RBT practice test: Behavior Acquisition, set 3

Set 3 of 12 for content area C, Behavior Acquisition (19 of the 75 scored exam questions). Every answer is explained.

20 questions

Question 1Why does teaching during play and daily routines often help skills generalize?
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D: Teaching uses the materials, people and settings where the skill is needed. In naturalistic teaching, the skill is learned in the presence of the same stimuli that will be present when it is needed in daily life, and natural reinforcers often follow. This supports generalization.
- A: Naturalistic teaching usually provides fewer trials per minute than structured table teaching, not more.
- B: Skills taught during play still need reinforcement; it is usually a natural reinforcer related to the activity.
- C: Errors can occur in any teaching format.
Task C.8 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 2What does "acquisition" mean in a skill program?
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D: Learning a skill that is not yet in the client's repertoire. Acquisition is the learning of a new skill. Acquisition targets are taught directly, usually with prompts and frequent reinforcement, until the client meets the mastery criterion.
- A: Keeping a mastered skill strong over time is maintenance.
- B: Using a learned skill in new conditions is generalization.
- C: Measuring a skill before teaching is baseline.
Task C.9 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 3What is the key difference between shaping and chaining?
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C: Shaping changes one behavior gradually; chaining links behaviors in a sequence. In shaping, the form or another dimension of one behavior changes step by step. In chaining, several distinct behaviors that are already possible or taught are linked in a set order, such as the steps of hand-washing.
- A: Chaining also uses reinforcement.
- B: Both procedures can be used with verbal and motor skills.
- D: Starting with the last step describes backward chaining, which is one type of chaining, not shaping.
Task C.10 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 4At the start of a new token system, the plan has the RBT explain in simple terms what earns tokens, how many are needed and what they can be exchanged for. Why?
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A: Clear rules can help the client learn the contingency faster. Stating the rules clearly helps many clients learn what earns tokens and what they buy. The tokens still gain their value through being exchanged for backup reinforcers.
- B: Rules do not replace the tokens themselves.
- C: Clients' assent matters, but the rules exist to make the system clear, not as a condition that must be met before any token is given.
- D: Tokens become reinforcers by being exchanged for backup reinforcers, not by being explained.
Task C.11 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 5What determines whether a consequence is a reinforcer for a client?
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B: It increases the future frequency of the behavior it follows.. A reinforcer is defined by its effect: a consequence is a reinforcer only if the behavior it follows occurs more often in the future. Liking an item, or delivering it quickly, does not make it a reinforcer.
- A: Smiling or saying they like an item does not show that it strengthens behavior.
- C: What most people enjoy may not strengthen this client's behavior.
- D: Immediate delivery makes a reinforcer more effective, but timing alone does not make something a reinforcer.
Task C.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 6An RBT thinks that removing a token after each instance of aggression might help a client's token system work better. What should the RBT do?
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A: Suggest the idea to the supervisor and keep implementing the current plan.. Removing tokens is response cost, a punishment procedure. Adding it is a change to the plan, so the RBT shares the suggestion with the supervisor and keeps following the current plan.
- B: Adding a punishment procedure without the supervisor's direction goes beyond the RBT's role.
- C: A trial run is still an unauthorized change to the plan.
- D: Caregiver permission does not replace the supervisor's clinical decision.
Task C.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 7An RBT and a coworker run the same receptive program with one client. The plan's instruction is "Touch apple." The RBT says it as written, but the coworker says "Where is the apple? Show me which one is the apple." What is the main concern?
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D: Inconsistent wording can slow learning and muddy the data. Consistent implementation is part of procedural fidelity. When staff change the instruction, the client gets mixed cues and the data no longer show how the written procedure is working. The concern should go to the supervisor.
- A: Longer, varied instructions during acquisition usually make the task harder, not faster.
- B: A generalization probe is planned by the supervisor; changing the wording on one's own is not.
- C: Both sets of data are affected; the fix is for both staff to follow the plan.
Task C.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 8A child says "juice" because they want juice, and the adult gives them juice. Which verbal operant is this?
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B: Mand. A mand is a request controlled by a motivating operation (wanting juice) and reinforced by the specific thing asked for (getting juice).
- A: A tact names something the speaker contacts and is reinforced by social feedback, not by receiving the item.
- C: An echoic repeats what someone else just said; no one said "juice" first.
- D: An intraverbal answers someone else's words; here the child's wanting juice controlled the response.
Task C.4 · 40-hour curriculum section A · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 9In a behavior chain, which step is followed by the terminal reinforcer?
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C: The last step. The terminal reinforcer follows completion of the final response in the chain. Backward chaining uses this by teaching the last step first.
- A: The first step's result leads to the second step, not the end of the chain.
- B: The terminal reinforcer comes at the end of the chain, wherever the hardest step falls.
- D: Each step's result links to the next step; the terminal reinforcer comes only at the end.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 10A plan says to add a second picture to a client's "Touch shoe" target once the client reliably touches the shoe picture when it is alone. After the second picture is added, the client makes several errors in a row. What should the RBT do?
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B: Follow the plan and its error correction, record data and tell the supervisor. Errors are common when a comparison stimulus is first added. The RBT implements the plan as written, including its error correction, records accurate data, and lets the supervisor decide whether to change anything.
