continuous reinforcement schedules.

Explanation: The RBT must maintain client confidentiality. The RBT should explain that they cannot share confidential information about a client with others, including family members, without proper authorization. The RBT should suggest that the sister speak with her parents or the client directly about her questions.

Explanation: The purpose of time delay procedures is to transfer stimulus control from the prompt to the natural cue. By gradually increasing the delay between the natural cue (needing help) and the prompt ("Help please"), Maria has an opportunity to respond to the natural cue before the prompt is provided, fostering independent responding.

Explanation: A line graph is most appropriate for displaying continuous data over time, as it clearly shows trends and patterns. In this case, a line graph would effectively display the decreasing trend in Lucas's tantrum behavior across the five days.

Explanation: In backward chaining, the instructor completes all steps of a task except the final one, which the learner performs. As the learner masters each step, earlier steps in the chain are added (working backward from the end), until the learner can complete the entire task independently.

Explanation: Frequency data (counting how many times Jordan raises his hand before speaking) would be most appropriate for this discrete behavior that has a clear beginning and end. This would allow the team to track how often Jordan engages in the appropriate behavior of raising his hand before speaking.

Explanation: Maya is demonstrating a lack of stimulus discrimination between situations where hand-raising is required (both asking questions and providing answers). She has learned to raise her hand when asking questions but has not discriminated that the same behavior is required when answering questions.

Explanation: Anecdotal data consists of narrative descriptions of observations, which is what the RBT provided by noting that the problem behavior seems to occur during transitions. This qualitative information can be valuable for identifying patterns and potential intervention strategies.

Explanation: The appropriate response acknowledges the grandmother's question while respecting professional boundaries. The RBT should not provide their own analysis but should facilitate communication between the family member and the supervising BCBA, who is qualified to discuss assessment results.

Explanation: When a client demonstrates high levels of accuracy (typically 80-90% or above) consistently across multiple sessions, this typically indicates mastery of the current goal. With 90% accuracy across three consecutive sessions, the data suggests the client has mastered using picture cards for requests and is ready to progress to the next goal.

Explanation: Sophia's behavior appears to be maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from eating non-preferred foods. Despite the reprimand, the throwing behavior continues because it successfully results in delaying or avoiding eating the non-preferred food.

Explanation: Response interruption and redirection (RIRD) involves stopping the problem behavior (interruption) and prompting an alternative, appropriate behavior (redirection). By blocking the aggression and redirecting Joshua to an appropriate communication response, the RBT is implementing RIRD.

Explanation: To calculate accuracy percentage, divide the number of correct responses by the total number of trials and multiply by 100. In this case, 15 correct responses divided by 20 total trials equals 0.75, which is 75% accuracy.

Explanation: Response cost is a form of negative punishment where a reinforcer is removed contingent upon inappropriate behavior. In this token economy system, losing tokens (removal of a reinforcer) contingent upon inappropriate behavior represents response cost.

Explanation: In a Differential Reinforcement of Other behavior (DRO) procedure, reinforcement is provided only after the interval is completed without the target problem behavior occurring. If the problem behavior occurs during the interval, the timer is reset, and the client must go the full interval without the behavior to earn reinforcement.

Explanation: Most-to-least prompting begins with the most intrusive prompt (full physical or model) and gradually fades to less intrusive prompts. In this scenario, the RBT starts with a model prompt (demonstration), moves to a physical prompt (helping with arms), and ends with a verbal prompt (reminder to zip), following a most-to-least hierarchy.

Explanation: When a client experiences an injury during a session, the RBT must follow organizational policies for incident reporting, which typically includes completing a formal incident report and notifying the supervising BCBA. This documentation is important for client safety, communication, and risk management.

Explanation: Progressive time delay involves gradually increasing the amount of time between the natural cue (peer approach) and the delivery of a prompt. This allows the learner opportunities to respond independently before prompting is provided, and the delay increases as the learner shows progress.

Explanation: The data shows that Ethan is requiring less intrusive prompts over time, moving from full physical prompts to verbal prompts. This pattern indicates that Ethan is making progress toward performing the skill more independently, which is the goal of the prompting hierarchy.

