RBT Glossary

Motivating Operations (MOs)

Change in environment that Temporarily increase or decrease the value of something. Used with EO or AO.

(ex: they increase or decrease the effectiveness of a stimulus as a reinforcer).

Abolishing operation

Can decrease reinforcer effectiveness. Usually associated with satiation

For example: your client is very active and enjoys running and jumping. This is not inherently “maladaptive,” but when it’s time to focus and learn, they need to be able to pause these behaviors. Allowing them free access to run and jump for a period of time can help satiate them on this activity so they have a lower motivation to do so when it’s time to learn.

Satiation

when a reinforcer loses its effectiveness due to overuse

Establishing Operation

Increases the current effectiveness of a stimulus. Usually deprivation is associated with this operation.

For Example: your client loves bubbles and is highly reinforced by them, but you ran out of bubbles last week. After a week of no bubbles, you bring a new bottle. Since the client was “deprived of” bubbles for a week, bubbles became even more reinforcing than usual.

We can create deprivation in certain situations to make things more reinforcing, thus increasing target behaviors.

Deprivation

not having something often enough and in return increases the effectiveness of it when used as a reinforcer.

Acquisition

A target that is in the process of being taught. This behavior is not yet a known skill.

ABC

Antecedent; Behavior; Consequence. Aka the 3-term contingency

Antecedent

Events that occur before a behavior

Antecedent Interventions

recognizing environmental factors that can attribute to problematic behavior and making changes necessary to promote appropriate behavior and reduce possible triggers for maladaptive.

Behavior Intervention Plan

once the function of behavior has been determined, BIPs are used for antecedent strategies, responding to maladaptive behavior, teaching replacement behavior and what interventions to use, both verbal and physical.

Behavior Functions

anything a person does that can be observed and measured. 4 Functions:

1. Automatic/sensory: providing self-stimulation and is automatically reinforced;

2. Escape: avoiding or escaping a demand or undesirable task;

3. Attention: can be socially mediated and seeks attention in any way from others;

4. Access: tangible, wanting a preferred item.

Consequence

Somethat that follows a behavior

Behavior Skills training

procedure consisting of instruction, modeling, behavioral rehearsal, and feedback that is used to teach new behaviors or skills.(Instructions, model, rehearsal, feedback.)

Chaining

Used to teach multi-step skills in which the steps involved are defined through task analysis. Each separate step is taught to link together the total “chain.” Can be done either by backward, forward, or total task analyses.

Backward chaining

Teaching skill steps one at a time from the last step to the first and prompting all steps before the step being taught. Reinforcement after teaching step and at the end of the task.

Forward Chaining

Teaching skill steps one at a time from the first step to the last and prompting all steps after the step being taught. Reinforcement after teaching step and at the end of the task.

Intermittent Reinforcement

Schedule of reinforcing some but not all desirable behavior.

Continuous reinforcement

the target behavior occurs and is reinforced after every occurrence.

Continuous measurement

records every single occurrence of a behavior. Examples include frequency/rate, duration, Count, response latency and interresponse time (IRT)

Discontinous Measurement

used to measure some instances of behavior but not all. Typically associated with partial and whole interval recording and momentary time sampling.

Differential reinforcement

A procedure in which one behavior is reinforced while other behaviors are extinguished

DRI; DRA; DRO; DRH; DRL

Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behaviors (DRI)

Reinforce behavior incompatible with an undesirable behavior.

Example: Reinforce Johnny for writing his name appropriately rather than tapping his pencil;

Differential Reinforcement of High Rates (DRH)

Increases the rate of a target behavior by providing social praise when a behavior occurs faster than baseline.

For example, a paraprofessional might praise a child who eats lunch faster than usual by taking bites at a predetermined interval.

Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates (DRL)

Reduces a behavior without eliminating it, allowing for gradual behavior shaping over time.

Ex: A parent sets a timer for 10 minutes and rewards a child with TV time after dinner if they don't leave their seat.

Differential Reinforcement of ALTERNATIVE behaviors (DRA)

Reinforce behavior that is an appropriate alternative (replacement) for the undesirable behavior;

Example: Reinforce Annie when she asks for a break instead of yelling to get out of work

Differential Reinforcement of OTHER behaviors (DRO)

Reinforce any other behavior other than the undesirable behavior;

Example: Reinforce Luke with a gummy every 5 minutes he does not engage in crying.

Discrete trial

learning opportunity initiated and controlled by the teacher in which the correct response will be reinforced. This also is breaking a skill into smaller parts and teaching it while using reinforcement. Allows for presentation of many learning opportunities in a short amount of time. Following the 3-term contingency.

Discrimination trial

the procedure in which a behavior is reinforced in the presence of one stimulus and extinguished in the presence of another stimulus. Assists with learning how to respond in different environments or different conditions. Allows the client to learn the differences between stimuli.

