Oregon Registered Behavior Analysis Interventionist Competency Assessment Study Guide

Section I: Professional and Ethical Issues

• Confidentiality Requirements

  • Secure Storage: Confidential information must be stored in secure storage at all times, such as locked cabinets or password-protected digital files.
  • Authorized Sharing: RBAIs must only share confidential information with authorized parties.
  • HIPAA and Centria Guidelines: RBAIs must follow Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) guidelines and Centria’s explicit policies regarding Protected Health Information (PHI).
  • Definition of PHI: Protected Health Information includes any medical data, behavioral health diagnoses, clinical assessments, treatment progress notes, and testing results, as well as any information that individually identifies a client (e.g., full name, date of birth [DOB], home address, etc.).
  • Institutional Commitment: Centria ensures that all team members fully understand and comply with HIPAA requirements regarding PHI.

• Mandatory Reporting

  • Immediate Action: Any suspected abuse or neglect must be reported immediately.
  • Reporting Agencies: Suspected abuse/neglect must be reported immediately to the Department of Human Services (DHS) or designated local authorities, as well as directly to Centria’s compliance department.

• Scope of Practice

  • Plan Implementation: The RBAI strictly implements behavior intervention plans created by qualified supervisors (e.g., Board Certified Behavior Analysts [BCBAs]).
  • Prohibitions: RBAIs are strictly prohibited from conducting formal assessments or modifying behavior plans independently.

• Communication with Stakeholders

  • Communication Standards: RBAIs must use respectful, clear, and professional language when communicating with colleagues, families, and caregivers.
  • Objectivity: RBAIs must maintain neutrality and complete objectivity during all professional interactions.

• Professional Behavior

  • Key Expectations: Examples of mandatory professional behavior include adhering to the dress code, maintaining punctuality, preserving professional boundaries, and utilizing appropriate professional language.

• Conflicts of Interest and Dual Relationships

  • Definition: A dual relationship occurs when a behavior technician maintains two or more different types of relationships with a client or a member of their family, such as serving as both a friend and a caregiver.
  • Centria Policy: Dual relationships are strictly prohibited at Centria because they lead to severe conflicts of interest, compromise therapeutic outcomes, and create potential harm for the client.
  • Standard of Care: The primary and sole relationship a behavior technician must maintain with a client or their family is the professional, behavior-analytic therapeutic relationship.
  • Prohibited Actions under Centria Policy:
    • Babysitting: Behavior technicians may not offer or agree to babysit the client or their family members.
    • Financial/Gift Exchanges: Behavior technicians may not give or receive money, gifts, or favors.
    • Transportation: Behavior technicians may not provide non-session transportation or rides to clients, except in pre-approved cases directly related to therapy sessions.
    • Social Media: Behavior technicians may not be friends with clients, parents, or caregivers on social media platforms.
    • Commercial Transactions: Behavior technicians may not engage in financial transactions, such as buying products from or selling products to a client’s family.

• Supervision Needs

  • Proactive Assistance: RBAIs must seek supervisor help immediately when encountering:
    • Unfamiliar or novel client behaviors.
    • Direct safety concerns.
    • Unclear interventions or procedural guidelines.

Section II: Population Characteristics and Foundational ABA Knowledge

• Understanding Populations Served

  • Population Characteristics: The client population served by an RBAI may present with communication delays, social interaction deficits, and repetitive or interfering behaviors.
  • Individualized Care: Individualized treatment is strictly required for every client.

• Rights of Consumers

  • Fundamental Rights: Every client possesses the right to effective and respectful treatment.
  • Protections: Clients have the right to informed consent and full confidentiality.
  • Scientific Standard: All intervention services provided must be evidence-based.

• Receiving Feedback

  • Professional Integration: The RBAI must accept corrective feedback from supervisors without resistance and actively implement that feedback into direct daily practice.

• Definition of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA)

  • Scientific Foundation: Applied Behavior Analysis is a scientific approach dedicated to understanding and systematically modifying behavior.
  • Core Purpose: ABA applies interventions based on environmental variables and empirical data to improve socially significant behaviors.

