RBT Competency Assessment

Continuous Measurements

Tracking a behavior over a specific time

Frequency

counting the number of times a behavior occurs within a specific period of time ; Ex: If a child raises their hand 8 times during a class, the ____ of hand raising is 8.

Duration

How long a behavior lasts from the moment it starts to when it ends. ;

Ex: Timing how long a child cries during a session. If tantrum starts at 2:00pm and ends at 2:10pm, the ______ is 10 minutes

Latency

time between a given instruction or stimulus and the start of the behavior

Ex: A teacher says, “Clean up your toys,” and the child starts cleaning 5 seconds later. The ______ is 5 seconds

Inter-Response Time (IRT)

Time between the end of one response and the start of the next response of the same behavior.

Ex: A child finishes one math problem, then starts the next one 15 seconds later

The ______ is 15 seconds.

Rate

the frequency of behavior over a specific amount of time. It tells you how often a behavior happens per unit of time, like responses per minute or hour

Ex: if a child answers 20 questions in 10 minutes, the rate is 2 responses per minute .

Ex: a client has 6 tantrums in a 3-hour session, so the rate is 2 tantrums per hour.

Frequency

Ava tapped her pencil on the desk 10 times during a 30-minute lesson. What type of measurement is this?

Duration

Liam screamed for 3 minutes when told it was time for bed. What type of measurement is this?

Latency

After being told “Line up,” Zoe stood up and walked to the door after 5 seconds. What type of measurement is this?

IRT

Mason raised his hand twice during a lesson. There were 20 seconds between the two responses. What type of measurement is this

Rate

Emma answered 15 questions in a 5 minute quiz. What type of measurement is this?

Whole interval recording, Partial Interval, Momentary Time Sampling, PLACHECK

What are Discontinuous Measurements?

Whole interval recording

Records data when the behavior occurs throughout an entire time interval.

Ex: Splitting up a 30 minute class period into four two minute intervals and recording if a student is on task for the entire two-minute interval.

Use when you want to understand whether a behavior occurs continuously throughout an interval. Or when you want data to support a plan to increase a positive behavior

Partial Interval Recording

Records data if the behavior occurs at any point during the observation interval

Ex: Monitoring if a child is aggressive at any point during a five minute interval.

Use when you want to know if a behavior occurs during an interval or when you want data to support a plan to decrease a negative behavior.

Momentary Time Sampling

Records behavior if it occurs at the very end of an observation interval.

Ex: Misses behavior that occurs during the most of the interval

Use when checking if a student is still playing with this toy during the last minute of a ten minute interval Or when you need a quick, general idea of whether a behavior is occurring during specific moments within an interval

PLACHECK

Record how many people in a group are on-task at the end of an observation interval

Ex: Recording how many students are on task during the last one minute of group activities

Use when you want to assess if a group is staying on-task and cant take data continuously

Whole Interval Recording

During circle time, the RBT observes whether Mason remains seated for the entire 2 minute interval. If he gets up at any point, the interval is marked as “no”. What measurement is being used?

Partial Interval Recording

Sarah is being observed during 5 minute intervals. The RBT marks "yes” if she engages in hand flapping at any point during the interval, even if it only lasted a few seconds. What measurement method is being used?

Momentary Time Sampling

Every 10 minutes, the RBT looks over at Kyle to see if he is still working on his task at that exact moment. If he is, the interval is marked as “on-task”. What measurement method is being used?

PLACHECK

An RBT is working with a small group of five children. Every 5 minutes, she checks how many children are actively participating in the group activity at that moment and marks how many are “on-task”. What measurement method is being used?

Free Operant Observations, Multiple Stim w/replacement, Multiple Stim w/o replacement, Paired Stimulus, Single Stimulus

What are some Preference Assessments?

Free Operant

Letting kid play with whatever and observing what they are playing with and making note of it

Multiple Stim w/ replacement

Replacing the item they just played with, putting it back in the lineup, mixing it up and have them choose again

Ex:You have 5 toys lined up and say “Okay choose a toy” and they choose a certain toy out of the 5.. you mark how long and then you take it back. You mix it up and show them the 5 again and say choose one again

Multiple Stim w/o replacement

When we take that toy, we put it underneath the table, close the four, mix them up and say “okay choose another toy”.. they only have 4 now

Paired Stimulus

You have two options, you can play with this toy or this toy

Single Stimulus/forced choice

Grabbing a toy and telling your client, here your playing with this toy and seeing how long they play with it.

Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT)

A structured teaching method where skills are broken into small steps and taught in repeated trials with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

Ex: Therapist: “Whats your name?” , Child: “Tommy”, Therapist: “Great job!”

Naturalistic Teaching (NET)

Uses the child’s natural environment and interests to teach skills during play or daily routines

Ex: Child reaches for bubbles. Therapist says “Say bubbles!” Child says “Bubbles.” Therapist blows bubbles as reinforcement

Chaining

Breaking a task into smaller steps and teaching each step one at a time until the whole task is learned.

Ex: 1. Turn on water 2. Wet hands 3. Apply soap

Shaping

Involves reinforcing successive approximations of a desired behavior

Ex: 1. Child says “buh” -reinforce 2. Child says “bah” -reinforce 3. Child says “ball” -reinforce

Discrimination Training

Teaching a client to tell the difference between two or more stimuli

Ex: Therapist shows a red card and a blue card. Therapist:" “Touch Red”. Child touches red-Gets praise, Child touches blue-no reinforcement

Stimulus Control Transfer

Transferring control of behavior from a prompt to the natural cue.

Ex: Initially, therapist says “clap” and physically guides hands. Over time, therapist fades prompt, and client claps when just hearing “clap”

Prompting

A _____ is help given to evoke the correct response

Ex: The therapist says “Touch your head”, and gently guides the child’s hand to their head

Steps to take during dangerous or unexpected situations to keep everyone safe.

Response: Alert a BCBA immediately

Use trained procedures like blocking and keeping clients safe

Always report incidents

Extinction

Stop reinforcing a behavior, so it decreases over time

Ex: if a child screams for candy and no longer gets candy, the screaming may stop