Explanation: The RBT should consult with the supervising BCBA before making any changes to a client's program, even when the client is making good progress. Program modifications, including increasing difficulty, fall within the BCBA's scope of practice and require their clinical judgment and approval.

Explanation: The RBT should acknowledge the parent's concerns but explain that modifications to the behavior intervention plan must be approved by the supervising BCBA. The RBT should offer to communicate these concerns to the BCBA, maintaining professional boundaries while respecting the parent's input.

Explanation: The intervention combines functional communication training (teaching an appropriate way to request attention) with extinction (withholding reinforcement for aggression). This approach addresses the function of the behavior by teaching a replacement behavior while placing the problem behavior on extinction.

Explanation: Most-to-least prompting begins with the most intrusive prompts (full physical guidance) and gradually transitions to less intrusive prompts (shadow prompting) as the learner shows progress. This is what the RBT is implementing with Harper as she learns to put on her coat.

Explanation: The Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) is a rating scale, which is a type of indirect assessment where informants rate the likelihood of behavior occurring across different situations to help identify possible functions of behavior.

Explanation: In least-to-most prompting, if the learner does not respond to the initial instruction, the interventionist provides the least intrusive prompt first and gradually increases prompt intrusiveness as needed. After the initial instruction with no response, a verbal prompt would typically be the next level of support before moving to gestural or physical prompts.

Explanation: This intervention involves manipulating antecedents by scheduling specific times when the behavior is allowed. Rather than attempting to eliminate the behavior completely, this approach provides appropriate times and contexts for the behavior to occur, which is an antecedent manipulation.

Explanation: Before working with a new client, an RBT should review the behavior plan and seek guidance from their supervising BCBA regarding any diagnosis-specific information or training needed. This ensures the RBT is prepared to implement the plan correctly while respecting their scope of practice.

Explanation: A structural analysis evaluates how environmental variables (that are not consequences) affect behavior. By systematically manipulating background noise (an antecedent environmental variable) and measuring its effect on Adam's on-task behavior, the analyst is conducting a structural analysis.

Explanation: Noah's complaint behavior appears to be maintained by negative reinforcement in the form of escape from a non-preferred task (homework). The behavior decreases when he's allowed to take a break from the homework, suggesting the function is to escape the demand.

Explanation: In an A-B-A-B design, "A" represents baseline phases (when no intervention is in place), and "B" represents treatment phases (when the intervention is being implemented). The A-B-A-B design allows for demonstration of experimental control by showing behavior changes when the intervention is present versus absent.

Explanation: An extinction burst is a temporary increase in the frequency, duration, or intensity of behavior when extinction is first implemented. This is a common and expected phenomenon when an extinction procedure is initiated, as the client attempts to produce the previously available reinforcement.

Explanation: Chaining involves breaking a complex skill into smaller steps (a task analysis) and teaching those steps in sequence. The RBT has broken down name-writing into sequential steps that Lucas will learn to perform in order, which is characteristic of a chaining procedure.

Explanation: For receptive identification tasks like pointing to pictures, a gestural prompt (such as pointing toward the correct picture) is typically most appropriate initially. It provides sufficient guidance without being overly intrusive, and can be easily faded as Mia learns the skill.

Explanation: In momentary time sampling, behavior is observed at the end of each interval. With 5-minute intervals during a 45-minute period, there would be 9 observation points (at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, and 45 minutes).

Explanation: Antecedent manipulations involve modifying events that precede the behavior to prevent its occurrence. By providing extra assistance and breaking tasks into smaller steps when Jacob shows early signs of frustration, the RBT is manipulating antecedent conditions to prevent aggression.

Explanation: The RBT Ethics Code addresses potential dual relationships and conflicts of interest. RBTs should maintain professional boundaries, which includes politely declining gifts of significant monetary value. The RBT should explain this policy to maintain appropriate professional relationships.

Explanation: To calculate percentage of steps completed independently, divide the number of independent steps by the total number of steps and multiply by 100. In this case, 8 independent steps divided by 10 total steps equals 0.8, which is 80%.

Explanation: Differential reinforcement of increasing durations involves reinforcing a behavior (in this case, waiting quietly) for progressively longer periods. The program systematically increases the duration requirement from 10 seconds to 30 seconds to 1 minute, reinforcing Ben's ability to wait for increasingly longer times.

