RBT practice test: Behavior Assessment, set 4
Set 4 of 5 for content area B, Behavior Assessment (8 of the 75 scored exam questions). Every answer is explained.
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Question 1Which preference assessment is also called a successive-choice assessment?
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A: Single stimulus. Single-stimulus assessment presents items one at a time in succession, and the client accepts or does not accept each one, which is why it is also called successive choice.
- B: Free-operant assessment involves no presentation trials.
- C: Paired-stimulus assessment is known as forced choice.
- D: MSWO presents several items at once.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 2During a skills assessment, the written instruction for an item is "Touch the dog." The client does not respond. The RBT thinks the client might respond to "Where's the doggy?" What should the RBT do?
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B: Give the instruction as written and score by the assessment's rules. Assessment items must be presented exactly as written so that the results reflect the client's skills under the conditions the assessment describes. Changing the wording or helping makes the score inaccurate.
- A: Rewording until the client succeeds changes the item, so the score no longer means what the assessment intends.
- C: Pointing is a prompt; a prompted response cannot be scored as independent.
- D: Scores must reflect what the client did, not what the RBT believes the client knows.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 3When should an RBT write an entry on a continuous ABC data sheet?
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D: As soon as possible after each occurrence. Recording each occurrence as soon as possible keeps the details of antecedents and consequences accurate.
- A: Memory fades and details are lost by the end of the day.
- B: The protocol defines which occurrences to record; leaving out milder ones distorts the data.
- C: Weekly summaries lose the details of each occurrence.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task A.8
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Question 4A client picks a tablet first in a morning MSWO. After using the tablet for 40 minutes at lunch, the client picks a puzzle first in an afternoon MSWO. Which process best explains the change?
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A: Satiation. Satiation is a decrease in the value of a reinforcer after recent extended access to it. Long tablet use temporarily lowered its value, so the client chose something else.
- B: Extinction means a previously reinforced behavior no longer produces reinforcement.
- C: Deprivation, a period without access, increases an item's value.
- D: Stimulus generalization is responding to new stimuli similar to the original; it does not explain lower value after use.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section A
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Question 5A caregiver reports that their child dresses without help at home. During direct assessment at the clinic, the child needs physical prompts for most dressing steps. What should the RBT do?
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C: Record what was observed and tell the supervisor about both reports. Differences between caregiver report and direct observation are useful information. The RBT records what they saw and reports both to the supervisor, who interprets them.
- A: Direct observation showed prompts were needed, so scoring mastery would ignore the data.
- B: The child may do the skill differently at home; the RBT should not judge the report.
- D: The RBT was asked to record direct observation, so leaving it out loses key data.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 6A teacher says, "Put away your blocks." A student throws a block. The teacher says, "Fine, you can play two more minutes." In ABC terms, what is the antecedent?
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B: The teacher saying, "Put away your blocks". The antecedent is what happens immediately before the behavior. Here, the instruction to put the blocks away came just before the throw.
- A: Throwing the block is the behavior.
- C: Allowing more play time came after the behavior, so it is the consequence.
- D: The schedule is a general condition, not the event just before the behavior.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 7After a preference assessment, how are the top-ranked items usually used?
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C: As possible reinforcers, as the supervisor directs. The main use of results is choosing items to try as reinforcers in teaching and behavior plans, following the supervisor's directions.
- A: Withholding top items from sessions defeats the purpose of the assessment.
- B: The point is to use preferred items, not to remove them.
- D: Giving items noncontingently at the start is not the typical use and could reduce their value.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 8An assessment's instructions say to respond neutrally to correct and incorrect answers and to praise only sitting and attending between items. After a correct answer, the RBT says, "Yes! That's right!" and gives a token. What is the problem?
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B: Feedback on correct answers can change responding and skew the results. When an assessment calls for neutral responses, reinforcing correct answers can teach the client during the test, so the results no longer show their skills under the assessment's conditions.
- A: There is no rule limiting tokens to functional analyses.
- C: Praise often works as a reinforcer; it does not always lower motivation.
- D: Adding praise after a response is not negative punishment, which removes something after a behavior.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 9Two RBTs collected ABC data on the same client in the same sessions, but their records differ a lot. What should the RBTs do?
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C: Tell the supervisor so definitions and training can be reviewed. Large disagreement between observers means the data may not be reliable. The supervisor needs to know so the definitions or observer training can be fixed.
- A: Averaging hides the disagreement instead of fixing the cause.
- B: Choosing the data set that fits an expected function is biased and inaccurate.
- D: Discarding data without telling the supervisor hides a problem that needs fixing.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task E.2
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Question 10Midway through a paired-stimulus assessment, a child repeatedly pushes the items away and leaves the table. What is the most appropriate response?
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A: Stop presenting trials and inform the supervisor. Pushing items away and leaving are signs the child is not assenting to the activity. The RBT stops pressing the task and informs the supervisor, who decides how to proceed.
- B: Pushing items away is not a selection and should not be recorded as one.
- C: Physically returning a child who is withdrawing assent is not appropriate without direction from the supervisor.
- D: Continuing to present trials ignores the child's behavior and yields poor data.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · 40-hour curriculum section B
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Question 11An RBT assessing picture identification places the correct picture on the left side every time. What is the main risk?
