RBT practice test: Data Collection and Graphing, set 6

A: Ask the supervisor for an operational definition first. Without a definition, each observer may count different things. The supervisor writes the definition; the RBT asks for it before recording.

• B: Defining targets is the supervisor's role, and a private definition would not match other observers.
• C: "Obvious" is a personal judgment that other observers would apply differently.
• D: An informal description is not an operational definition approved by the supervisor.

Task A.5 · 40-hour curriculum section C

C: Rate adjusts for the different amounts of observation time. A longer session gives more chances for the behavior, so counts can rise just because the session ran longer. Rate divides by time so sessions can be compared fairly.

• A: Rate reflects how often behavior occurs, not how long it lasts.
• B: The RBT still records a count and the time; rate is calculated afterward.
• D: Rate is used for both increasing and decreasing behaviors.

Task A.6 · 40-hour curriculum section C

B: The behavior is already decreasing in baseline. The baseline data path falls across sessions. A trend already moving in the desired direction is important information for the supervisor's decision about when to start intervention.

• A: The baseline values fall, not rise.
• C: The data are not stable; they show a clear decreasing trend.
• D: The points follow a steady downward path rather than bouncing.

Task A.7 · 40-hour curriculum section C

C: The target may be marked mastered before the client can do it alone. Recording prompted responses as independent inflates the percentage correct. The supervisor may then judge the skill mastered, move on, and later find that the client cannot perform it independently.

• A: Inflated data make the intervention look more effective, not less.
• B: The recording does not change the client's behavior; the risk is a wrong decision based on inflated data.
• D: Counting prompted responses as independent makes performance look better, not worse.

Task A.8 · 40-hour curriculum section C · RBT Ethics Code 2.02

C: Duration recording. Continuous measurement captures every occurrence of the behavior during the observation period. Duration recording times each occurrence from start to end, so nothing is missed; the interval and time-sampling procedures record only a sample.

• A: Partial interval recording only notes whether the behavior happened at some point in each interval, so it samples the behavior.
• B: Momentary time sampling checks the behavior only at the moment each interval ends.
• D: Whole interval recording only notes whether the behavior lasted through each entire interval.

Task A.1 · 40-hour curriculum section C

D: Look when each interval ends and mark if engaged. Momentary time sampling only requires a look at the moment each interval ends, so the RBT can keep teaching between checks. A vibrating timer or app cue helps the RBT check at the right moment.

• A: Watching throughout each interval and marking any occurrence is partial interval recording.
• B: Timing each period of engagement is duration recording.
• C: Counting each time engagement begins is frequency recording.

Task A.2 · 40-hour curriculum section C

B: 2 envelopes per minute. Rate = count ÷ time. 30 envelopes ÷ 15 minutes = 2 envelopes per minute. Product counts can be turned into rates when the work time is recorded.

• A: 0.5 is 15 ÷ 30, which is minutes per envelope, not envelopes per minute.
• C: 15 is the number of minutes worked, not a rate.
• D: 30 is the total count for the whole task, not the count per minute.

Task A.3 · 40-hour curriculum section C

A: 15 minutes. The graph asks for total duration, so the episode durations are added: 4 + 6 + 5 = 15 minutes.

• B: 3 is the number of episodes, not their total duration.
• C: 5 minutes is the mean duration per episode, not the total.
• D: 6 minutes is the longest single episode, not the total.

Task A.4 · 40-hour curriculum section C

C: Pushed the worksheet off the table and said "no". This note reports exactly what the client did and said, so anyone reading it knows what happened without having to interpret.

• A: Frustration is an inferred feeling, not an observed action.
• B: This guesses at the reason for the behavior instead of describing it.
• D: "Bad attitude" is a judgment that does not say what the client did.

Task A.5 · 40-hour curriculum section C

C: Session 8. Sessions 3 and 4 were at 90% or higher, but session 5 (85%) broke the streak. Sessions 6, 7 and 8 are the first three consecutive sessions at 90% or higher, so the criterion was met in session 8.

• A: Only two consecutive sessions (3 and 4) were at 90% or higher at that point.
• B: Session 5 was 85%, below the criterion, which ended the streak.
• D: By session 7, only two consecutive sessions (6 and 7) met the criterion.