Discriminative Stimulus (SD)

a cue that signals reinforcement is available if the subject makes a particular response (Demand or Instruction).

Dual relationship

situation where multiple roles exist between a therapist and a parent or client. Dual relationships are also referred to as multiple relationships.

Ex: dating your client’s brother

Duration

the total amount of time that someone engages in a behavior from the beginning to the end

Ex: Benji screams for 3 minutes; Aniyah reads a book for 22 minutes

Frequency - COUNT

the amount of times a behavior or response happens

Ex: Patrick punched his brother 3 times; Sally independently manded for a cookie 1 time

Frequency - Rate

The number of times a behavior occurs over a particular time period. To differentiate between count and rate look for a measure of time. (ex: per hour, day, week etc) would be rate measurement

Ex: dahlia bit her hand 6 times per hour; sammie cooks dinner 5x per week

Latency

The time between when the Sd is presented (onset), and the response is given.

Ex: A mom tells her daughter, “come sit down, its time for dinner.” The daughter comes to the table 3 minutes later. Response latency would be 3 min

Interresponse time (IRT)

The duration of time that passes from the end of a response to the beginning of the next response.

Ex: Maya raises her hand in class at 9:00 AM, then again at 9:05 AM. The IRT between her raising her hand would be 5 minutes

Echoic

verbal imitation; repeating the speaker

Imitation

Copying someone’s motor movements

Intraverbal

This is a Verbal Behavior term. Basically, intraverbals are building blocks to conversation skills as it’s the ability to discuss, describe, or answer a question about something that isn’t physically present.

Like if someone asks you, What did you do on your vacation?”

Mand

asking for something; a request that has motivation.

Tact

A form of verbal behavior where the speaker sees, hears, smells, tastes something and then comments about it (a Label).

Error Correction (ECTER)

When a client a mistake on a target that has been previously mastered, do NOT acknowledge the mistake. Re-present the trial and be ready to prompt to get a correct answer.

Follow the steps for ECTER:

1. Error - child touches car when prompted to touch bike

2. Correction - represent the Sd with prompt

3. Transfer - represent the Sd without a prompt

4. Expand - place easy/mastered demands

5. Return - return to Sd of incorrect response: “touch bike” reinforcement is provided for correct response.

Errorless teaching

prompt the correct response as soon as you give the Sd. Essentially, you are not giving the client a chance to make an error.

Ethics

Must follow the BACB’s code of ethics. Failure to follow the mandatory code of ethics can lead to loss of employment and certification.

HIPPA

HIPAA provides federal protection for individual health information, including the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected information.

Expressive language

The ability to communicate. This is the ability to express one’s thoughts, ideas, wants, and needs. Identifying and labeling the objects in the environment, putting words together to form sentences, describing events and actions, answering questions and making requests are all examples of expressive language skills.

Listener Responding

Following a direction given. Receptive language goal

Listener Responding Feature Function Class (LRFFC)

used to describe and receptively find an object when given the feature, function or class of that item. Appearance, what it is used for and the category it falls under.

Receptive language

Receptive is listener behavior and refers to tasks that require a non-vocal action or motor response such as touch, imitation, or pointing.

Extinction

the withholding of reinforcement for a previously reinforced behavior, resulting in reduction of that behavior

Extinction Burst

the increase in frequency and/or intensity of behavior in the early stages of extinction.

Fixed Interval (FI)

this schedule of reinforcement is used for a set amount of time.

Some examples of a fixed interval schedule are a monthly review at work, a teacher giving a reward for good behavior each class, and a weekly paycheck.

Fixed Ratio (FR)

this schedule of reinforcement is used for a set amount of responses.

For example, in the Buck Bunny commercial, the bunny is reinforced after putting five coins into the bank.

Another example is training a lab rat to press a button for a food pellet, where the rat might need to press the button 15 times before receiving the pellet.

Variable Interval (VI)

this schedule of reinforcement is used for a variable amount of time.

Variable interval would be say, when someone waits for an elevator. Any time they have to wait an unpredictable amount of time they are on a variable interval schedule.

Variable Ratio

this schedule of reinforcement is used for a variable amount of responses.

For instance, a teacher may reinforce about every 5th time a child raises their hand in class- sometimes giving attention after 3 hand raises, sometimes 7, etc.

Functional Behavioral Assessment

This is the process by which behavioral interventions are created. An FBA is intended to determine the function (or the reason for a behavior, and then create an intervention based on that function. A Functional Analysis (FA) involves manipulating the environment to understand the behavior, while a Functional Behavior Assessment involves things like observation, interview, and collecting ABC data.

