ABA RBT Exam Prep

Antecedent

an environmental condition or stimulus change existing or occurring prior to a behavior of

interest.

Ex. of Antecedent

Drew becomes hungry then goes to the kitchen to get food. The antecedent, in this case, is Drew becoming hungry.

Autoclitic

a term describing verbal behavior about the speaker that functions as a reinforcer or MO for

additional verbal behavior.

Ex. of Autoclitic

I heard Susie use an autoclitic during session when she said, "Maybe the puzzle piece is under the table." She then looked and said, "Yep, found it." Maybe would be classified as the autoclitic

as it served as an MO for her following actions and additional verbal behavior.

Backward chaining

A teaching method where the behavior is being learned by the teacher completing

all the steps of the chain up until the last step and having the learner completed it with prompts if

needed. When the learner shows competence of the last step being learned, the teacher will again chain

the behavior stopping at the second to the last step to allow the learner to complete it. This will

continue down the chain until the learner can complete the behavior independently.

Ex. of backward chaining

Mike is learning his street address. The teacher is using backward chaining by stating the

whole address but leaving of the zip code so that Mike can respond with the zip code. Once he learns

the zip code, the teacher than stops once she gets to the state allowing Mike to fill in the state and zip

code. The teacher continues to do so until Mike independently states his full address.

Behavior

everything a living organism does. A behavior must be something which can be observed and

measured in the organism's environment.

Ex. of behavior

The BCBA told you to track Joey's aggressive behavior. This was defined as: any time Joey

bit another person. Biting is the behavior. It is observable and measurable and occurs in the

environment.

Chaining

The reinforcement of successive elements of a behavior chain

Ex. of chaining

If Jane is learning to tie her shoe using chaining she will receive reinforcement after every

step she completes in the chain - putting her shoe on, grabbing the laces, making the loops, etc.

Conditioned reinforcement

is a reinforcer that is paired with a primary reinforcer, so that this item

becomes as reinforcing or replaces the unconditioned (primary) reinforcer and holds the same impact.

Conditioned reinforcers are commonly seen in token economies. Conditioned reinforcers are taught to

be reinforcing.

Ex. of conditioned reinforcement

Kim was taught to use a token board. Prior to reinforcement Stars were not reinforcing.

After training with the stars and learning that 10 stars meant she received a cookie she learned the

value of Stars. Stars were then labeled as a conditioned reinforcer.

Consequence

a stimulus change that follows a behavior of interest.

Ex. of consequence

Drew becomes hungry then goes to the kitchen to get food, and eats. The in this case is access to food is the consequence to him going to the kitchen.

Continuous schedule of reinforcement

a schedule of reinforcement that provides reinforcement for each occurrence of the target behavior.

Ex. of Continuous schedule of reinforcement

For example, if manding is on a continuous schedule of reinforcement, every time your client

says, "I want ____" They are reinforced with that item. Every time.

Count

total number of occurrences of a behavior (data tracked as tally marks).

Ex. of count

Tina tends to elope from the table frequently during session. The BCBA asked the RBT to

count the number of occurrence of elopement over the 3 hr session and give her the total count. At the

end of the session, the RBT looked and counted the number of tallies she marked and reported the

count of 15 to the BCBA.

Direct assessment

Occurs when the behavior that is measured is the same as the behavior that is the

focus of the investigation.

Ex. of Direct Assessment

A direct assessment technique is observation and data tracking of a specific behavior. ABC

data would be an example of a direct assessment

Discrete trial

skill acquisition technique that consists of presenting materials in a very structured way

and resonding to responses using a correction procedure if necessary. Items are typically presented

multiple times in a row as to promote independent responding and teach the idea

Ex. of discrete trial

The RBT uses discrete trial to teach jane her animal names. She puts three cards in front of

jane each with a different animal on them. She tells Jane the SD, "Point to cat." If Jane points to cat the

RBt moves to the next trial. If jane points to a different animal the RBT engages in the correction

procedure and presents the same trial again.

Discrimination

The process of responding differently in the presence of different stimuli

Ex. of Discrimination

Stopping your car at a red light and going at a green light. Same for our clients - saying

"mommy" when mom walks in and knowing to say "daddy" when dad walks in.

Discriminative stimulus (Sd)

a stimulus which a particular response will be reinforced to increase the

probability of occurrences.

Ex. of Discrimitive stiumulus

The teacher stated the discriminative stimulus "Write your name", Tom learned that he

needed to write his name on top of the paper to receiver the reinforcer. If Tom were to write the date

instead of his name he would not receive reinforcement.

