RBT practice test: Behavior Reduction, set 8

Set 8 of 9 for content area D, Behavior Reduction (14 of the 75 scored exam questions). Every answer is explained.

20 questions

Question 1During grocery outings, a teen sits on the floor when asked to push the cart. The caregiver then pushes the cart and lets the teen walk alongside. Which function does this pattern suggest?
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C: Escape from the task. Sitting down follows a request and results in the task being taken over by the caregiver. Removal of the demand suggests an escape function.
- A: The clear outcome is that the teen no longer has to push the cart, not added attention.
- B: No preferred item is delivered after sitting down.
- D: The behavior is tied to a request and a social outcome.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 2A client's problem behavior is maintained by attention. The plan tells the RBT to set a timer and give 10 seconds of attention every 2 minutes, whatever the client is doing. Which procedure is this?
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D: Noncontingent reinforcement. Attention is delivered on a fixed-time schedule that does not depend on behavior, which is NCR. The reinforcer is matched to the function of the problem behavior.
- A: DRO would give attention only if problem behavior had not occurred during the interval.
- B: FCT teaches the client a communication response that produces attention.
- C: Demand fading changes the number or difficulty of demands.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 3During group time, a child calls out answers. The plan has the RBT praise and call on the child when they raise a hand, and give no attention to call-outs. Which procedure is this?
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A: DRA. A specific appropriate behavior (raising a hand) is reinforced with the attention that calling out used to get, and calling out is placed on extinction. That is DRA.
- B: DRO reinforces the absence of calling out over an interval, not a specific behavior.
- C: DRL reinforces calling out at a low rate; here call-outs are never reinforced.
- D: NCR delivers attention on a time schedule, not after a specific behavior.
Task D.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 4A client's whining is on attention extinction. The RBT follows the plan, but a grandparent who is often in the room sometimes comforts the client when they whine. What is the most likely effect on the whining?
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D: It may persist longer because it is still sometimes reinforced. Extinction only works if the reinforcer is withheld every time. Occasional reinforcement creates an intermittent schedule, and behavior on an intermittent schedule tends to be more resistant to extinction.
- A: Attention after whining is the reinforcer for whining, so it slows the decrease.
- B: Nothing in the scenario predicts a shift to other settings; the issue is reinforcement still occurring.
- C: DRO reinforces the absence of behavior; occasional attention after whining reinforces the whining itself.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 5In behavior analysis, what makes a consequence a punisher?
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B: It decreases the future frequency of the behavior it follows. Punishment is defined functionally: a consequence is a punisher only if the behavior it follows occurs less often in the future. What the consequence looks like, or what was intended, does not decide it.
- A: Punishment is defined by its effect on behavior, not by anyone's intent.
- C: A consequence can upset someone without reducing the behavior; only a decrease shows punishment.
- D: Withholding the maintaining reinforcer is extinction.
Task D.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 6A client's attention-maintained screaming averaged 10 per session in baseline. In the first three extinction sessions it was 18, 15 and 12, and in the next three it was 7, 4 and 2. What pattern do these data show?
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C: An extinction burst followed by a decrease. Screaming rose above baseline when extinction began (a burst), then dropped steadily as extinction continued. This is a typical extinction pattern.
- A: Spontaneous recovery happens after a decrease, not at the start of extinction.
- B: Resurgence requires an alternative behavior losing reinforcement, which is not described.
- D: The behavior rose above baseline, then fell well below it.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 7How do RBTs typically become competent in a client's crisis procedures?
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C: By modeling, rehearsal and feedback, then supervisor verification. Behavioral skills training (instructions, modeling, rehearsal and feedback) is the standard way to build skills such as crisis procedures. The supervisor then verifies competence before the RBT uses them.
- A: Reading alone does not build or demonstrate skill.
- B: Watching without practice and feedback does not show competence.
- D: Learning during a real crisis is unsafe; training comes first.
Task D.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E · RBT Ethics Code 1.06
Question 8An adult scratches a healing insect bite, and the scratching briefly relieves the itch. If scratching is maintained by this relief, which type of reinforcement maintains it?
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D: Automatic negative reinforcement. The behavior removes an aversive sensation (the itch) without anyone else involved. Removal of a stimulus is negative reinforcement, and because the behavior produces it directly, it is automatic.
- A: Social negative reinforcement requires another person to remove the aversive event, such as ending a task.
- B: Automatic positive reinforcement adds a sensation; here an aversive sensation is removed.
- C: No one delivers anything, and something is removed rather than added.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 9A student's calling out in class is maintained by attention. Which antecedent strategy might the supervisor include in the plan?
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C: Scheduled teacher check-ins during the lesson. Scheduled check-ins give attention before the student has to call out for it, which lowers motivation for the behavior. That is an antecedent strategy.
- A: Removing a point after calling out is response cost, a consequence.
- B: Ignoring call-outs is extinction, a consequence procedure.
- D: Praising hand raising is DRA, a consequence for an alternative behavior.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 10In a momentary DRO, when is the reinforcer delivered?
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D: When problem behavior is not occurring at the end of the interval. Momentary DRO checks only the moment the interval ends. Whole-interval DRO requires no problem behavior during the entire interval.
