RBT practice test: Behavior Reduction, set 5

Set 5 of 9 for content area D, Behavior Reduction (14 of the 75 scored exam questions). Every answer is explained.

20 questions

Question 1A student's attention-maintained calling out is on extinction at school, where staff follow the plan. At home, family members still respond every time. Data show calling out decreases at school but not at home. What best explains this?
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A: Calling out is still reinforced at home, so it continues there. Behavior responds to the contingencies in each setting. If the behavior still pays off at home, it will continue there. The supervisor uses this information when working with the family.
- B: Extinction affects behavior where reinforcement is withheld; it does not automatically spread.
- C: A burst happens when extinction starts; at home reinforcement is still delivered.
- D: Nothing suggests a data error; the difference matches the different contingencies.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 2A child touches a hot pan, feels pain, and does not touch the pan again. Which principle explains this?
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B: Positive punishment. A stimulus (pain) was added after touching the pan, and touching decreased. Punishment can occur naturally, not only as a planned procedure.
- A: Nothing was taken away; pain was added.
- C: Negative reinforcement increases behavior; touching decreased.
- D: A stimulus followed the behavior, so this is not extinction.
Task D.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 3A supervisor warns that a client's extinction burst may include throwing objects. Before the first extinction session, what should the RBT do?
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A: Remove dangerous items and review the plan's safety steps. Preparing the environment and knowing the plan's safety steps lets the RBT stay consistent during a burst while protecting everyone.
- B: Giving in during a burst reinforces the escalation.
- C: Delaying the plan is the supervisor's decision.
- D: Adding an unplanned procedure is outside the RBT's role.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 4A caregiver tells the RBT to lock the client in their bedroom whenever the client becomes aggressive. What should the RBT do?
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D: Decline, follow the plan and tell the supervisor. Locking a person in a room is a highly restrictive, unsafe practice. RBTs use only procedures in the client's documented plan and pass caregiver requests to the supervisor.
- A: Locking a client in a room is not in the plan and is unsafe; the RBT follows the plan.
- B: This is still an unplanned, restrictive procedure.
- C: Checking in does not make an unplanned locked-room procedure acceptable.
Task D.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.05 · RBT Ethics Code 2.06
Question 5Two clients at the same clinic both hit staff. What can be concluded about the function of hitting from this information alone?
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D: Nothing yet, because the same behavior can serve different functions. Function is identified from what happens before and after the behavior, not from its form. Hitting may be maintained by attention for one client and escape for another, so more information is needed.
- A: Hitting can be maintained by attention, but nothing here shows that it is for either client.
- B: Hitting can be maintained by escape, but nothing here shows that it is for either client.
- C: Behaviors with the same topography can have different functions; form does not identify function.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 6An RBT gives three high-p requests and praises each. The RBT then chats with the client for two minutes before giving the low-p request. What is the main problem?
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D: There was too long a gap before the low-p request. The sequence works best when the low-p request follows the high-p requests quickly. A long gap weakens the effect of the run of compliance.
- A: Reinforcing each high-p compliance is part of the procedure.
- B: Giving the low-p request first is not a high-p sequence.
- C: The procedure uses a series of high-p requests, not a single one.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 7In a DRA plan for call-outs, an RBT sometimes answers call-outs when tired. What is the likely effect?
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D: Call-outs may persist due to intermittent reinforcement. Occasional reinforcement of problem behavior is intermittent reinforcement, which can keep the behavior going and make it harder to reduce.
- A: Inconsistent extinction slows progress; it does not speed it up.
- B: Reinforcing call-outs gives the client a competing way to get attention, which does not help hand raising.
- C: Even occasional reinforcement can maintain behavior.
Task D.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.02
Question 8Which example describes extinction?
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D: A vending machine stops giving snacks, and a client stops pressing its button. Pressing the button used to produce snacks. When it no longer produces them, pressing decreases. That is extinction: the reinforcer is no longer delivered.
- A: Losing something the client has after the behavior is negative punishment.
- B: Adding a reprimand that reduces behavior is positive punishment.
- C: Reinforcing an alternative behavior is differential reinforcement (DRA).
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 9An RBT thinks a brief time-out would reduce a client's spitting. Time-out is not in the client's behavior plan. What should the RBT do?
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D: Share the idea with the supervisor and keep following the plan. RBTs implement punishment procedures only when they are written in the client's behavior plan and the supervisor has verified their competence. Suggestions go to the supervisor.
- A: Using an unplanned procedure, even as a trial, is outside the RBT's role.
- B: Caregiver agreement does not let an RBT add a procedure that is not in the plan.
- C: Any use of an unplanned punishment procedure breaks the plan.
Task D.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.05
Question 10Why might a client start avoiding a staff member who often delivers punishment?
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D: Through pairing with punishment, the staff member has become aversive. People and places paired with punishment can become conditioned aversive stimuli, so the client escapes or avoids them. This can damage rapport and learning.
- A: An extinction burst is an increase in a behavior on extinction, not avoidance of a person.
- B: If the attention were reinforcing, the client would approach, not avoid.
