Priming
An antecedent strategy in which a client previews an upcoming activity, materials or setting beforehand, under low demands, so the real activity goes more smoothly.
Priming lets the client experience part of an upcoming event before it actually happens. This could mean looking at the materials for tomorrow's lesson, watching a short video of the dentist's office, reading a story about a fire drill, or briefly practicing a game the client will play with peers. Priming is usually done shortly before the activity or the day before, in a relaxed way with few demands and plenty of reinforcement.
Priming makes new or difficult situations more familiar and predictable, which can lower the aversiveness of the activity and reduce escape-related problem behavior. It is often used for transitions, new routines, community outings, social activities and classroom lessons. The supervisor decides what to preview, how and when.
Priming is different from prompting. A prompt is given during the teaching trial or the activity to help the correct response occur and is then faded. Priming happens before the activity starts, and the preview is kept low-demand rather than run as teaching trials with correct responses required. It also differs from a high-probability request sequence, which uses quick easy requests just before a hard request.
The RBT delivers the priming activity as written, keeps it low-pressure, and notes in data or session notes whether priming happened and how the later activity went, so the supervisor can judge whether it is helping.
Example and non-example
| Example | The evening before a first visit to a new swimming pool, an RBT and a client look at photos of the locker room and the pool, and the RBT describes what will happen in order. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | During a matching trial, the RBT points to the correct picture after giving the instruction. That is a gestural prompt during the response, not a preview before the activity. |
Don't confuse it with
| Prompt | A prompt is extra help given during an activity to evoke the correct response, while priming previews the activity beforehand. |
|---|---|
| High-probability request sequence | A high-p sequence uses reinforced easy requests right before a hard one, while priming exposes the client to the upcoming activity in advance. |
Test yourself
-
Question 1The evening before a class reading, an RBT goes through the story book with a student at home, as the plan directs. Which antecedent strategy is this?
Show answer
B: Priming. Priming previews an activity or its materials before the activity happens, so the real activity is more familiar.
- A: Demand fading changes the number of demands over time.
- C: NCR delivers a reinforcer on a time schedule.
- D: An activity schedule shows the order of activities; it does not preview the content.
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.