- A: Going back to an earlier step is a change to the plan that the supervisor decides, not the RBT.
- C: Reinforcing errors weakens the discrimination the program is trying to build.
- D: Dropping a program is a plan change; the RBT should follow the plan and report the data.
Task C.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.02
Question 11An RBT teaches a teen to wipe a table. After saying "Wipe the table," the RBT wipes a small part of the table while the teen watches, then hands over the cloth. What type of prompt is the RBT's demonstration?
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D: Model prompt. A model prompt is a demonstration of all or part of the response for the learner to imitate. It can be live, as here, or on video.
- A: A gestural prompt points to or signals the response; here the RBT actually performs it.
- B: A partial physical prompt involves touching the learner, such as a tap on the arm; the RBT does not touch the teen.
- C: A visual prompt is a picture, written cue or similar display; a live demonstration is a model.
Task C.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 12To 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
Question 13The plan calls for mixing mastered targets with new targets. An RBT runs all 20 new-target trials first and then all the mastered targets at the end. What should the RBT do?
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C: Present the targets in the mixed order the plan describes. Interspersing mastered and new targets is part of the plan, and the order can affect the client's motivation and success. The RBT should implement it as written.
- A: The order of tasks can affect responding, which is why the plan specifies it.
- B: Dropping mastered targets removes maintenance practice and changes the plan.
- D: Running only mastered targets also departs from the plan.
Task C.9 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 14In shaping, what is the terminal behavior?
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D: The final behavior that shaping aims to produce. The terminal behavior is the goal of the shaping program. Each successive approximation moves the client closer to it.
- A: The first behavior reinforced is the starting approximation.
- B: Earlier approximations are placed on extinction; the terminal behavior is the one being built.
- C: The term refers to the goal behavior, not to whatever ends a session.
Task C.10 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 15A client seems sad, so an RBT gives them two tokens "to cheer them up," even though they have not performed any target behavior. Why is this a problem?
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D: Tokens given without the target behavior weaken the contingency. A token economy works because tokens follow specific target behaviors. Giving tokens for nothing weakens that relationship, and it may also reinforce whatever the client was doing at the time.
- A: A client's mood does not decide whether tokens are given; the target behavior does.
- B: Tokens are conditioned reinforcers whether or not they are given contingently.
- C: Response cost removes tokens; giving tokens is not response cost.
Task C.11 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 16A supervisor's plan moved a client's schedule from FR 2 to FR 10 in one step. Since then, the client often stops working partway through and leaves the table. What does this pattern most likely reflect?
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B: Ratio strain from thinning the schedule too quickly. Ratio strain is the pausing and breakdown in responding that can happen when a ratio requirement is increased too fast. The RBT should report the data so the supervisor can adjust the thinning steps.
- A: A jump from FR 2 to FR 10 means fewer reinforcers, not more, so satiation is unlikely.
- C: An extinction burst is a temporary increase in responding when reinforcement stops; here responding has dropped.
- D: Spontaneous recovery is the reappearance of a behavior previously reduced by extinction, which is not what is described.
Task C.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 17The plan directs the RBT to pair a hand clap with a client's preferred snack. After a few sessions of pairing, the clap does not yet affect the client's behavior. What should the RBT do?
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C: Continue the pairing as written and share the data with the supervisor.. Building a conditioned reinforcer can take many pairings. The RBT keeps implementing the plan and shares the data so the supervisor can decide whether a change is needed.
- A: A few sessions without change does not show that a client cannot learn; stopping is a plan change.
- B: Choosing a new stimulus is a plan change that the supervisor decides.
- D: Presenting the clap without the snack weakens the pairing instead of building it.
Task C.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 18After a client's error, the RBT re-presents the instruction with a prompt and the client responds correctly. The plan then has the RBT present the same instruction again with no prompt. What is the purpose of this unprompted trial?
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B: To check whether the client can now respond alone. Presenting the instruction again without a prompt gives the client a chance to show the response independently, which helps move control from the prompt to the instruction.
- A: The unprompted trial is a chance to respond correctly, not a consequence for the error.
- C: This is a teaching trial, not a pause.
- D: Reinforcer effectiveness is checked through preference and choice, not this trial.
Task C.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 19An RBT puts a child's favorite toy cars in a clear bin with a lid the child cannot open, and sets the bin where the child can see it. What is this arrangement most likely meant to do?
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D: Set up chances for the child to ask. Arranging the environment so preferred items are visible but need help to reach creates motivation and a reason to communicate, which the RBT then uses to prompt and reinforce a mand.
- A: Seeing the cars without having them tends to increase motivation, not lower it.
- B: The aim is for the child to get the cars by asking, not to keep them away.
- C: This is not an assessment of motor skills; it sets up communication.
Task C.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 20During total task chaining for dressing, a child starts to put on shoes before socks. The plan says to interrupt errors and prompt the correct step. What should the RBT do?
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C: Interrupt, prompt socks, and record a prompted step. Following the plan's error correction stops the wrong step, prompts the right one, and keeps accurate data on how much help was needed.
- A: Letting the error finish practices the wrong order and reinforces it.
- B: Requiring independence on unmastered steps is not the plan's procedure.
- D: Changing the steps of the task analysis is a plan change for the supervisor.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E