- C: Avoiding the staff member is not an old behavior returning after an alternative lost reinforcement.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 11Which RBT behavior fits the de-escalation steps commonly written into crisis plans?
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C: Speaking calmly with few words and giving the client space. De-escalation usually means a calm voice, simple words, more space and fewer demands, as the client's plan describes.
- A: A raised voice can add to the escalation.
- B: Long explanations add demands and attention during escalation.
- D: Crowding the client can escalate behavior and puts the RBT at risk.
Task D.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 12A child starts crying as soon as the RBT walks toward the work table, before any instruction is given. When the child cries, the RBT waits quietly at the table until the crying stops, so the work starts later. Which function does this pattern suggest?
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A: Avoiding demands. The crying occurs before the task and delays it. Behavior that postpones or prevents an aversive event is maintained by negative reinforcement, here avoidance of demands.
- B: The RBT waits quietly, so crying does not produce extra attention; it delays the work.
- C: No preferred item is withheld or delivered.
- D: The crying is tied to the approach of work and to a delay in work, a social outcome.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 13What is noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)?
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B: Time-based reinforcer delivery, independent of behavior. In NCR, the reinforcer is delivered on a time-based schedule (for example every 2 minutes) that does not depend on what the client is doing.
- A: Reinforcing the absence of problem behavior is DRO, which requires the behavior not to occur.
- C: Reinforcing an alternative behavior is DRA.
- D: Withholding the maintaining reinforcer is extinction.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 14A full-session DRL plan gives a reward when a client curses 4 or fewer times in a session. Across three sessions, the client cursed 3, 5 and 4 times. In how many sessions did the client earn the reward?
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B: 2. The criterion is 4 or fewer. Sessions with 3 and 4 curses meet it; the session with 5 does not. The client earned the reward in 2 sessions.
- A: 1 treats 4 curses as above the criterion, but "4 or fewer" includes 4.
- C: 3 includes the session with 5 curses, which is above the criterion.
- D: 0 ignores that two sessions were at or below the criterion.
Task D.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 15A new plan for a child's escape-maintained behavior includes physical guidance to complete tasks. The RBT has never been trained in that guidance procedure. What should the RBT do?
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C: Tell the supervisor and get training before using the guidance. RBTs use only procedures they have been trained in and found competent at. When a plan includes something new, the RBT tells the supervisor and gets training first.
- A: Using an unfamiliar procedure without training risks harm and poor fidelity.
- B: Allowing breaks after protests changes the plan and reinforces escape.
- D: Handing a procedure to a caregiver is not the RBT's decision and does not solve the training gap.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.04 · RBT Ethics Code 1.06
Question 16During a group game, a student grabs another student's cards. As the plan states, the student sits at the edge of the group for one minute, watching but not playing, then rejoins. Which procedure is this?
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C: Nonexclusionary time-out. In nonexclusionary time-out, the client stays in the setting but cannot take part in reinforcing activities for a short time. Watching from the edge of the group is a common form, called contingent observation.
- A: The student is not taken out of the setting; they stay and watch.
- B: No set amount of a reinforcer, such as tokens, is taken away.
- D: The student loses access to the game, which is more than withholding the reinforcer for grabbing.
Task D.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 17A client's cursing is punished with response cost at school, where it drops sharply. At home, where cursing has no new consequence, the family reports cursing has increased. Which side effect of punishment does this pattern describe?
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C: Behavioral contrast. Behavioral contrast is a known side effect of punishment: the behavior decreases where it is punished but may increase where it is not.
- A: Resurgence is an old behavior returning when an alternative loses reinforcement.
- B: Spontaneous recovery follows extinction, not punishment, and occurs after time away.
- D: An extinction burst happens when reinforcement is withheld; no reinforcement was withheld at home.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 18Why is detailed, objective documentation of crisis events important?
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D: The supervisor uses it to find patterns and adjust the plan. Accurate crisis records show what happened before, during and after each incident. The supervisor uses them to look for triggers and adjust the plan to prevent future crises.
- A: Choosing procedures is the supervisor's role.
- B: Documentation does not replace timely notification.
- C: Crisis records are for the team's decisions and required records.
Task D.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 2.02
Question 19During free play at a clinic, a 4-year-old grabs toys from peers and screams if the peer holds on. The screaming stops when the peer lets go, even when no adult comes over. Which function does this pattern suggest?
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D: Access to tangibles. Screaming is followed by getting the toy, and it stops without any adult involvement. That points to access to a tangible item.
- A: Screaming ends when the toy is obtained, even with no adult attention.
- B: No task is presented during free play.
- C: The outcome is an item released by another person, which is a social consequence.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 20Which of these is an antecedent intervention?
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D: Changing a student's seat before class starts. Changing where the student sits before class changes the conditions in which behavior occurs, so it is an antecedent intervention. It does not depend on anything the student does.
- A: A token after correct answers is a consequence for the answer.
- B: Withholding attention after whining is extinction, a consequence procedure.
- C: Removing a token after hitting is response cost, a consequence procedure.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E

