C.5 Task analysis and chaining
Many everyday skills, like handwashing, dressing or doing laundry, are made of several steps performed in order. A task analysis lists those steps, and chaining procedures teach them: forward chaining, backward chaining and total task chaining. The supervisor writes the task analysis and picks the chaining method; the RBT teaches it, prompts as written, and records each step.
What the outline says
Task C.5 in content area C, Behavior Acquisition (19 of the 75 scored questions): "Implement task analyzed chaining procedures (e.g., forward, backward, total task)."
Behavior chains and task analysis
A behavior chain is a sequence of linked responses performed in a set order. Each step produces a change in the environment that does two jobs: it reinforces the step just completed and signals (serves as the SD for) the next step. In handwashing, turning the tap produces running water, which reinforces turning the tap and cues wetting the hands. The last step is followed by the terminal reinforcer, such as clean hands, a finished snack or planned praise.
A task analysis breaks the skill into small, observable steps in order. For handwashing: turn on water; wet hands; get soap; rub hands; rinse; turn off water; dry hands. Task analyses are often built by watching a skilled person do the task, asking experts, or doing the task oneself. Steps must be specific actions, not qualities. A step such as "uses good hygiene" cannot be taught or scored and should be reported to the supervisor. If a step is too big for the learner, the supervisor may split it into smaller steps.
Assessing the chain before teaching
Before teaching, the supervisor may ask the RBT to assess which steps the learner can already do:
- Single-opportunity method: the learner attempts the whole task, and the assessment stops at the first error. That step and all later steps are scored as not done.
- Multiple-opportunity method: when the learner makes an error, the instructor completes that step and the learner tries the next one, so every step is scored.
The multiple-opportunity method shows skills on later steps that the single-opportunity method would miss. The single-opportunity method is quicker and gives less practice during the assessment.
The three chaining procedures
Forward chaining teaches the steps in their natural order. The learner is taught the first step until it meets criterion, then the first and second steps, and so on. Reinforcement follows the current training step, and the plan says how the remaining steps are completed (for example, the RBT fully prompts them).
Backward chaining starts at the end. The RBT completes or fully prompts every step except the last, the learner does the last step, and reinforcement follows. Once the last step meets criterion, the learner does the second-to-last and last steps, and so on back to the beginning. A key advantage is that every trial ends with the learner finishing the task and contacting the terminal reinforcer.
Total task chaining has the learner attempt every step in every session, with prompts on any step not yet mastered. Forward chaining adds one step at a time; total task chaining trains the whole chain each session.
Prompting, errors and data
Prompt each step at the level the plan specifies and fade prompts as written. Visual prompts, such as a row of photos showing each step, are common. Watch for prompt dependence: if a learner does every step only after you tap the next photo, record those steps as prompted and follow the plan for fading the taps.
When the learner starts a step out of order, such as shoes before socks, interrupt, prompt the correct step and record it as prompted, as the plan directs. Letting the error finish gives practice with the wrong order.
Score each step, often with codes such as I (independent), G (gestural), M (model) and P (physical). The usual summary is the percentage of steps completed independently:
- 9 independent steps on a 12-step task analysis: 9 / 12 = 75%.
- On a 15-step task with 6 independent, 7 prompted and 2 not done: 6 / 15 = 40%. Prompted and missed steps both count as not independent.
- Across three sessions of a 10-step task with 4, 6 and 8 independent steps: (40% + 60% + 80%) / 3 = 60%.
- From 3 of 8 steps (37.5%) to 6 of 8 steps (75%) is an increase of 37.5 percentage points, even though the number of steps doubled.
Chaining compared with shaping
Chaining links several different responses into a sequence. Shaping (C.10) changes one response by reinforcing closer and closer approximations. A learner might need shaping for one step, such as a smoother tooth-brushing motion, within a chained routine.
Staying within the RBT role
All staff should teach the steps in the order the task analysis lists; a mixed order can slow learning and makes the data unreliable. If a step no longer fits, for example a new washing machine works differently, or a skill does not carry over to another setting, tell the supervisor and include data. If a caregiver's schedule leaves no time for the routine, pass that on as well. Never score steps the learner did not do alone as independent.
