Acquisition
The learning of a new skill; acquisition procedures provide prompts, frequent reinforcement and repeated practice until the skill meets the mastery criterion.
Acquisition is the phase in which a learner is learning something they cannot yet do reliably. Acquisition targets are the skills currently being taught. During acquisition, procedures are designed to produce correct responding and build it quickly: prompts and planned fading, reinforcement for every correct response (continuous reinforcement) or on a dense schedule, many learning opportunities, error correction and close data collection on each trial.
Acquisition ends when the learner meets the mastery criterion the supervisor has written, such as 80% or more independent correct responses across three consecutive sessions. The skill then moves to maintenance, where support is reduced, and generalization is checked and taught.
The RBT Test Content Outline asks RBTs to distinguish maintenance from acquisition procedures. A common mistake is to treat the two the same way, for example continuing to reinforce every response of a mastered skill or probing a new skill only once a week. The plan states which targets are in acquisition and which are in maintenance, and the RBT follows each set of procedures and records data accordingly.
Acquisition data show progress over time, often as the percentage of independent correct responses or the level of prompting needed.
Example and non-example
| Example | A child is learning to identify five new shapes. The RBT runs 10 trials per session with most-to-least prompting, gives a token for every correct response, and records each trial. |
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| Non-example | A child who mastered colors last month gets a few color trials mixed into the session once a week with occasional praise. That is maintenance. |
Don't confuse it with
| Maintenance | Maintenance keeps a mastered skill over time with reduced support; acquisition teaches a new skill with full support. |
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| Mastery criterion | The mastery criterion is the rule for deciding when acquisition is complete; acquisition is the learning process itself. |
Test yourself
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Question 1What does "acquisition" mean in a skill program?
Show answer
D: Learning a skill that is not yet in the client's repertoire. Acquisition is the learning of a new skill. Acquisition targets are taught directly, usually with prompts and frequent reinforcement, until the client meets the mastery criterion.
- A: Keeping a mastered skill strong over time is maintenance.
- B: Using a learned skill in new conditions is generalization.
- C: Measuring a skill before teaching is baseline.
Task C.9 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 2Which of these targets in a client's program is an acquisition target?
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A: Labeling coins, which the client got right on 1 of 10 baseline trials. A target is in acquisition when the client cannot yet perform it, as shown by low baseline performance. The other targets have already been mastered and are being maintained.
- B: A mastered target that is probed weekly is a maintenance target.
- C: A target that met mastery criterion is no longer in acquisition.
- D: A mastered skill used in daily life is being maintained, not acquired.
Task C.9 · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 3Which reinforcement arrangement is most typical for a target that is still in acquisition?
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A: Reinforcement for every correct response. When a skill is being learned, dense reinforcement, often continuous reinforcement for every correct response, produces the fastest learning. Reinforcement is usually thinned later, as the skill moves toward maintenance.
- B: A thin variable schedule is more typical once a skill is learned and being maintained.
- C: Relying only on natural consequences is a later goal, not the usual arrangement during initial learning.
- D: Monthly probes are a maintenance check, not an acquisition procedure.
Task C.9 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.9 Maintenance vs. acquisition in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.