- A: Requiring no behavior for the whole interval is whole-interval DRO.
- B: A set number of occurrences or fewer describes DRL.
- C: Reinforcing an alternative behavior is DRA.
Task D.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 11A plan says that when a client hits to get attention, the RBT should block the hit while giving as little attention as possible. Which response matches the plan?
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C: Block the hit without eye contact or comments, then resume the activity. When behavior is dangerous, plans often combine blocking for safety with minimal attention. The RBT prevents harm while giving as little of the maintaining reinforcer as possible.
- A: An explanation delivers attention after hitting.
- B: Safety comes first; the plan calls for blocking.
- D: A hug is attention right after hitting.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 12For which client is time-out least likely to reduce problem behavior?
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A: One whose behavior is maintained by escape from activities. If behavior is maintained by escape, time-out removes the client from the activity they want to escape. That can work as negative reinforcement and make the behavior more likely.
- B: Losing access to a preferred game is a real loss, so time-out may work well.
- C: Time-out removes access to peer attention, so it fits this function.
- D: A rich time-in makes time-out a real loss.
Task D.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 13Which is a side effect of punishment rather than of extinction?
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A: Avoidance. Escape and avoidance of the people, places and tasks linked with punishment are side effects of punishment. Bursts, resurgence and spontaneous recovery are linked with extinction.
- B: An extinction burst is a secondary effect of extinction.
- C: Resurgence is linked to extinction of an alternative behavior.
- D: Spontaneous recovery is a secondary effect of extinction.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 14Who is responsible for designing a client's crisis plan?
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A: The supervisor, who designs the behavior plan. The supervisor designs crisis procedures as part of the client's plan, using input from caregivers and the team. The RBT is trained in them and implements them as written.
- B: RBTs implement crisis plans; they do not design them.
- C: Caregivers give input, but the supervisor designs the plan.
- D: Crisis procedures are planned in advance, not made up during a crisis.
Task D.7 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 15Which consequence is an example of automatic reinforcement?
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C: The sight of fingers flicking in front of the eyes. Automatic reinforcement is produced directly by the behavior itself, such as the visual sensation created by flicking fingers.
- A: A peer's laughter is attention from another person, a social consequence.
- B: A break given by a teacher is social negative reinforcement.
- D: A snack given by a caregiver is social positive reinforcement.
Task D.1 · 40-hour curriculum section A
Question 16A client grabs food from peers at lunch, and the behavior is maintained by getting food. The plan has the client eat a snack shortly before group lunch. How does this antecedent strategy work?
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D: It reduces motivation for food. Eating beforehand reduces food deprivation, which lowers the value of food for a while and makes food-maintained grabbing less likely. This is an abolishing operation.
- A: Extinction means grabbing no longer produces food; the snack changes motivation instead.
- B: Nothing aversive follows grabbing, so this is not punishment.
- C: Teaching a request is FCT, a different procedure.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 17A plan uses a resetting DRO with a 5-minute interval: each time hitting occurs, the RBT restarts the 5-minute timer, and the reinforcer is delivered when 5 minutes pass with no hitting. The session starts at 0:00. Hitting occurs at 3:00 and at 6:30 and not again. At what time does the client earn the first reinforcer?
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D: 11:30. The first interval would end at 5:00, but hitting at 3:00 restarts the timer, so the next interval would end at 8:00. Hitting at 6:30 restarts it again, so the first 5 minutes with no hitting end at 6:30 + 5:00 = 11:30.
- A: Hitting at 3:00 reset the timer before 5:00 was reached.
- B: Hitting at 6:30 reset the timer before 8:00 was reached.
- C: 10:00 is two full intervals from the start; the resets mean the interval is counted from the last hit at 6:30.
Task D.3 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 18Under an extinction procedure, when should the maintaining reinforcer be withheld?
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B: Every time the behavior occurs, by everyone following the plan. Extinction must be consistent across times, settings and people. Any reinforcement of the behavior weakens the procedure.
- A: Reinforcing milder occurrences keeps the behavior going and can make it more persistent.
- C: Reinforcement during breaks would keep the behavior going.
- D: Occasional reinforcement creates an intermittent schedule that resists extinction.
Task D.4 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 19A plan that uses a punishment procedure should also include which component?
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B: Reinforcement for an appropriate alternative behavior. Punishment reduces behavior but does not teach what to do instead. Plans pair it with reinforcement for appropriate behavior, ideally one that meets the same need.
- A: Extinction is targeted at specific behavior, never at everything the client does.
- C: Escalating punishers is not a standard part of a plan.
- D: Removing all reinforcers would make time-in poor and is not a standard practice.
Task D.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Question 20What is the key difference between spontaneous recovery and resurgence?
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D: Spontaneous recovery follows a break; resurgence follows lost reinforcement for an alternative. Spontaneous recovery is an extinguished behavior coming back after a break, such as a weekend. Resurgence is an old behavior coming back because a newer alternative behavior stopped being reinforced.
- A: Both are discussed as effects linked to extinction; neither is defined by punishment.
- B: Both involve a previously reinforced behavior coming back.
- C: Neither is defined by a set duration.
Task D.6 · 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	3
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	2