Examples and non-examples
| Example | Non-example |
|---|---|
| Backward chaining for putting on a T-shirt: the RBT completes every step except pulling the shirt down at the waist; the child does that step and gets praise and playtime. | The RBT dresses the child completely and records all steps as independent because the family was late. |
| Total task chaining for toothbrushing: the child attempts all eight steps every session, and the RBT prompts only the steps the child cannot yet do alone. | The RBT reinforces closer and closer approximations of one brushing motion. That is shaping a single response, not chaining. |
Common mistakes
- Confusing forward and backward chaining. Forward starts with the first step; backward starts with the last step.
- Scoring only whether the whole task was completed. Record every step so the supervisor can see where help is still needed.
- Dividing by the wrong number in a percentage. Use all steps in the task analysis, not just the steps attempted.
- Editing the task analysis or skipping steps on your own. Report problems to the supervisor.
- Leaving a prompt in place on every trial, which can create prompt dependence.
- Letting an out-of-order step finish instead of interrupting and prompting the correct step as the plan directs.
How it's tested
Expect descriptions of a routine being taught and a question asking which chaining procedure it is, what step comes next, or what the RBT should do after an error. Calculation items ask for the percentage of steps done independently. To tell the procedures apart, look at which step the learner is taught first and whether the learner attempts every step each session.
Practice questions for task C.5
10 of our 34 questions on this task. The rest are in the Behavior Acquisition practice sets and the mock exams.
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Question 1What is a task analysis?
Show answer
A: Breaking a skill into small, ordered steps. A task analysis lists the separate steps of a complex skill in the order they are performed, so each step can be taught, prompted and scored.
- B: That describes shaping, which changes one response rather than listing steps.
- C: That describes most-to-least prompting.
- D: That describes a generalization probe.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2In each session, a child attempts all eight steps of a toothbrushing routine, and the RBT prompts only the steps the child cannot yet do alone. Which procedure is this?
Show answer
D: Total task chaining. Total task chaining teaches the whole chain every session, with prompts on any step the learner has not yet mastered.
- A: Forward chaining trains one step at a time from the beginning.
- B: Backward chaining trains one step at a time from the end.
- C: Stimulus fading gradually changes a feature of the stimulus; it does not order the steps of a chain.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3What is a main advantage of backward chaining?
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D: Each trial ends with the learner finishing the task. Because the learner always performs the last step, every trial ends in contact with the terminal reinforcer, the finished task plus any planned reinforcement.
- A: Practicing every step each session is total task chaining.
- B: Teaching the first step first is forward chaining.
- C: Earlier steps are still done or prompted by the instructor in backward chaining.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 4What is a behavior chain?
Show answer
B: A sequence of linked steps in a set order. In a behavior chain, each response produces a stimulus change that reinforces that response and serves as the cue for the next one, ending with a terminal reinforcer.
- A: Unrelated skills are not linked; a chain is a fixed sequence of linked steps.
- C: Gradually changing one response is shaping.
- D: A maintenance list is not a sequence of linked responses.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 5A task analysis for making a sandwich has 12 steps. In today's session, the client completed 9 steps independently. What percentage of steps were completed independently?
Show answer
B: 75%. Divide independent steps by total steps and multiply by 100: 9 / 12 = 0.75, or 75%.
- A: 25% is the percentage of steps not completed independently (3 / 12).
- C: 90% of 12 steps would be 10.8 steps, more than the 9 completed.
- D: 66.7% would be 8 of 12 steps, not 9.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E · 40-hour curriculum section C
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Question 6A 15-step laundry task analysis is scored as independent, prompted or not done. An adult client is independent on 6 steps, prompted on 7 steps and does not do 2 steps. The plan counts only independent steps. What percentage of steps were independent?
Show answer
A: 40%. Independent steps divided by all steps in the task analysis: 6 / 15 = 0.40, or 40%. Prompted and missed steps both count as not independent.
- B: 86.7% adds prompted steps to independent ones (13 / 15).
- C: 46.2% divides by 13 instead of the 15 steps in the task (6 / 13).
- D: 13.3% is the percentage of steps not done (2 / 15).
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 7Before teaching begins, an RBT asks a client to make a bowl of cereal without help. The client completes steps 1 and 2 correctly, then makes an error on step 3. As the plan directs, the RBT ends the assessment and scores step 3 and all later steps as incorrect. Which assessment method is this?