• Definition of Behavior

  • ABA Definition: Behavior is defined as any observable and measurable action of a living organism.
  • Scope: Behavior encompasses everything an individual does that can be seen, heard, or otherwise measured—including speaking, walking, writing, or blinking.
  • Measurement Standard: A target action must be observable and measurable to be analyzed and modified using ABA principles.

• Operational Definitions and Operational Examples

  • Aggression Operational Definition: Any instance in which the individual physically strikes, hits, kicks, or otherwise uses force against a peer, resulting in observable physical contact or forceful impact.
  • Self-Injurious Behavior (SIB) Operational Definition: Any instance in which the individual engages in self-directed physical actions that result in observable harm or injury. Examples include hitting one’s head with closed fists, biting one’s hand, or banging one’s head against a hard surface.
  • Independent Transitions Operational Definition: The student independently initiates and completes a transition from one activity to another within $30\text{ seconds}$ without prompting or assistance. A successful transition involves leaving the current activity, moving to the new activity area, and beginning the new activity without engaging in off-task behavior.

• Stimulus Control Transfer

  • Concept: A target behavior may initially be prompted by a specific cue or discriminative stimulus ($S^D$), such as a verbal instruction or visual prompt.
  • Objective: The primary goal of stimulus control transfer is to systematically fade extraneous prompts so that the behavior occurs naturally in response to a target or natural environmental stimulus, ensuring the client does not remain prompt-dependent.
  • Example 1 — Teaching a Child to Say "Dog" When Seeing a Dog:
    1. Prompted Response: Initially, the clinician shows the child a picture of a dog and provides the verbal instruction, "Say 'dog'." The child repeats "dog." Here, the verbal prompt controls the response.
    2. Fading the Prompt: Gradually, the clinician reduces prompt intensity—such as by pointing to the picture without vocalizing.
    3. Independent Response: Eventually, the child says "dog" upon seeing the picture without any verbal prompt, indicating that stimulus control has transferred from the verbal cue to the visual stimulus.
  • Example 2 — Teaching a Child to Say "Hello" When Someone Enters the Room:
    1. Initial Prompting (Prompted Stimulus Control): When someone enters the room, the therapist immediately says to the child, "Say hello." The child responds, "Hello."
    2. Prompt Fading: Over time, the therapist systematically fades the verbal prompt:
       • Step a: Whisper "Say hello."
       • Step b: Mouth the words without vocalizing.
       • Step c: Only nod or point toward the person entering.
    3. Transfer of Stimulus Control: After several successful trials with faded prompts, the child says "Hello" independently whenever someone enters the room, without any instructional prompt.

• Functions of Behavior

  • Attention Function:
    • Purpose: The behavior occurs to gain social interaction or attention from others.
    • Examples:
      • A child shouts out in class to obtain the teacher’s attention.
      • A student tells jokes during instruction to make peers laugh.
      • A toddler throws toys, causing a parent to respond by scolding or comforting them.
  • Escape / Avoidance Function:
    • Purpose: The behavior serves to avoid, delay, or terminate an unwanted task, demand, or situation.
    • Examples:
      • A student tears up a math worksheet to avoid completing classwork.
      • A child runs away when signaled that it is time for a bath.
      • An individual pretends to be sick to avoid attending a social event.
  • Tangible (Access) Function:
    • Purpose: The behavior occurs to gain access to a preferred physical object, activity, or item.
    • Examples:
      • A child screams to obtain a desired toy.
      • A teenager interrupts a parent to gain access to car keys.
      • A student cries to obtain access to a tablet.
  • Automatic (Sensory) Function:
    • Purpose: The behavior is self-stimulating and provides its own internal reinforcement, independent of the external social environment.
    • Examples:
      • An individual rocks back and forth to receive sensory input.
      • Hand-flapping, vocal humming, or spinning objects.
      • Nail biting, hair twirling, or other repetitive movements that "feel good."

Section III: Assessment

• Standardized and Curriculum-Based Assessment Support

  • Role of RBAI: RBAIs support supervisors during standardized and curriculum-based assessments, including:
    • ABLLS-R (Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills - Revised)
    • VB-MAPP (Verbal Behavior Milestones Assessment and Placement Program)
    • Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales
  • Support Tasks: RBAIs assist with direct data collection and skill probing under the direct supervision of a BCBA.

• Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) Support

  • Role of RBAI: The RBAI assists with an FBA by collecting Antecedent–Behavior–Consequence (ABC) data to help identify environmental patterns and assist the supervisor in determining behavior function.
  • ABC Data Example:
    • Antecedent (A): Teacher gives the student a math worksheet.
    • Behavior (B): Student rips the worksheet in half.
    • Consequence (C): Teacher removes the worksheet and allows a break.

• Preference Assessments
  • Purpose: RBAIs conduct preference assessments to identify potential reinforcers.
  • Single Stimulus Preference Assessment: A single item is presented to the learner one at a time. The individual's reaction (approach or rejection) and duration of engagement are observed and recorded.
  • Paired Choice Preference Assessment: Two items are presented simultaneously, and the individual must choose one. Every item is paired with every other item across trials.
  • Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement (MSWO): Several items are presented at once in an array. When the individual selects an item, that item is removed, and the remaining items are presented again until all items are chosen or trials end.

Section IV: Intervention Implementation

• Reinforcement Schedules

  • Continuous Reinforcement (CRF): Reinforcing every single target correct response. Used primarily when teaching new skills.
  • Intermittent Reinforcement (INT): Reinforcing on a variable or fixed schedule after some, but not all, correct responses.

• Antecedent Interventions

  • Definition: Proactive techniques used to prevent target interfering behaviors by modifying the environment or events prior to the behavior's occurrence.
  • Strategy 1 — Visual Schedules:
    • Provide clear structure for daily routines and activity transitions.
    • Help individuals comprehend upcoming expectations.
  • Strategy 2 — Choice Making:
    • Offer controlled choices (e.g., "Do you want to use crayons or markers?").
    • Promotes autonomy and reduces task resistance.
  • Strategy 3 — Priming / Pre-Teaching:
    • Prepare the individual ahead of time for what to expect (e.g., explaining a new routine or showing what successful performance looks like).
  • Strategy 4 — Task Modification:
    • Adjust difficulty, duration, or presentation format of a task to reduce frustration or escape behaviors.
    • Example: Breaking a large worksheet into smaller chunks.
  • Strategy 5 — Non-Contingent Reinforcement (NCR):
    • Deliver preferred items or attention on a time-based schedule, regardless of behavior.
    • Reduces behaviors maintained by attention-seeking or tangible access.
  • Strategy 6 — Environmental Arrangements:
    • Arrange the physical workspace to reduce environmental triggers or increase access to supports.
    • Example: Placing preferred items out of direct sight to eliminate grabbing behaviors.
  • Strategy 7 — Behavior Momentum (High-Probability Request Sequence):
    • Present a series of fast, easy, high-probability ($high-p$) requests before giving a target low-probability ($low-p$) instruction.
    • Builds momentum and increases task compliance.
  • Strategy 8 — Transition Warnings:
    • Provide countdown signals before changing activities.
    • Example: Providing a warning such as "In $2\text{ minutes}$, we're going to clean up."

• Differential Reinforcement Strategies

  • Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior (DRA):
    • Definition: Reinforce an alternative, desirable behavior that serves the same function as the problem behavior.
    • Example: Instead of screaming to gain attention, a child is taught to tap the teacher's shoulder or say "excuse me." The teacher reinforces the appropriate verbal request and places the screaming on extinction.
  • Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior (DRO):
    • Definition: Reinforce the complete absence of the problem behavior for a specified duration of time.
    • Example: If a child goes $5\text{ minutes}$ without hitting, they earn a token or praise. If hitting occurs during that interval, reinforcement is withheld and the timer resets.
  • Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior (DRI):
    • Definition: Reinforce a behavior that is physically incompatible with the problem behavior (meaning both actions cannot physically occur simultaneously).
    • Example: A student who frequently leaves their seat is reinforced for sitting properly in their chair. Since sitting and wandering are physically incompatible, sitting is reinforced.

• Extinction

  • Definition: Extinction occurs when a previously reinforced behavior no longer receives reinforcement, resulting in a gradual decrease in the frequency of that behavior over time.