Functional Relationship

how a person’s behaviors change the world around him/her, and how those changes affect the future likelihood on the same behaviors.

Functions of Behavior

Used when determining why an individual engages in certain behavior. ABA identifies 4 functions of a behavior: Escape, Access (tangibles), Attention and Sensory (automatic reinforcement).

Generalization

change occurs when that behavior occurs outside of the learning environment. Generalization can happen across settings, time and across people and exists when the behavior occurs in these various environments.

Maintenance

the ability of a child to demonstrate previously acquired skills over time and durations when reinforcement has been faded

Incidental Teaching

a teaching technique used in naturally occurring environments and can create natural incidents of learning. Social, communication, play and other forms of interaction.

Natural environment teaching

Naturalistic teaching is when the learner initiates a learning opportunity and the reinforcer is a result of the activity or learning opportunity.

Instructional control

developing a history of reinforcing compliance. Placing task demands and other instructions following pairing. (The likelihood that the child will elicit a correct response.)

Magnitude

the force or intensity with which a response is emitted

Measurement

collecting data on various skills or behaviors

Momentary time sample

looking for a behavior’s occurrence during a specific part of the interval and recording if it is occuring at that precise moment.

Ex: setting a timer to go off every minute for a 30-minute interval, only checking for behavior and marking it down as the timer goes off.

Reinforcement

anything that is added or removed after a behavior that decreases it, makes it less likely to happen again.

Negative reinforcement

removing a stimulus to increase/strengthen a behavior

Positive reinforcement

adding a stimulus to strengthen/increase behavior

Punishment

anything that is added or removed after a behavior that decreases it, makes it less likely to happen again.

Positive Punishment

A stimulus presented after a behavior occurs which decreases the behavior.

Negative Punishment

A stimulus removed after a behavior occurs which decreases the behavior.

Operational Definition

Definitions of behavior that are measurable, objective and observable

Pairing

Establishing yourself as a reinforcer or the deliverer of reinforcement while building positive relationship. Building a rapport between therapist and client.

The goal is to create a positive association between the therapist and enjoyable experiences, making the therapist a source of fun and comfort. This can help students feel safe and motivated to participate in therapy sessions, and can also help them cooperate, try new things, and achieve goals

Partial interval recording

involves checking off an interval if the behavior occurs at ANY point within the interval - even if it only occurred for 1 second. You can use this for self- stimulatory behaviors or behaviors that don’t look the same every time. An over exaggeration of the behavior, you use this method to decrease behavior.

Whole interval recording

Involves checking off an interval if the behavior occurs within the entirety of the interval.

Preference Assessment

assessment to determine what a child is motivated by

Primary reinforcer (unconditioned)

items or activities that are naturally reinforcing.

Water, food, sleep, shelter, sex, and touch, among others, are primary reinforcers.

Secondary reinforcer (conditioned)

items or activities that acquire reinforcing properties when paired with primary reinforcers.

money, grades or tokens for good behavior. Money helps reinforce behaviors because it can be used to acquire primary reinforcers such as food, clothing, and shelter.

Principles of reinforcement: DISC

Deprivation: The withholding of a stimulus (The more deprived an individual is of a reinforcer, the more effective it will be);

Immediacy: How quickly a reinforcer is presented after the correct response is emitted (A reinforcer should be delivered immediately following a behavior to make sure you are reinforcing that specific behavior);

Size: The amount of reinforcement given after a correct response is emitted (must be an appropriate size for the task given, not too much or too little)

Contingency: If_________ then__________ statement is used to set the expectation for reinforcement to occur (The reinforcement should ONLY be delivered when a desired behavior occurs).

Prompt

a form of assistance that you add in order to achieve a desired response or behavior that is not occurring. Used to evoke the correct response so it can be reinforced. Stimulus and Response prompts.

• Verbal prompts: Spoken instructions or cues, such as "Please pick up your toys"

• Gestural prompts: Non-verbal cues, such as pointing, nodding, or making eye contact

• Modeling prompts: Involving standing directly behind the patient to help them finish a task

• Full physical prompts: Also known as hand-over-hand (HOH) assistance, this involves physically guiding the person to help them perform the target skill

• Visual prompts: Using images, symbols, or written words to provide guidance, such as a step-by-step picture guide or a written checklist

• Stimulus prompts: Used to direct the learner to the correct stimulus or response, such as making the correct card stand out in some way 

Prompt Hierarchy

level of prompts used from greatest to least or least to greatest.

1. Expressive language hierarchy: full verbal, partial verbal, independent;

   1. Receptive language hierarchy: full physical, partial physical, model, gestural, independent.

Prompt fading

gradually removing prompt levels needed or fading out the intrusiveness.