DRA:

The procedure of reducing the frequency of a target behavior by reinforcing an alternative

behavior. The idea is to give the person an alternative way of obtaining reinforcers

Ex. of DRA

Jane hits her mom when she wants to get up from the table. Using a DRA Jane is taught to

say, "all done" when she wants up from the table. Every time Jane says, "all done" she is immediately

reinforced - let up from the table. If she hits to get up from the table her behavior is ignored and she is

prompted to use her communication phrase, "all done"

DRI:

The procedure of reducing the frequency of a target behavior by reinforcing a behavior that is

incompatible with the target behavior.

Ex. of DRI

If Jane is constantly putting her fingers in her mouth you could use a DRI to decrease

mouthing behavior by reinforcing her every time her hands are in her pockets. In pocket behavior is

incompatible with in mouth behavior so this would work as a DRI.

DRO:

A reductive procedure in which reinforcers are delivered contingent on the nonoccurrence of a

response for a given time interval. Sometimes called omission training.

Ex. of DRO

Jane takes off her clothes all the time to seek attention from caregivers. Using a DRO Jane is

reinforced every 3 minutes that she remains fully clothed. Regardless of anything else she may have

done in those 3 minutes as long as she did not remove her clothing she receives reinforcement.

Duration:

The length of time that passes from onset to offset of a behavior or a stimulus.

Ex. of Duration

For example, Kyle is working on increasing time he is seated and listening to a story. His

technician starts a stopwatch to record the time he remains seated during Storytime and stops the

watch when Kyle leaves his seat (with or without permission).

Extinction:

A procedure in which the reinforcement of a previously reinforced behavior is discontinued.

Also may be used to describe the "process" by which a previously learned behavior disappears as a

result of nonreinforcement.

Ex. of Extinction

Jane pulls hair to get the attention of her mother. If hair pulling is going on extinction all

reinforcement (attention) for hair pulling will be discontinued. Any time Jane pulls hair her behavior will

be ignored and receive no response from the other individual.

Echoic

a verbal operant which the learner hears a verbal stimulus and responds by repeating what is

said, this is also referred as a point to point correspondence.

Ex. of Echoic

The teacher asked Mike, "How are you?". Mike replied saying, "How are you?"

Fading

The gradual removal of a prompt or other help or cue for responding.

Ex. of fading

Ex. Jane is learning how to brush her hair. She is currently receiving verbal prompts to

complete the process. To fade the prompts the RBT would stop giving Jane verbal prompts and move to

gestural or picture prompts. Then, fade again by just saying, "time to brush your hair." Until the

prompts are completely faded and Jane knows how and when to brush her hair.

FBA:

A functional behavior assessment is a systematic method of assessment for obtaining information

about the purpose or functions of a problem behavior results are used to guide to design of intervention

for decreasing the problem behavior and increasing appropriate behavior

Ex. of FBA

The technician notices that Joey is hitting more. She tells her BCBA and the BCBA begins a

FBA. In the FBA the BCBA will as the technician to complete an indirect assessment (QABF or FAST) and

a direct assessment (ABC data) and can opt to do a full functional analysis if necessary. This data

combined will give information for the BCBA to hypothesize the function of the hitting behavior and

develop an intervention plan.

FCT:

an antecedent intervention in which an appropriate communicative behavior is taught as a

replacement behavior problem behavior usually evoked by an establishing operation.

Ex. of FCT

For example, one could teach their client to ask before leaving their seat by providing a verbal or

textual prompt prior to the client leaving their seat without permission.

Fixed interval:

A schedule of reinforcement in which an operant is reinforced after a fixed amount of

time has passed.

Ex. of fixed interval

on a fixed-interval 90-second schedule (FI 90 second), one bar press after 90

seconds results in reinforcement. Following reinforcement, another 90-second period goes into effect;

and after this time has passed, another response will produce reinforcement

Fixed ratio:

A response-based schedule of reinforcement that delivers reinforcement after a fixed

number of responses are made.

Ex. of fixed ratio

On a fixed ratio 10 (FR 10), the organism must make 10 responses before reinforcement will

be delivered

Forward chaining

a teaching method for a new behavior where the steps are broken down, such as a

task analysis, and then each step of the behavior is prompted and taught to a level of competence in

sequence. Once the first step is taught to competence, the second step is taught on top of the

previously learned step, and so forth until the whole behavior is chained to completion

Ex. of forward chaining

Jimmy is being taught to tie his shoe. The behavior of tying a shoe was broken down into 5

steps: 1. Hold one lace in each hand, 2. Cross the two shoe laces and pull, 3. Make each lace into a loop

in both hands, 4. Cross one loop around and under the other loop, 5. Pull tight. Jimmy is taught step one

to grab one lace in each hand when given the Sd of "Tie your shoe". Once Jimmy is independently able

to grab the shoes laces in both hand, the teacher will add the step of crossing the shoe laces and pull on

top of the previous step learned. Then each step is added until Jimmy independently ties is shoe.