• Punishment Concepts (Centria Care Model Exclusions)

  • Policy Restriction: Neither Positive Punishment nor Negative Punishment is implemented within Centria's Care Model.
  • Positive Punishment:
    • Definition: Adding an unpleasant or undesirable stimulus immediately following a behavior to decrease the future frequency of that behavior.
    • Rule: "Positive" = something is added; "Punishment" = behavior decreases.
    • Example A: A student talks out of turn and is assigned extra homework $\rightarrow$ talking out decreases.
    • Example B: A driver speeds and receives a traffic fine $\rightarrow$ speeding behavior decreases.
  • Negative Punishment:
    • Definition: Removing a desirable stimulus immediately following a behavior to decrease the future frequency of that behavior.
    • Rule: "Negative" = something is taken away; "Punishment" = behavior decreases.
    • Example A: A child throws a toy, and the toy is taken away $\rightarrow$ toy throwing decreases.
    • Example B: A teen stays out past curfew and loses phone privileges $\rightarrow$ staying out late decreases.
    • Example C: A student hits a peer and loses recess time $\rightarrow$ hitting behavior decreases.

• Generalization and Maintenance

  • Generalization:
    • Definition: Behavior learned in one clinical setup occurs across untreated environments, with different people, novel materials, or varied conditions.
    • Procedures to Promote Generalization:
      1. Train Across Settings: Practice skills in varied real-world locations (e.g., home, school, community settings such as retail stores).
      2. Train with Multiple People: Involve different therapists, teachers, and caregivers in skill practice (e.g., ensuring the learner responds to any adult, not just the primary BT).
      3. Use Multiple Exemplars: Teach target concepts using diverse examples (e.g., teaching the concept of "dog" using various dog breeds, photos, and toy figures).
  • Maintenance:
    • Definition: A learned behavior continues over time after instruction and dense reinforcement have been faded or stopped.
    • Procedures to Promote Maintenance:
      1. Fade Prompts Gradually: Ensure the learner does not rely on prompts and can perform skills independently.
      2. Use Intermittent Reinforcement: Shift from continuous reinforcement to a variable intermittent schedule, making the behavior durable and natural.
      3. Practice Over Time: Revisit, review, and probe skills periodically after initial mastery.

• Shaping

  • Definition: Differentially reinforcing successive approximations toward a final target behavior.

• Chaining Procedures

  • Task Analysis: Breaking complex tasks down into small, sequential steps.
  • Chaining Strategies: Using forward or backward chaining alongside prompting and reinforcement schedules.
  • Forward Chaining:
    • Definition: The learner is taught and prompted to perform the first step in a task analysis sequence. Once mastered, they are taught the second step, then the third step, progressing sequentially through the behavioral chain.
    • Hand Washing Example (Forward Chaining):
      1. Step 1: Turn on the faucet $\leftarrow$ Teach and prompt this step first.
      2. Step 2: Wet hands.
      3. Step 3: Get soap.
      4. Step 4: Rub hands together.
      5. Step 5: Rinse hands.
      6. Step 6: Turn off faucet.
      7. Step 7: Dry hands.
    • Procedure: The learner practices Step 1 while the clinician completes or prompts the remaining steps. Once Step 1 is mastered, instruction moves to Step 2, and continues sequentially.
  • Backward Chaining:
    • Definition: The learner is taught the last step of the task analysis sequence first. Once mastered, they are taught the second-to-last step, working backward through the chain.
    • Hand Washing Example (Backward Chaining):
      1. Step 1: Turn on the faucet.
      2. Step 2: Wet hands.
      3. Step 3: Get soap.
      4. Step 4: Rub hands together.
      5. Step 5: Rinse hands.
      6. Step 6: Turn off faucet.
      7. Step 7: Dry hands $\leftarrow$ Teach and prompt this step first.
    • Procedure: The teacher completes Steps 1 through 6, and the learner independently completes Step 7. Once Step 7 is mastered, the learner performs Step 6 and Step 7, continuing backwards.