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What this test covers

Questions in this test by task
Task	Questions
C.1 Positive and negative reinforcement	2
C.2 Conditioned reinforcers	2
C.3 Discrete-trial teaching	2
C.4 Naturalistic teaching	2
C.5 Task analysis and chaining	2
C.6 Discrimination training	1
C.7 Prompting and prompt fading	1
C.8 Generalization	2
C.9 Maintenance vs. acquisition	2
C.10 Shaping	2
C.11 Token economies	2

6 easier, 12 exam-level and 2 harder questions. Each task link opens its study page.

Question 1Why does teaching during play and daily routines often help skills generalize?

Question 2What does "acquisition" mean in a skill program?

Question 3What is the key difference between shaping and chaining?

Question 4At the start of a new token system, the plan has the RBT explain in simple terms what earns tokens, how many are needed and what they can be exchanged for. Why?

Question 5What determines whether a consequence is a reinforcer for a client?

Question 6An RBT thinks that removing a token after each instance of aggression might help a client's token system work better. What should the RBT do?

Question 7An RBT and a coworker run the same receptive program with one client. The plan's instruction is "Touch apple." The RBT says it as written, but the coworker says "Where is the apple? Show me which one is the apple." What is the main concern?

Question 8A child says "juice" because they want juice, and the adult gives them juice. Which verbal operant is this?

Question 9In a behavior chain, which step is followed by the terminal reinforcer?

Question 10A plan says to add a second picture to a client's "Touch shoe" target once the client reliably touches the shoe picture when it is alone. After the second picture is added, the client makes several errors in a row. What should the RBT do?

Question 11An RBT teaches a teen to wipe a table. After saying "Wipe the table," the RBT wipes a small part of the table while the teen watches, then hands over the cloth. What type of prompt is the RBT's demonstration?

Question 12To 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?

Question 13The plan calls for mixing mastered targets with new targets. An RBT runs all 20 new-target trials first and then all the mastered targets at the end. What should the RBT do?

Question 14In shaping, what is the terminal behavior?

Question 15A client seems sad, so an RBT gives them two tokens "to cheer them up," even though they have not performed any target behavior. Why is this a problem?

Question 16A supervisor's plan moved a client's schedule from FR 2 to FR 10 in one step. Since then, the client often stops working partway through and leaves the table. What does this pattern most likely reflect?

Question 17The plan directs the RBT to pair a hand clap with a client's preferred snack. After a few sessions of pairing, the clap does not yet affect the client's behavior. What should the RBT do?

Question 18After a client's error, the RBT re-presents the instruction with a prompt and the client responds correctly. The plan then has the RBT present the same instruction again with no prompt. What is the purpose of this unprompted trial?

Question 19An RBT puts a child's favorite toy cars in a clear bin with a lid the child cannot open, and sets the bin where the child can see it. What is this arrangement most likely meant to do?

Question 20During total task chaining for dressing, a child starts to put on shoes before socks. The plan says to interrupt errors and prompt the correct step. What should the RBT do?

What this test covers