Frequency

A reference to count (tallies) for each occurrence of the behavior.

Ex. of frequency

Johnny hits his mother five times during the observation period. The frequency of

his behavior of hitting is 5. Frequency can quickly and easily be turned into rate by adding a dimension

of time. Johnny hit his mother 5 times in 3 hours which equates to approximately 1.6 hits/hour.

Generalization:

The spread of effects of training across settings, people, and/or materials.

Ex. of generalization

Johnny learned how to tie his shoe in session with the RT using generalization Johnny is

taught to tie his shoe with his mom, his teacher, and when alone

High- p request:

an in antecedent intervention in which 2 to 5 easy tasks with a known history of

learner compliance represented in quick succession immediately before requesting the target task. Also

sometimes referred to as behavior momentum.

Ex. of High-p request

For example, one could present the client 2 easy tasks , ie what's your name? or touch your

nose, and then provide the actual target

Imitation:

Behavior that duplicates some properties of the behavior of a model

Ex. of imitation

You tell Joey to "touch your nose" while at the same time you give the SD you do the

behavior. Joey then touches his nose - he has engaged in imitation.

Indirect Assessment

structured interviews, checklists, rating scales, or questionnaires used to obtain

information from people who are familiar with the person exhibiting the problem behavior; used to

identify conditions or events in the natural environment that correlate with the problem behavior

Ex. of indirect Assessment

A QABF, FAST, and MAS are all types of indirect assessments used by RBTs and BCBAs.

Intraverbal

a verbal operant which the learner responds to questions being asked to them to engage

in conversation. Intraverbal can be broken up into two types: answering "wh" questions or fill in the

black questions.

Ex. of intraverbal

The teacher ask Tom, "What is your name?" Tom replies, "Tom." The teacher starts to state

"Ready, Set,..." and Tom fills in the blank by responding with "go!".

Latency:

The elapsed time from the presentation of an antecedent stimulus (cue, prompt, signal) and

the response.

Ex. of latency

when a technician asks Stacy "What animal is this?," the technician counts (to

herself) how long it takes Stacy to provide the an answer. This time between the question and the

answer is latency.

Maintenance:

Continuation of a skill after direct training has ended.

Ex. of maintenace

Joey's understanding of animal labels is checked for maintenance bi-monthly after he meets

mastery criteria. This is a simple first response data tracking method with no correction procedure.

Simply as Joey, "what is this" when showing him a picture of the animal and record his response.

Mand-

the first verbal operant learned which is evoked by a motivating operation (MO) that the learner

wants or needs and that will give them access to specific reinforcement.

Ex. of Mand

Tim was outside running which caused him to become thirsty. He goes to his teacher and

request for a glass of water by stating "Water". The teacher reinforces his request by giving him a glass

of water immediately after he asked.

Modeling

Providing behavior to be imitated.

Ex. of modeling

the technician states "Do this" and pats their belly, the client then follows

directions and pats his belly.

Momentary time sampling:

A discontinuous observation procedure in which the observational period is

divided into intervals but the observer only notes the status of the target behavior during a "moment"

following the end of each interval.

Ex. of momentary time sampling

You are asked to track Joey's hitting using momentary time sampling. The times you were

given are: 9:35am, 10:12am, 11:02am, and 11:45am. You watch at those specific times and note

whether Joey is hitting at that moment.

Naturalistic teaching

trails are loosely structured and incorporate natural activities and reinforces that

follow the child's interests, lead, or pace when presented.

Ex. of naturalistic teaching

when teaching a client the difference between my/your turn, the technician could

use an activities such as making bracelets and take turns placing the beads.

Negative punishment

Removing the stimulus to decrease the likelihood of the behaviors occurrence.

Ex. of negative punishment

Timeout is a neg. punishment procedure. You are removing the fun environment as a

response to problem behavior in hopes of decreasing future instances of problem behavior.

Negative reinforcement:

the stimulus is removed to increase the probability of the behavior occurring.

Ex. of negative reinforcement

Scratching an itch is an example of negative reinforcement. Scratching is more likely to occur

in the future when you have an itch because it was successful at removing the itch last time you did it.

Noncontingent reinforcement

Reinforcement that is provided noncontingent (regardless) of behavior

that is occurring.

Ex. fo noncontingent reinforcement

If Joey is on a NCR schedule every 30s he is provided with verbal interaction ("I like your

shirt" "that's a neat picture you're drawing") every 30s regardless of what he is doing at the end of the

interval.

Permanent products

a data tracking method that uses concrete objects or outcomes from behavior to measure its occurrence.