Explanation: The discriminative stimulus (SD) is the cue that signals the availability of reinforcement for a particular response. In this discrete trial, presenting the picture and asking "What is this?" serves as the SD that indicates to Tyler that a naming response is expected.

Explanation: Stimulus fading involves gradually changing stimulus characteristics (in this case, removing portions of the visual guide) to transfer control from the prompt to the natural stimulus (the math problem). This strategy helps the learner become more independent while minimizing errors.

Explanation: Introducing brief delays in reinforcement delivery helps promote response maintenance by teaching the learner that reinforcement may not always be immediate but is still forthcoming. This helps build tolerance for delayed reinforcement and prepares the learner for more natural contingencies.

Explanation: Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations toward a target behavior. The RBT is reinforcing Emma's current communication level ("Want cookie") while modeling a more complex response ("I want a cookie, please"), gradually shaping her communication toward the target of full sentences.

Explanation: An appropriate error correction procedure involves demonstrating the correct response (modeling), having the learner practice the correct response (imitation), and then representing the original instruction to give the learner another opportunity to respond correctly independently.

Explanation: To calculate the percentage of intervals with the target behavior, divide the number of intervals with the behavior by the total number of intervals and multiply by 100. In this case, 12 intervals with behavior divided by 40 total intervals equals 0.3, which is 30%.

Explanation: The RBT should objectively document the specific variability observed in the data without personal interpretation or conclusions. It's important to report factual information about data patterns, leaving the analysis and decision-making about intervention effectiveness to the supervising BCBA.

Explanation: In ABC data collection, consequences refer to what happens immediately after the behavior occurs. In this example, "The teacher gave the client a 5-minute break after hitting" describes what happened as a result of the behavior, making it the consequence in the ABC sequence.

Explanation: Most-to-least prompting (also called graduated guidance) begins with the most intrusive prompts (full physical guidance) and systematically fades to less intrusive prompts (shadow prompting) as the learner demonstrates progress toward independence.

Explanation: Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) involves reinforcing the absence of the target behavior during a specified period. In this case, the client earns tokens for the absence of the question "Are we done yet?" during work completion, which is a DRO procedure.

Explanation: The RBT must implement the behavior intervention plan as written. If the plan explicitly states that tokens should not be removed for problem behavior, the RBT must follow this directive regardless of their personal opinions about the effectiveness of the procedure.

Explanation: When a behavior occurs most frequently during the attention condition of a functional analysis, it suggests that the behavior is maintained by social positive reinforcement in the form of attention. The data indicates that Zoe is more likely to scream when it results in receiving attention.

Explanation: The RBT should immediately disclose potential conflicts of interest, including personal relationships with clients or their families, to their supervising BCBA. This allows the BCBA to determine whether the relationship presents a conflict that might compromise service delivery and make appropriate arrangements.

Explanation: To calculate percent increase, subtract the initial value from the final value, divide by the initial value, and multiply by 100. In this case, (9-3)/3 × 100 = 200% increase. The new value (9) is 300% of the original value (3), representing a 200% increase.

Explanation: This intervention involves modifying antecedent events that precede the tantrum behavior. By providing warnings and a countdown, Ava's parent is changing the antecedent conditions to make the transition more predictable and potentially less aversive, which may reduce tantrum behavior.

Explanation: Response blocking involves physically (but safely and respectfully) interrupting a behavior to prevent harm. When implementing response blocking for self-injurious behavior, the RBT should physically prevent the movement while maintaining a neutral expression to avoid inadvertently reinforcing the behavior with attention.

Explanation: The data shows a setting-specific pattern where self-injurious behavior occurs during math class but not during other academic subjects. This pattern suggests the behavior may be related to specific events, demands, or conditions present in the math class setting.

Explanation: Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) involves reinforcing a behavior that serves the same function as the problem behavior but is more appropriate. Teaching Riley to hand over a "break" card (alternative behavior) instead of throwing materials (problem behavior) to obtain a break is an example of DRA.

Explanation: The consequence is what follows the learner's response in a discrete trial. In this case, the verbal praise ("Great job!") and high-five are consequences that function as reinforcement for Joshua's correct response of saying "cat."