• Prompting and Prompting Hierarchies

  • Definition: Prompts are supplementary cues or assistance provided to help a learner perform a behavior or skill correctly, increasing instructional success.
  • Modalities: Prompts may be verbal, visual, gestural, modeled, or physical.
  • Prompting Hierarchy: An organized continuum displaying levels of assistance from most intrusive to least intrusive (or least to most intrusive), guiding staff on how to fade prompts to promote independence.
  • Most-to-Least Prompting (MTL):
    • Methodology: Begin instruction with the most supportive prompt, systematically fading to less intrusive prompts as the learner demonstrates independence.
    • MTL Hierarchy Steps:
      1. Full physical prompt (hand-over-hand)
      2. Partial physical prompt
      3. Modeling prompt
      4. Gestural prompt
      5. Verbal prompt
      6. Independent response (no prompt)
  • Least-to-Most Prompting (LTM):
    • Methodology: Provide the learner an initial opportunity to respond independently. If no response or an error occurs, increase prompt intrusiveness incrementally.
    • LTM Hierarchy Steps:
      1. Independent response opportunity (wait time)
      2. Verbal prompt
      3. Gestural prompt
      4. Model the behavior
      5. Physical assistance

• Prompt Fading

  • Definition: The systematic, gradual removal of assistance as the learner acquires independent mastery. The objective is to transfer stimulus control from the prompt to natural environmental cues.

• Error Correction Procedures

  • Definition: A systematic protocol designed to guide the learner to the correct answer following an error, allowing immediate guided practice of the correct response.

• Discrete Trial Training (DTT)

  • Definition: A structured instructional method breaking complex skills into small steps taught through repeated trials.
  • Trial Sequence: Clear Instruction ($S^D$) $\rightarrow$ Learner Response $\rightarrow$ Consequence $\rightarrow$ Inter-Trial Pause.
  • Data Requirement: Trial data are recorded for every trial.

• Incidental / Natural Environment Teaching (NET)

  • Definition: An ABA teaching strategy where skills are taught within the learner's natural environment during naturally occurring routines and play activities.
  • Reinforcement: Reinforcement is functionally related to the target behavior.

• Crisis Procedures

  • Plan Adherence: Strictly follow formal crisis behavior plan protocols outlined in the foundational behavior plan.
  • Safety Focus: Ensure the physical safety of both the client and staff, calling for immediate backup if needed.
  • Documentation: Document all crisis incidents in an official, formal incident report.

• Caregiver Training Support

  • Role Limits: RBAIs support caregivers by modeling prescribed intervention strategies and supporting guided practice. RBAIs do not independently develop or lead training curricula.

Section V: Data Collection & Documentation

• Session Preparation

  • Pre-Session Tasks: Prior to session start, the RBAI must:
    • Review the learner's active behavioral programs.
    • Gather necessary teaching materials and reinforcers.
    • Organize the physical teaching environment.
    • Prepare data collection systems (e.g., CareConnect at Centria).

• Continuous Measurement

  • Frequency: The raw count or total number of times a target behavior occurs.
  • Duration: The total amount of time a target behavior lasts from onset to termination.
  • Latency: The elapsed time between the delivery of an instructional cue/demand ($S^D$) and the initiation of the behavior.
  • Interresponse Time (IRT): The elapsed time between two consecutive occurrences of the exact same target behavior.

• Discontinuous Measurement

  • Partial Interval Recording: Behavior is recorded as having occurred if it takes place at any point during a specified observation interval.
  • Whole Interval Recording: Behavior is recorded as having occurred only if it persists continuously throughout the entire observation interval.
  • Momentary Time Sampling: Behavior is recorded only if it is occurring at the exact moment a predetermined interval ends.

• Permanent Product Recording

  • Definition: An indirect data collection method measuring behavior after the fact by evaluating the tangible, lasting physical result or product of the behavior (e.g., completed worksheets or a cleaned room).

• Graphing Data

  • Formatting Standards: Standard line graphs utilize the x-axis for time units (e.g., sessions, dates) and the y-axis for behavior measurements (e.g., frequency, duration).
  • Monitoring: Graphs must be updated regularly to evaluate therapeutic trends (CareConnect automates graph production at Centria).

• Session Notes

  • Content Requirements: Session notes must be objective, clinical, specific, and concise. Notes must contain quantitative data, direct behavioral observations, and documented responses to interventions.

• Ongoing Communication

  • Clinical Updates: The RBAI must maintain regular communication updates with the BCBA supervisor to report behavioral changes, client concerns, or barriers to treatment success.