Multiple exemplar training
Teaching a skill with many different examples of the stimuli and responses involved so that the learner can respond correctly to new, untrained examples.
Multiple exemplar training (also called training sufficient exemplars or multiple exemplar instruction) means teaching with variety rather than with one example. To teach "cup," the RBT uses cups of different colors, sizes and materials, in pictures and real life. To teach greetings, the plan includes greeting different people with different words. The varied examples help the learner respond to the features that matter and ignore those that do not.
The main purpose is generalization. When a learner is taught with only one example, the response may come under the control of irrelevant features, such as the color of a particular card. Teaching with several examples makes it more likely the learner will respond correctly to new examples that were never taught.
Supervisors decide how many and which exemplars to use, and they often hold some back to test generalization later. A related approach, general case analysis, selects examples systematically to cover the full range of variations the learner will meet.
RBTs rotate the planned examples as written, avoid always using the same favorite material, and record responses to untrained probe items separately.
Example and non-example
| Example | To teach the tact "car," the plan uses a toy car, a photo of a real car, a drawing of a car and real cars in the parking lot, rotating them across trials. |
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| Non-example | The RBT uses the same red toy car for every trial for three weeks. Teaching with one example is single-exemplar instruction. |
Don't confuse it with
| General case analysis | General case analysis is a systematic way of selecting examples to cover the whole range of variation; multiple exemplar training is the broader practice of teaching with many examples. |
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Test yourself
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Question 1To teach a client to label "dog," the plan has the RBT use photos of many different breeds, cartoon dogs, toy dogs and real dogs at a park. Which generalization strategy is this?
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A: Multiple exemplar training. Multiple exemplar training means teaching with several different examples of the stimulus class so the client learns which features matter and responds correctly to new examples.
- B: Programming common stimuli means including features of the generalization setting in the teaching setting, not teaching with many varied examples.
- C: Indiscriminable contingencies make it hard for the client to tell which responses will be reinforced, usually through intermittent reinforcement.
- D: Using natural contingencies means targeting behaviors that will be reinforced by everyday consequences outside of teaching.
Task C.8 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2A program lists 12 animal pictures to rotate during teaching, but the RBT always uses the same 3 cards because they are easiest to find. What is the main risk for generalization?
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B: Correct labeling may be limited to those three specific cards. Teaching with too few examples can tie the response to the specific cards used, so the client may not label other pictures or real animals. Rotating the full set as written is part of implementing the plan with fidelity.
- A: Using few cards tends to narrow responding to those cards, not broaden one label to every animal.
- C: Losing a skill over time is a maintenance concern, not the main generalization risk of using too few examples.
- D: The number of cards used does not by itself require more intrusive prompts.
Task C.8 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3To teach a teen to use vending machines, the supervisor picks teaching machines that together show the range of features the teen will meet in the community: coin slots, card readers, push buttons and keypads. What is this approach called?
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A: General case analysis. General case analysis selects teaching examples that sample the full range of stimulus and response variations found in the natural environment, so the learner can use any machine they meet, not just the ones taught.
- B: Programming common stimuli makes the teaching setting resemble one target setting; it does not sample a full range of variations.
- C: Training loosely varies noncritical features of teaching, while these machine features are the relevant ones the teen must respond to.
- D: Indiscriminable contingencies concern reinforcement schedules, not the choice of teaching examples.
Task C.8 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task C.8 Generalization in content area C, Behavior Acquisition, which is 19 of the 75 scored questions.