RBT - Registered Behavior Technician Skill Acquisition Programs 1 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: When using backward chaining to teach a multi-step tooth-brushing routine, which step does the RBT teach first?
- The first step: picking up the toothbrush
- The step the learner finds easiest
- The last step: rinsing and spitting (Correct answer)
- The step with the highest error rate
Correct answer: The last step: rinsing and spitting
Backward chaining begins instruction at the final step of the task analysis. The RBT completes all preceding steps and then prompts/reinforces only the last step, so the learner always experiences task completion and the natural reinforcer at the end.
Question 2: An RBT reinforces a child for saying 'buh', then 'ba', then 'ball' as successive attempts improve. Which skill acquisition procedure is being used?
- Backward chaining
- Shaping (Correct answer)
- Multiple exemplar training
- Stimulus fading
Correct answer: Shaping
Shaping involves reinforcing successive approximations of a target behavior. Each closer attempt to the final response is reinforced while previous, less accurate forms are placed on extinction.
Question 3: A learner correctly sorts objects by color during tabletop sessions but cannot sort the same colors when given classroom supplies. This breakdown is best described as:
- Response generalization
- Spontaneous recovery
- Failure to generalize across stimuli (Correct answer)
- Prompt dependency
Correct answer: Failure to generalize across stimuli
Stimulus generalization occurs when a skill transfers to new materials, settings, or people. When this fails, the learner's response is under narrow stimulus control — only the training stimuli evoke the behavior.
Question 4: In total task chaining, how does the RBT present the steps of a task analysis during each teaching session?
- Only the steps the learner has already mastered independently
- One new step at a time, beginning with step one
- All steps every session, prompting as needed on steps not yet independent (Correct answer)
- Alternating between the first and last steps each session
Correct answer: All steps every session, prompting as needed on steps not yet independent
Total task chaining requires the learner to attempt every step of the task analysis in each session. The RBT provides whatever level of prompting is needed for non-mastered steps, allowing practice of the full chain on every trial.
Question 5: After a learner touches the wrong picture on a receptive identification trial, the RBT immediately models the correct response, prompts the learner to touch the correct picture, praises the prompted response, and then re-presents the original SD. This sequence is an example of:
- Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior
- A transfer trial
- A 4-step error correction procedure (Correct answer)
- Errorless teaching
Correct answer: A 4-step error correction procedure
The 4-step error correction procedure consists of: (1) Model — show the correct response; (2) Lead — prompt the learner through it; (3) Reinforce the prompted correct response; (4) Repeat — re-present the original discriminative stimulus to check for learning.
Question 6: A skill acquisition plan states that a learner must perform a target behavior independently with 90% accuracy across three consecutive sessions before the goal is considered complete. The '90% across three sessions' component is formally called:
- The reinforcement schedule
- The mastery criterion (Correct answer)
- The prompting hierarchy
- The discriminative stimulus
Correct answer: The mastery criterion
A mastery criterion defines the specific performance standard a learner must meet for a skill to be considered learned. It typically includes both an accuracy threshold and a consistency requirement (e.g., number of consecutive sessions or probes) to ensure the skill is stable before moving on.
RBT - Registered Behavior Technician Skill Acquisition Programs 1
When using backward chaining to teach a multi-step tooth-brushing routine, which step does the RBT teach first?