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B: The client may choose by position instead of by the picture. When the correct answer is always in the same place, a client can be correct by choosing that position. Arranging the positions as the procedure directs ensures correct answers reflect the skill being assessed.
- A: Boredom is not the main issue; the problem is that position becomes a cue.
- C: The position does not make recording harder.
- D: Picture placement does not change the response from selecting to naming.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task C.6
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Question 12In the consequence column of an ABC sheet, an RBT writes: "Mom gave in because she was tired." What is wrong with this entry?
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B: It includes a guess about Mom's reasons instead of only what Mom did. ABC entries should describe observable events. An objective entry would state what Mom did, such as "Mom handed the client the tablet," without guessing why.
- A: What Mom did after the behavior belongs in the consequence column.
- C: Length is not the problem; the guess about Mom's reasons is.
- D: Caregiver responses are important consequences to record.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task E.4
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Question 13During an MSWO with a client who has a behavior plan for aggression, the client hits the RBT when a chosen item is taken back. What should the RBT do?
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D: Follow the behavior plan, record it, and tell the supervisor. The RBT follows the existing behavior plan and records what happened. The supervisor decides whether to change the assessment, for example to a free-operant format that does not remove items.
- A: Changing the procedure in the moment is not the RBT's decision and may reinforce aggression.
- B: Abandoning the procedure without direction is an unapproved change.
- C: Choosing a different assessment format is the supervisor's decision.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D · RBT Ethics Code 2.02
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Question 14Which skill would most likely be measured in a social skills assessment?
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C: Responding when a peer says hello. Social skills involve interacting with other people, such as greeting, responding, sharing and taking turns.
- A: Doing a puzzle alone is a play or fine motor skill, not an interaction with others.
- B: Matching pictures is a visual discrimination skill.
- D: Writing a name is an academic or fine motor skill.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 15During an escape (demand) condition, the client hits, and the RBT removes the task as the protocol states. The RBT also rubs the client's back and says, "It's okay, buddy." What is the problem?
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C: The added attention means the condition no longer tests escape by itself. Each condition is designed to test one consequence. Adding attention in the demand condition mixes two consequences, so the results cannot show which one maintains the behavior.
- A: Each condition specifies its own consequences; comfort is not added to every condition.
- B: The tangible condition gives access to an item, not physical attention.
- D: The added attention changes the test even though the task was removed.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task A.8
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Question 16In a trial-based preference assessment, the client selects a leisure item. According to typical protocols, what does the RBT do next?
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A: Give brief access to it, as the protocol states, then begin the next trial. The client gets brief access to the chosen item, for the time set in the protocol, so the choice produces the item. Then the next trial begins.
- B: Giving the item for the rest of the session would end the assessment early.
- C: Selections are followed by brief access to the item, not immediate removal.
- D: Asking for reasons is not part of the procedure and is not possible for many clients.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 17During a skills assessment, a client misses every item about naming colors. The RBT wants to start teaching colors at the next session. What should the RBT do?
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A: Report the results and wait for the supervisor to add any color goals. The supervisor reviews the results and decides which goals to add to the plan. The RBT implements targets only after they are part of the plan.
- B: Starting a new target without the supervisor goes beyond the RBT's role.
- C: Repeating items until the client passes changes the results.
- D: Leaving out data the RBT collected makes the assessment inaccurate.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 18An FBA uses this definition: "Elopement: moving more than 3 meters from the assigned area without permission." During an observation, the client walks 1 meter to pick up a toy. What should the RBT record?
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A: No elopement, because the movement does not meet the definition. An operational definition states exactly what counts. Recording only what meets it keeps the data consistent across observers.
- B: Leaving the seat is not part of this definition, which requires moving more than 3 meters.
- C: Only the supervisor can change the definition.
- D: Picking up a toy is not elopement, and the movement did not meet the definition.
Task B.3 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task A.5
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Question 19In a clinic playroom, several toys are spread out and an adolescent can move freely among them for 10 minutes. The RBT records how long the client engages with each toy. Which preference assessment is this?
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A: Free operant. A free-operant assessment gives continuous, unrestricted access to items for a set period and measures time spent with each. No item is presented or removed by trial.
- B: Single-stimulus assessment presents one item at a time in separate trials.
- C: MSW uses repeated choice trials from an array.
- D: A paired-stimulus assessment uses trials with two items.
Task B.1 · 40-hour curriculum section D
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Question 20While giving the instruction "Touch the cup" with three pictures on the table, an RBT glances at the cup picture each time. Why is this a problem?
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A: The glance can act as an unplanned prompt and inflate the client's score. Clients can learn to follow small cues from the adult, such as eye gaze. An unplanned cue can produce correct responses without the client knowing the word, so the score overstates the skill.
- B: The concern is that the glance helps the client, not that it makes the item harder.
- C: The item still tests listener responding; a mand is a request for something wanted.
- D: A client can notice a glance whether or not they make eye contact, so the cue is a problem either way.
Task B.2 · 40-hour curriculum section D · Task C.7
Answer every question to see your score.
What this test covers
| Task | Questions |
|---|---|
| B.1 Preference assessments | 7 |
| B.2 Skill assessments | 7 |
| B.3 Functional assessment | 6 |
5 easier, 9 exam-level and 6 harder questions. Each task link opens its study page.