The goal is to start with the highest level of prompting needed for success and then slowly fade it until the person can respond independently

Reactive strategies

techniques used in an emergency or crisis situation to gain control of dangerous, out of control behaviors.

Ex: if a student has scribbled on his worksheet and is trying to rip it with his eraser, the teacher might instead respond to what the student is trying to communicate with those behaviors.

Replacement behavior

replacement behaviors are desired actions that are taught to replace undesirable behaviors. The goal is to teach behaviors that serve the same function as the challenging ones, but in a more appropriate and constructive way.

ex: a student using a more desirable means of gaining access to a tangible, requesting a break and asking for an alternative work assignment.

Response prompt

any prompt that is used in expressive or receptive language such as a gestural, model or verbal prompt.

Role of the RBT

program implementation, data collection, communicating w/ stakeholders, work directly with BCBA and following written program including BIP.

Setting Events

setting events are factors that can increase the likelihood of a target behavior occurring. These events can be internal or external, and can happen hours or even days before the behavior. Setting events are slow triggers that set up the possibility of behavior, but don't immediately cause it.

For example, having a headache increases the likelihood that Bobby will find a music lesson very difficult and lead to him throwing his musical instrument on the floor.

Shaping

The process of reinforcing gradual changes in a behavior so the behavior begins to look like the target behavior while no longer reinforcing the previous accepted response.

An example of shaping is when a baby or a toddler learns to walk. They are reinforced for crawling, then standing, then taking one step, then taking a few steps, and finally for walking. Reinforcement is typically in the form of lots of praise and attention from the child's parents.

Skill acquision

developing of new skills, habits, quality

Spontaneous recovery

The reappearance of the extinguished behavior after a period without reinforcing the behavior.

It's considered a negative effect of extinction and can occur after a period of non-exposure to reinforcement. For example, if a child learns that crying gets them a toy, they might cry again when they want a toy months after the behavior has been extinguished.

Stimulus

anything that elicits a response followed by a consequence

ex: visual cues like traffic lights, auditory cues like doorbells, verbal instructions from therapists, and tactile cues like braille textures.

Stimulus control

the idea that a person's behavior can be influenced by the presence or absence of specific stimuli in their environment. These stimuli can be visual, auditory, or tactile cues that prompt a person to act in a certain way.

For example, a child with autism might learn to respond to the verbal instruction "sit down" in a specific classroom setting. In this case, the verbal instruction is the antecedent stimulus that has acquired control over the child's behavior. 

0. precedes the behavior but affects the outcome; has influence over behavior.

Stimulus control transfer

A process in which prompts are removed in order to bring the behavior under the control of the Sd and is achieved by prompt fading.

The goal is to gradually transfer stimulus control to relevant cues in natural environments so that people can generalize and maintain their new skills.

For example, a child may refer to all women as “mom.” The antecedent is that the person sees a woman and automatically labels them as “mom.” However, the therapist would want to move this prompt to wear the client only calls their actual mother “mom.” This requires reinforcing the presence of the actual mom and not saying it to any other woman.

Stimulus Prompt

stimuli that are used to help evoke correct response. Positional cues, environmental, moving items or changing features/color and size/proximity.

signs or signals temporally added to items to increase the chances a learner will complete a task correctly. For example, a teenager is learning how to cook and frequently over-cooks or under-cooks items when the recipe cooks items for different times.

To increase the likelihood that each item will be cooked correctly, the parent can draw attention to each item’s time with different colored erasable highlighters. If each item is cooked correctly for a week, the parent could erase the highlights to see if the teenager still needs that level of support. 

Task Analysis

The process of breaking a skill down into smaller, more manageable components.

ex: students who have learned four of the eight steps entailed in tying their shoes have successfully mastered those four steps, although they have not yet achieved the end goal.

Total task chaining

Teaching behavior chain steps all at once. Reinforcement delivered for independence and at the end of the task.

occurs when the entire skill is taught, and the learner is given support for only challenging steps. For example, if it was challenging for your child to turn on the tap and get soap, but they were able to do the other steps, these specific steps would be taught using a prompt fading system

Token economy

a method used to try and reinforce (increase) the frequency of a target behavior. It's based on the idea of operant conditioning, which states that behavior is shaped by its consequences.

A token economy rewards good behavior with tokens that can be exchanged for something desired. A token can be a chip, coin, star, sticker, or something that can be exchanged for what the student wants to buy.

Topography

the physical form or shape of a behavior

For example, if you want to teach a child how to write the letter A, you might start by rewarding them for making a vertical line, then for making two diagonal lines that cross, and finally for making a horizontal line that connects the two diagonal lines.

Topography only describes “what” behaviour is occurring but it says nothing about “why” the behaviour occurs;

For example, when students raise their hand in class, it is a topographical response because it looks the same regardless of why it happens.