Replacement behavior
An appropriate behavior taught and reinforced to take the place of problem behavior, ideally producing the same reinforcer more easily.
A replacement behavior gives the client an acceptable way to meet the same need that problem behavior has been meeting. If a client hits to escape loud rooms, a replacement behavior might be asking to leave or putting on headphones. If a client screams for attention, it might be tapping an adult's arm or saying "look." Selecting the replacement behavior is part of the supervisor's function-based plan.
A good replacement behavior is functionally equivalent, meaning it produces the same reinforcer as the problem behavior. It should also be efficient: no harder to do and no slower to pay off than the problem behavior. If asking for a break requires a long sentence and waiting, but screaming ends the task at once, the client is likely to keep screaming. The replacement behavior should also be socially acceptable and usable in the client's everyday settings.
Replacement behaviors are strengthened through differential reinforcement, especially DRA and functional communication training, with problem behavior placed on extinction. They are often taught first in calm moments so the client can use them when the problem situation arises. Simply stopping a behavior without teaching a replacement often leads to the problem behavior returning or a new problem behavior appearing.
The RBT prompts and reinforces the replacement behavior as written and records how often it occurs, prompted and independent.
Example and non-example
| Example | A teen bangs the table when work gets too hard and the teacher then helps. The plan teaches the teen to raise a "help" card, and the RBT gives help right away each time the card is raised. |
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| Non-example | A client screams to get adults' attention, and an RBT gives a sticker for every 5 quiet minutes. Being quiet earns a sticker but gives the client no way to get attention, so no functionally equivalent replacement behavior is being taught. |
Don't confuse it with
| Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) | DRA is the procedure of reinforcing an alternative behavior, while the replacement behavior is the behavior being reinforced. |
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| Functional communication training (FCT) | FCT is a procedure that teaches one kind of replacement behavior, a communication response; replacement behaviors can also be noncommunicative, such as putting on headphones. |
Test yourself
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Question 1Why does identifying the function of problem behavior matter when the supervisor builds a behavior plan?
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B: The plan can teach a replacement behavior that meets the same need. Knowing the function lets the supervisor design a plan that teaches an appropriate way to get the same reinforcer and stops the problem behavior from being reinforced.
- A: Function-based plans focus on reinforcement-based strategies, not on finding the strongest punisher.
- C: Function is about what maintains behavior, not about diagnosis.
- D: The supervisor designs the intervention; the RBT implements it.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task D.3
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Question 2A client uses a break card instead of throwing materials at the clinic. The plan now asks the classroom teacher to honor the break card at school too. Why?
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B: So the replacement behavior is also reinforced at school. A replacement behavior is only useful if it works wherever the client needs it. When the teacher honors the card, using it is reinforced at school as well, which supports generalization of the new skill.
- A: What happens at school does not change the extinction procedure at the clinic.
- C: The supervisor, not the teacher, is responsible for the behavior plan.
- D: Adding a setting does not remove the need for the card in the clinic.
Task C.8 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3What does differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) reinforce?
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D: A specific appropriate behavior in place of the problem behavior. DRA reinforces a chosen alternative behavior, such as asking for help, while problem behavior is placed on extinction.
- A: Reinforcing the absence of the behavior is DRO.
- B: Reinforcing a lower rate is DRL.
- C: DRA does not require the alternative to be incompatible; when it is, the procedure is called DRI.
Task D.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.3 Differential reinforcement in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.