Answer every question to see your score.

What this test covers

Questions in this test by task
Task	Questions
D.1 Functions of behavior	3
D.2 Antecedent interventions	3
D.3 Differential reinforcement	2
D.4 Extinction	3
D.5 Positive and negative punishment	3
D.6 Secondary effects of extinction and punishment	3
D.7 Crisis and emergency procedures	3

5 easier, 11 exam-level and 4 harder questions. Each task link opens its study page.

Question 1A student's attention-maintained calling out is on extinction at school, where staff follow the plan. At home, family members still respond every time. Data show calling out decreases at school but not at home. What best explains this?

Question 2A child touches a hot pan, feels pain, and does not touch the pan again. Which principle explains this?

Question 3A supervisor warns that a client's extinction burst may include throwing objects. Before the first extinction session, what should the RBT do?

Question 4A caregiver tells the RBT to lock the client in their bedroom whenever the client becomes aggressive. What should the RBT do?

Question 5Two clients at the same clinic both hit staff. What can be concluded about the function of hitting from this information alone?

Question 6An RBT gives three high-p requests and praises each. The RBT then chats with the client for two minutes before giving the low-p request. What is the main problem?

Question 7In a DRA plan for call-outs, an RBT sometimes answers call-outs when tired. What is the likely effect?

Question 8Which example describes extinction?

Question 9An RBT thinks a brief time-out would reduce a client's spitting. Time-out is not in the client's behavior plan. What should the RBT do?

Question 10Why might a client start avoiding a staff member who often delivers punishment?

Question 11Which RBT behavior fits the de-escalation steps commonly written into crisis plans?

Question 12A child starts crying as soon as the RBT walks toward the work table, before any instruction is given. When the child cries, the RBT waits quietly at the table until the crying stops, so the work starts later. Which function does this pattern suggest?

Question 13What is noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)?

Question 14A full-session DRL plan gives a reward when a client curses 4 or fewer times in a session. Across three sessions, the client cursed 3, 5 and 4 times. In how many sessions did the client earn the reward?

Question 15A new plan for a child's escape-maintained behavior includes physical guidance to complete tasks. The RBT has never been trained in that guidance procedure. What should the RBT do?

Question 16During a group game, a student grabs another student's cards. As the plan states, the student sits at the edge of the group for one minute, watching but not playing, then rejoins. Which procedure is this?

Question 17A client's cursing is punished with response cost at school, where it drops sharply. At home, where cursing has no new consequence, the family reports cursing has increased. Which side effect of punishment does this pattern describe?

Question 18Why is detailed, objective documentation of crisis events important?

Question 19During free play at a clinic, a 4-year-old grabs toys from peers and screams if the peer holds on. The screaming stops when the peer lets go, even when no adult comes over. Which function does this pattern suggest?

Question 20Which of these is an antecedent intervention?

What this test covers