Show answer
A: Single-opportunity method. In the single-opportunity method, the assessment stops at the first error (or no response), and that step and all remaining steps are scored as not performed.
- B: In the multiple-opportunity method, the RBT would complete step 3 and let the client try each later step.
- C: Total task chaining is a teaching procedure, not a way of assessing the chain before teaching.
- D: Backward chaining is a teaching procedure that starts with the last step.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 8A plan uses forward chaining for toothbrushing. Steps 1 and 2 are mastered, step 3 is the current training step, and the plan says the RBT fully prompts any steps after the training step. The client completes steps 1 to 3 independently. When should the RBT deliver the planned reinforcement?
Show answer
C: Right after step 3, the current training step. In forward chaining, reinforcement follows completion of the current training step. The rest of the chain is then completed the way the plan says, here with full prompts from the RBT.
- A: In forward chaining the client is not yet expected to do the later steps alone, so reinforcement does not wait for the whole chain.
- B: Step 1 is already mastered; reinforcement follows the step currently being trained.
- D: Step 2 is already mastered; reinforcement follows the step currently being trained.
Task C.5 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 9During 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?
Show answer
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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Question 10A step in a client's laundry task analysis does not match the washing machine in the client's new apartment. What should the RBT do?
Show answer
C: Tell the supervisor so the task analysis can be revised. RBTs report problems with a procedure to their supervisor, who updates the plan. Accurate data and an accurate task analysis both depend on it.
- A: Revising the task analysis is the supervisor's role.
- B: Scoring a skipped step as independent makes the data inaccurate.
- D: Stopping a program is a plan change the RBT cannot make on their own.
Task C.5 · RBT Ethics Code 2.02 · RBT Ethics Code 2.06
Answer every question to see your score.
Key terms
| Task analysis | Breaking a complex skill into a sequence of smaller, teachable steps, listed in order; the written list is also called a task analysis. |
|---|---|
| Chaining | Teaching procedures that link the steps of a task analysis into one complete sequence of behavior; the main types are forward, backward and total task chaining. |
| Behavior chain | A specific sequence of responses in which each response produces a stimulus change that reinforces that response and signals the next one, ending in a reinforcer. |
| Forward chaining | A chaining procedure that teaches the first step of the task analysis first, then adds each later step in order once the earlier steps are mastered. |
| Backward chaining | A chaining procedure that teaches the last step first while the teacher completes the earlier steps, then adds earlier steps one at a time in reverse order. |
| Total task chaining | A chaining procedure in which the learner performs every step of the task analysis in each session, receiving prompts on any step they cannot yet do independently. |
| Prompt dependence | A situation in which a learner responds correctly only when prompted and waits for help instead of responding to the natural SD. |
| Shaping | Teaching a new behavior by differentially reinforcing successive approximations, each a little closer to the target behavior, until the target itself occurs. |
| Percentage | A percentage is a ratio expressed as parts per 100: the number of occurrences divided by the total, multiplied by 100. |
| Error correction | A planned procedure the RBT follows after an incorrect or missing response, usually prompting the correct response and then giving the learner another chance to respond. |
| Visual prompt | A prompt that uses something the learner sees, such as a picture, written word, checklist, color cue or arrow, to help them make the correct response. |
| Discriminative stimulus | A stimulus in whose presence a behavior has been reinforced, and in whose absence it has not, so the behavior becomes more likely when the stimulus is present (SD). |
| Conditioned reinforcer | A stimulus that was once neutral and became reinforcing because it was paired with unconditioned reinforcers or other established reinforcers; also called a secondary or learned reinforcer. |
| Successive approximations | The series of intermediate responses in a shaping program, each one closer to the target behavior than the step before it. |
| Generalization | When a learned behavior occurs in settings, with people or materials, or in forms that were not directly part of training. |
| Procedural fidelity | Procedural fidelity is the degree to which an intervention is carried out exactly as written in the plan; it is also called treatment integrity or procedural integrity. |
| Operational definition | An operational definition describes a target behavior in observable, measurable terms so that different observers can agree on when it does and does not occur. |
| Modeling prompt | A response prompt in which the RBT, or another person or a video, demonstrates all or part of the correct response for the learner to imitate. |