Ex. of permanent products

You are told to measure the number of math problem Joey does each day. You can do this

using permanent products by actually looking at his math sheets and counting the number of completed

problems. Another example, you are told to track littering at Six Flags. You could do this using

permanent products by counting the number of trash items outside a particular receptacle every hour

Positive punishment:

Positive punishment occurs when a stimulus is added to decrease the likelihood of

the behavior's occurrence.

Ex. of positive punishment

Spanking is a form of positive punishment. You are applying a stimulus (the spank) in hopes

of decreasing future instances of the behavior that occurred just before you applied the spanking.

Preference assessment

observed or trial based evaluations done by the teachers to determine a

preference hierarchy of items which a learner prefers most to least. Preference assessments help

identify items which can be reinforcing for the learner to receive after a response. The four used

preference assessments are free operant, paired choice, multiple stimulus with replacement, and

multiple stimulus without replacement.

Multiple Stimulus With Replacement (MSW)-

a preference assessment procedure where the

learner has a selection between multiple reinforcing stimuli and after each chosen stimulus it is

replaced back into the array to be chosen again.

Ex. of (MSW)

Jane has a selection of a doll, playdough, coloring book, game boy, or a ball. Jane

asks to play with the game boy and receives 30 seconds to play with it. Once the time is up the

game boy is placed back into the selection of items and the teacher asks again what would she

like to play with. Jane can request the gameboy again if she wants to as it was replaced back into

the stimulus array.

Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement (MSWO)

a preference assessment procedure where

the learner has a selection between multiple reinforcing stimuli and after each chosen stimulus

the item is eliminated from the array and the client is asked to choose another. Results in a

hierarchy of reinforcers.

Ex. of (MSWO)

Jane has a selection of a doll, playdough, coloring book, game boy, or a ball. Jane ask

to play with the game boy and receives 30 seconds to play with it. Once the time is up the game

boy is placed away from the selection of items to choose from, and the teacher ask again what

would she like to play with. Eliminating her chance to again pick the game boy.

Paired choice

a preference assessment which the learner has a choice between two items to

engage with that may be reinforcing. Every single stimulus is paired with every other stimulus

offered as part of the assessment.

Ex. of paired choice

Ex. The RBT has three items: crayon, ball, and a doll. The RBT presents Jane with the

doll and the ball. Jane picks the ball and is able to play for 30s. Then, Jane is presented with the

doll and the crayon. Jane picks the crayon and is able to play with it for 30s. Next, Jane is

presented with the ball and the crayon, etc. The item chosen the most times is selected as the

first reinforcer when it is time for work with Jane.

Free operant

a preference assessment which the learner has free access to multiple stimuli for

a preset amount of time. Each item the leaner engages with is documented with duration spent

with that specific item.

Ex. of free operant

Jane is told to go play in a play room where she will have access to all the toys in it.

She is allowed to play in this room for 5 minutes. Jane sees a doll and engages in it for 2 mins.

She then sees a ball and plays for 35 seconds. Every item she plays with is documented and a

duration measure is taken. At the end, all durations are added up and combined. If she spent

the most time playing with the doll allowing this would be noted as the first reinforce to use/try

during work with Jane.

Probe

when a learner is being presented with a new behavior, the teacher is going to state the Sd to

the learner and record their response with no prompts or answers given. The data collected will usually

result is a yes/no or +/-. This is a baseline data collection to indicate what the learner knows versus

what will need to be taught.

Ex. of Probe

The teacher presents the Sd "What is this?" while holding a picture of an apple. The learner

is given 5 seconds to respond with "apple". If no response or incorrect response is given, the teacher

notes a negative (-) to indicate they did not know it or if correct response is given a positive (+) is noted

to indicate they knew the answer. No prompt or correction is given to the learner and the teacher

moves on to the next Sd and picture

Shaping:

Teaching new behaviors by systematically reinforcing successive approximations toward the

behavioral objective. Sometimes PSI or individualized instruction is referred to as shaping.

Ex. of shaping

You want Joey to stick out his tongue. Using shaping you reinforce any time his tongue

touches his lip, then touching his lip with his mouth open, then just past his lip, then all the way out.

Shaping takes place over time not within one trial.

Social validity

the level to which an intervention or goal is socially acceptable for change. The extent

to which consumers of our science and practice believe that we are making valuable contributions.

Ex. of Social validity

Jane's mother tells us the biggest issue she has with Jane is her not eating with her

silverware. We set goals to properly use silverware despite the fact that Jane is currently nonverbal.

Developmentally it may be more "important" for Jane to lean verbal behavior however starting with

silverware use is socially valid because this is what our consumer has identified as the biggest area of

concern. We must find a balance between social validity and skill deficit when programming and

implementing programming for our clients.

Variable interval

A schedule in which a person is reinforced for the first response after a varying period

of time has passed since the previous reinforcement.