5 easier, 9 exam-level and 6 harder questions. Each task link opens its study page.

Question 1During grocery outings, a teen sits on the floor when asked to push the cart. The caregiver then pushes the cart and lets the teen walk alongside. Which function does this pattern suggest?

Question 2A client's problem behavior is maintained by attention. The plan tells the RBT to set a timer and give 10 seconds of attention every 2 minutes, whatever the client is doing. Which procedure is this?

Question 3During group time, a child calls out answers. The plan has the RBT praise and call on the child when they raise a hand, and give no attention to call-outs. Which procedure is this?

Question 4A client's whining is on attention extinction. The RBT follows the plan, but a grandparent who is often in the room sometimes comforts the client when they whine. What is the most likely effect on the whining?

Question 5In behavior analysis, what makes a consequence a punisher?

Question 6A client's attention-maintained screaming averaged 10 per session in baseline. In the first three extinction sessions it was 18, 15 and 12, and in the next three it was 7, 4 and 2. What pattern do these data show?

Question 7How do RBTs typically become competent in a client's crisis procedures?

Question 8An adult scratches a healing insect bite, and the scratching briefly relieves the itch. If scratching is maintained by this relief, which type of reinforcement maintains it?

Question 9A student's calling out in class is maintained by attention. Which antecedent strategy might the supervisor include in the plan?

Question 10In a momentary DRO, when is the reinforcer delivered?

Question 11A plan says that when a client hits to get attention, the RBT should block the hit while giving as little attention as possible. Which response matches the plan?

Question 12For which client is time-out least likely to reduce problem behavior?

Question 13Which is a side effect of punishment rather than of extinction?

Question 14Who is responsible for designing a client's crisis plan?

Question 15Which consequence is an example of automatic reinforcement?

Question 16A client grabs food from peers at lunch, and the behavior is maintained by getting food. The plan has the client eat a snack shortly before group lunch. How does this antecedent strategy work?

Question 18Under an extinction procedure, when should the maintaining reinforcer be withheld?

Question 19A plan that uses a punishment procedure should also include which component?

Question 20What is the key difference between spontaneous recovery and resurgence?

What this test covers