Trials to criterion
Trials to criterion is the number of response opportunities a learner needs to reach a preset performance criterion, such as three correct responses in a row.
Trials to criterion is a derived measure of how quickly a skill is learned. The supervisor sets the criterion in advance, for example "5 consecutive correct responses" or "9 of 10 correct", and the RBT counts how many trials were run until the learner met it. A learner who reaches the criterion in 14 trials on one target and in 6 on the next is learning faster.
The measure can be used to compare how efficiently different teaching methods work for a client, or to see whether a learner is acquiring new targets more quickly as teaching continues, which is sometimes described as learning to learn. It can also be summarized as sessions to criterion or days to criterion when trials are grouped.
The value is only meaningful if the criterion is held constant and every trial is counted, including prompted and error trials, as the program specifies. The RBT records each trial accurately and stops counting at the point the criterion is met. Trials to criterion does not show whether the skill was maintained or generalized afterward; those require separate checks.
Example and non-example
| Example | The criterion for a new tact is 3 consecutive unprompted correct responses. The client meets it on the 11th trial, so trials to criterion is 11. |
|---|---|
| Non-example | Reporting that the client was correct on 8 of 10 trials today is a percentage, not trials to criterion. |
Don't confuse it with
| Percentage | Percentage summarizes accuracy within a set of trials; trials to criterion counts how many trials it took to meet the goal. |
|---|---|
| Mastery criterion | The mastery criterion is the goal that defines mastery; trials to criterion is a count of how many trials were needed to reach a criterion. |
Test yourself
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Question 1A client needed 45 trials to reach the mastery criterion on Target A and 20 trials on Target B. What does this trials-to-criterion summary show?
Show answer
C: The client met criterion on Target B in fewer trials. Trials to criterion counts how many trials were needed to reach the criterion. Fewer trials means the target was learned with less practice.
- A: Target A needed 45 trials, more than the 20 for Target B.
- B: Trials to criterion does not report percentage correct.
- D: The summary gives the number of trials needed, not how strict each criterion is.
Task A.6 · 40-hour curriculum section C
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task A.6 Calculating and summarizing data in content area A, Data Collection and Graphing, which is 13 of the 75 scored questions.