High-probability request sequence
An antecedent procedure in which several easy requests the person usually follows are given and reinforced in quick succession, immediately before a request they often refuse.
A high-probability (high-p) request is one the person almost always complies with, like "high five" or "touch your nose." A low-probability (low-p) request is one they often refuse or respond to with problem behavior. In the high-p request sequence, the RBT presents a short series of high-p requests, often about three, one right after the other, reinforces each compliance briefly (often with praise), and then presents the low-p request immediately. The idea, sometimes described as behavioral momentum, is that a run of reinforced compliance makes compliance with the next request more likely.
The supervisor chooses the high-p requests from data showing which ones the client reliably follows. The requests should be quick to complete, and the low-p request should follow without a delay, because the effect fades if there is a gap. Compliance with the low-p request should also be reinforced. The procedure is often used for escape-maintained noncompliance during transitions, self-care routines and academic tasks.
Limits: the high-p requests must be truly easy for this client, the procedure does not by itself teach the low-p skill, and if problem behavior occurs, the plan usually still includes consequences such as escape extinction. Using the same high-p requests too often can make them less effective, so plans often rotate several.
The RBT delivers the sequence briskly, reinforces each response, and records compliance with the low-p request.
Example and non-example
| Example | Before asking a client to put on their shoes, which they often refuse, the RBT says "Give me five," "Clap your hands" and "Touch your head," praising each one, then immediately says "Put on your shoes." |
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| Non-example | An RBT says, "First put on your shoes, then you can have the tablet." That is a first-then statement using a preferred activity as reinforcement, not a sequence of easy requests before a hard one. |
Don't confuse it with
| Demand fading | Demand fading lowers the number of demands and then slowly increases them over sessions, while a high-p sequence adds quick easy requests right before a hard one. |
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| Priming | Priming previews an upcoming activity in advance, while a high-p sequence builds compliance through reinforced requests just before the target request. |
Test yourself
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Question 1What does a high-probability request sequence involve?
Show answer
A: Easy requests first, then the harder request. In a high-p sequence, the RBT gives several quick requests the client reliably follows, reinforces each, and then presents the request the client is less likely to follow.
- B: The easy requests come first; giving them after the hard request does not build up compliance before it.
- C: Removing and then adding back demands is demand fading.
- D: Choosing the task order is a choice-making strategy.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2Before asking a teen to hand over their phone, which they often refuse, the RBT asks them to give a high five, say their name and touch their nose. The teen does each quickly and gets praise, and then the RBT asks for the phone. Which procedure is this?
Show answer
B: High-p request sequence. Several quick requests with a history of compliance, each followed by praise, come right before a request with low compliance. That is a high-p request sequence.
- A: Shaping reinforces successive approximations of a new behavior.
- C: Priming previews an activity or material before it happens.
- D: Demand fading removes demands and then adds them back gradually.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3In a high-probability request sequence, which requests are used as the high-p requests?
Show answer
C: Requests the client reliably follows. High-p requests are ones the client has a strong history of following. Quick compliance with them, followed by reinforcement, comes right before the low-p request.
- A: Requests the client rarely follows are low-p requests.
- B: New skills are not yet reliable, so they would not produce a run of compliance.
- D: Hard requests would lower the chance of compliance during the sequence.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.2 Antecedent interventions in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.