Task A.6 · 40-hour curriculum section C

B: An increasing trend. The data path rises from the first session to the last, so the overall direction, the trend, is increasing.

• A: The data path goes up, not down.
• C: The values change steadily in one direction, so there is a clear trend.
• D: The points rise steadily without large jumps up and down.

Task A.7 · 40-hour curriculum section C

D: The vague definition leads each RBT to count different behavior. A definition that does not name observable actions leaves each observer to decide what counts. That produces low agreement. The RBTs should tell the supervisor so the definition can be rewritten in observable, measurable terms.

• A: Aggression is commonly counted with frequency recording once it is clearly defined.
• B: Both RBTs recorded the same sessions, so the client's behavior was the same for both records.
• C: Fidelity concerns implementation; differing counts of the same sessions point to the definition.

Task A.8 · 40-hour curriculum section C

D: 70%. Divide the duration of the behavior by the length of the observation and multiply by 100: 14 ÷ 20 = 0.70, or 70%.

• A: 14 is the number of minutes worked, not a percentage of the period.
• B: 30% is the share of the period the student was not working (6 of 20 minutes).
• C: 60% would mean 12 minutes of work out of 20.

Task A.1 · 40-hour curriculum section C

A: Whole interval recording. Whole interval recording leaves an interval unscored if the behavior stops even briefly, so time spent in the behavior during unscored intervals is lost and the percentage is usually lower than the true value.

• B: Partial interval recording tends to overestimate, because brief occurrences count for the whole interval.
• C: Momentary time sampling can over- or underestimate; it has no built-in tendency to underestimate.
• D: A planned activity check is a group form of momentary time sampling and shares its pattern of error.

Task A.2 · 40-hour curriculum section C

A: How long the client took to finish it. A product shows the result of the behavior, not how long it took. If the plan needs speed, the RBT must also record the start and end times.

• B: The number correct can be counted directly from the worksheet.
• C: The number incorrect can be counted directly from the worksheet.
• D: The percentage correct can be calculated from the worksheet: 18 ÷ 20 = 90%.

Task A.3 · 40-hour curriculum section C

C: It tells readers what measure each point represents. The vertical-axis label names the dimension and unit plotted, such as count, rate or percentage correct. Without it, readers cannot interpret the values.

• A: Phase change lines and condition labels show where phases begin.
• B: The horizontal axis shows the sessions.
• D: The axis label describes the measure, not when the graph was made.

Task A.4 · 40-hour curriculum section C

B: Folded 4 towels in 30 minutes, then put head on the table. This reports counts, time and an observable action, so the reader knows what happened.

• A: Motivation is inferred; the note does not say what the client did.
• C: This is a guess about the client's attitude.
• D: "Lazy" and "slow" are judgments that do not describe behavior.

Task A.5 · 40-hour curriculum section C

A: The rate of requests was higher in Session B. Session A: 20 / 40 = 0.5 per minute. Session B: 15 / 20 = 0.75 per minute. Session B had fewer requests but a higher rate because it was shorter.

• B: Session A had the higher count but the lower rate, 0.5 versus 0.75 per minute.
• C: The rates differ: 0.5 per minute in A and 0.75 per minute in B.
• D: Rate is used precisely so that sessions of different lengths can be compared.

Task A.6 · 40-hour curriculum section C

A: Little change in level or trend. The intervention data fall in the same range as baseline and stay flat, so there is no visible change. The RBT should report this to the supervisor.

• B: The intervention values are about the same as baseline.
• C: The intervention data stay flat.
• D: The intervention data do not fall across sessions.

Task A.7 · 40-hour curriculum section C

D: A second observer independently records the same session for comparison. Interobserver agreement (IOA) compares the records of two observers who measured the same behavior at the same time without seeing each other's data. Agreement between independent observers is the usual check on how consistent and believable the data are.

• A: A trend shows the direction of the data, not whether the data were recorded consistently.
• B: Recounting tallies only checks arithmetic; it cannot show whether the tallies matched the behavior.
• C: A caregiver's signature confirms the session took place, not that the measurement was reliable.

Task A.8 · 40-hour curriculum section C