AData Collection and Graphing17%
Be able to pick the right measurement for a described behavior and carry it out: count it, time it, sample it, or read it from what it leaves behind. Then turn the raw numbers into a rate, a mean or a percentage and say what a graph is doing.
- A.1Carry out continuous measurement such as frequency, duration, latency, and interresponse time.
- A.2Carry out discontinuous measurement such as partial-interval, whole-interval, and momentary time sampling.
- A.3Record behavior from the permanent products it leaves behind.
- A.4Enter session data and keep graphs up to date.
- A.5Describe behavior and the environment in observable, measurable terms.
- A.6Calculate and summarize data in different forms, such as rate, mean duration, and percentage.
- A.7Identify trends in graphed data.
- A.8Explain the risks of unreliable data collection and of poor procedural fidelity.
Where people lose points: The three interval methods. Partial-interval scores an interval if the behavior happened at any point in it, whole-interval only if it lasted the entire interval, and momentary time sampling only if it is happening at the instant the interval ends. Be able to name the method from a description of the recording, and the reverse.
BBehavior Assessment11%
Know the preference-assessment formats well enough to run each from a description, and know what a technician's part is in skill assessments and functional assessments: assisting and collecting data, under direction.
- B.1Run preference assessments, including multiple-stimulus, paired-stimulus, and free-operant formats.
- B.2Assist with assessments of a client's skill strengths and deficits (curriculum-based, developmental, social skills).
- B.3Assist with parts of a functional assessment, such as descriptive assessment and functional analysis.
Where people lose points: Mixing up the formats: a paired-stimulus assessment presents two items at a time and records the choice, a multiple-stimulus assessment presents an array to choose from, and a free-operant observation runs no trials at all: the client has free access to the items and you record what they engage with and for how long.
CBehavior Acquisition25%
This is a quarter of the exam. Be able to deliver reinforcement as planned, run discrete-trial and naturalistic teaching, teach a chained skill forward, backward or as a total task, prompt and fade, shape, run a token economy, and tell acquisition from maintenance and generalization.
- C.1Deliver positive and negative reinforcement correctly (immediate, contingent, on the planned schedule) and vary dimensions such as magnitude, intensity, and variety.
- C.2Establish conditioned reinforcers and use them in teaching.
- C.3Run discrete-trial teaching.
- C.4Run naturalistic teaching such as incidental teaching and natural environment training.
- C.5Teach task-analyzed skills with forward, backward, or total-task chaining.
- C.6Run discrimination training.
- C.7Use stimulus and response prompts and fade them appropriately (errorless, least-to-most, stimulus fading, time delay).
- C.8Promote generalization by running procedures across settings, people, and stimuli.
- C.9Tell maintenance procedures apart from acquisition procedures.
- C.10Run shaping procedures.
- C.11Run token economies.
Where people lose points: Negative reinforcement. It increases behavior by removing something, and it is easily mistaken for punishment, which decreases behavior. Also the prompt-fading procedures the outline names: least-to-most, time delay and stimulus fading are different answers to different scenarios.
DBehavior Reduction19%
Start from function: why the behavior is happening decides which procedure fits. Know the antecedent interventions, the differential reinforcement procedures, extinction, and punishment procedures, and what each one tends to produce as a side effect.
- D.1Identify the common functions of behavior.
- D.2Use antecedent interventions such as noncontingent reinforcement, high-probability request sequences, and demand fading.
- D.3Use differential reinforcement procedures (DRO, DRA, DRI, DRL) and functional communication training.
- D.4Carry out extinction procedures.
- D.5Carry out positive and negative punishment procedures, such as time-out.
- D.6Describe side effects of extinction (bursts, response variation, resurgence, emotional responding) and of punishment (emotional responses, escape and avoidance).
- D.7Follow crisis and emergency procedures.
Where people lose points: The differential reinforcement family. DRA reinforces an alternative behavior, DRI one that cannot occur at the same time as the problem behavior, DRO the absence of the behavior for a period, and DRL a lower rate of it. And extinction bursts: a temporary increase after extinction starts is expected, not a sign the plan failed.
EDocumentation and Reporting13%
Know what goes to the supervisor, and how fast: concerns from caregivers, anything unusual in the data, and anything that might affect progress such as illness, medication or a schedule change. Be able to tell an objective session note from one that interprets.
- E.1Pass along concerns and suggestions from caregivers, teachers, and other team members to the supervisor promptly.
- E.2Seek and prioritize clinical direction from the supervisor promptly, for example on training needs, irregular data, or chain of command.
- E.3Report and document factors that could affect client progress, such as illness, medication, or schedule changes, without delay.
- E.4Describe objectively what happened in a session, consistent with legal, regulatory, and workplace requirements.
Where people lose points: Subjective language in notes. 'He was frustrated' is an interpretation; 'he threw the worksheet and left the table' is a description. Be able to pick the objective version of a note from several.
FEthics15%
Know the RBT ethics code as a set of decisions: what to do when asked to work beyond your competence, when supervision lapses, when a family offers a gift or a friendship, when someone asks about a client, and what you may say about your credential in public.
- F.1Recognize and apply the core principles behind the RBT ethics code: benefiting others, compassion, dignity and respect, and integrity.
- F.2Deliver behavior technician services only after demonstrating competence in them.
- F.3Deliver services only under ongoing supervision from supervisors who meet BACB requirements.
- F.4Recognize effective supervision practices, such as training with instructions, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, and direct observation of service delivery.
- F.5Follow the requirements for collecting, using, storing, protecting, and disclosing confidential information.
- F.6Follow the requirements for public statements, including social media use and not misrepresenting credentials, behavior analysis, or outcomes.
- F.7Recognize multiple relationships, the risks they carry, and how to reduce those risks when they cannot be avoided.
- F.8Follow the RBT ethics code's guidelines on giving and receiving gifts.
- F.9Use interpersonal and professional skills (accepting feedback, active listening, seeking input, collaborating) when acting as an RBT.
- F.10Practice ongoing cultural humility and responsiveness, including identifying personal biases, in services and professional relationships.
Where people lose points: The option that sounds kind but crosses a line. A practice ethics question typically offers one answer that is warm and wrong (accept a gift worth more than the code's $10 limit, agree to babysit, reassure the parent with a prediction) next to one that is correct and involves the supervisor.