22 Professional Conduct & Scope Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. While out to dinner, an RBT's friend points to a child across the restaurant and asks, "Isn't he one of the kids you work with?" What is the BEST response?

   • A.Confirm the child is a client, but share no details about the services.
   • B.Answer honestly, since the friend already knows the family socially.
   • C.Say that confidentiality bars confirming or denying that anyone is a client.✓ Answer
   • D.Say yes, and then ask the friend to keep the information private.

   Whether a particular person receives services is itself confidential information, so merely confirming the professional relationship is already a disclosure, even if no other details follow. An RBT discusses client information only under the supervisor's direction or when the law permits it, which is why declining to confirm or deny is the only response that protects the client.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — confidentiality of client informationReport a problem with this question

2. 2. A caregiver asks an RBT to start teaching her son to tie his shoes today, noting that the skill is not in his current program. What should the RBT do?

   • A.Teach it informally at the end of the session without taking data.
   • B.Tell the caregiver that shoe tying is not a good goal for him now.
   • C.Pass the request to the supervisor, who decides on new goals.✓ Answer
   • D.Start teaching it, since it is functional and unlikely to harm him.

   Selecting or adding a program goal is a clinical decision that belongs to the supervisor, and telling the family a goal is or is not appropriate is that same decision stated as an opinion. The RBT's professional obligation is to route questions and requests about services to the supervisor promptly so the decision is made by the person responsible for the plan.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — the RBT's defined role under supervision; directing questions about services to the supervisorReport a problem with this question

3. 3. A classroom teacher asks an RBT to explain what a student's assessment results mean and whether his diagnosis is likely to change. What is the BEST action?

   • A.Decline to interpret, and refer the teacher's questions to the supervisor.✓ Answer
   • B.Hand the teacher a copy of the report, since the school is part of his team.
   • C.Tell the teacher the scores show he is doing better than last year.
   • D.Summarize the report in plain language so the teacher can use it.

   Interpreting assessment results and discussing a diagnosis are clinical activities outside the RBT's role, and summarizing or characterizing the scores is still interpretation. Releasing records is also not the RBT's decision, so the correct action is to decline and route the request to the supervisor.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — scope of competence; discussing client information only under supervisor directionReport a problem with this question

4. 4. A client's mother sends an RBT a friend request on her personal social media account and messages her there about rescheduling a session. What is the BEST response?

   • A.Accept the request, but never post anything about work on the account.
   • B.Add her as a friend, because it makes scheduling messages easier.
   • C.Leave it unanswered and keep scheduling in the employer's channels.✓ Answer
   • D.Accept the request and ask the mother not to mention sessions online.

   Connecting on a personal account mixes a personal role with a professional one, which is a multiple relationship that can erode boundaries and expose client information through posts, photos, and message histories. Keeping service-related communication in employer-approved channels and informing the supervisor keeps the relationship, and the record of it, professional.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — multiple relationships; client information on social mediaReport a problem with this question

5. 5. A client masters a difficult skill and the RBT records a short video of it. She is considering posting the video on her private social media account with the child's face blurred and no name attached. What should she do?

   • A.Do not post any client video, photograph, or information on social media.✓ Answer
   • B.Post it only in a closed online group of other behavior technicians.
   • C.Post it, since nothing identifying is left visible in the video.
   • D.Share it only if the child's parents give their permission first.

   The standard bars sharing client photos, video, or written information on social media and websites, and it lists no exception for a private account, a closed group, a blurred face, or parental permission. Setting, voices, dates, and the viewer's own knowledge of the family can still identify the client, and once posted the RBT cannot control where the material travels.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — client information on social media and websitesReport a problem with this question

6. 6. At the end of the year, a client's family gives an RBT an expensive piece of jewelry to thank her for her work. What is the BEST action?

   • A.Accept it graciously so the family does not feel rejected.
   • B.Accept it and give the family a gift of similar value back.
   • C.Decline politely and tell the supervisor about the gift.✓ Answer
   • D.Take it on behalf of the clinic and leave it in the staff room.

   Gifts beyond an occasional token of gratitude are limited because they create conflicts of interest and multiple relationships: they place the family and the technician in a social exchange that can bias how services are delivered and how concerns are raised. Declining while explaining the professional requirement preserves the relationship, and telling the supervisor puts the event on the record. Accepting it on the clinic's behalf does not resolve the conflict either, since what the organization accepts is not the technician's decision to make.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — gift giving and receivingReport a problem with this question

7. 7. An RBT's employer prohibits staff from exchanging gifts with client families at all. A family offers him a small item that would be acceptable as an occasional token of thanks under professional standards. What should he do?

   • A.Decline it, since the employer's stricter rule governs here.✓ Answer
   • B.Accept it away from the clinic so the employer is not involved.
   • C.Accept it, since professional standards allow small tokens.
   • D.Keep it and note it in the session record for that day.

   An RBT must satisfy professional standards and workplace requirements at the same time, so when the employer's rule is the stricter of the two, the employer's rule governs and the gift is declined. The reverse also holds: when an employer's instruction would require conduct that breaches professional standards or the law, the standards and the law control, and the RBT documents and escalates.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — gift giving and receiving; compliance with workplace requirementsReport a problem with this question

8. 8. A client's parents offer to pay an RBT to babysit their son on weekends. What is the BEST action?

   • A.Tell the parents to ask the supervisor whether it is allowed.
   • B.Agree, since babysitting is outside work hours and unrelated.
   • C.Agree, as long as no programs are run during the babysitting.
   • D.Decline, then tell the supervisor and document the conversation.✓ Answer

   Taking a second, paid personal role with a client's family is a multiple relationship: it can bias the technician's judgment, make it harder for either side to raise problems, and blur which behavior the family is paying for. When such a situation arises the RBT declines or resolves it, informs the supervisor, and documents what was done — the responsibility to raise it belongs to the technician, not the family.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — multiple relationships and conflicts of interestReport a problem with this question

9. 9. An RBT sees a coworker writing and signing session notes for a session that never took place. What should the RBT do FIRST?

   • A.Ask the coworker to fix the notes and let the matter drop.
   • B.Report what was seen to the supervisor and document it.✓ Answer
   • C.Do nothing, since that client is not on the RBT's caseload.
   • D.File a report with the certification board about the coworker.

   Falsified service records are an ethical and legal problem, and the established pathway is to raise the concern through the chain of command first while documenting the actions taken, dates, and outcome. The supervisor and employer are the level with the authority and the information to correct it; going straight to the certification board skips the step most likely to resolve the matter, and doing nothing leaves the false record in place.

   Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — responding to suspected ethics violations; documentation and escalationReport a problem with this question

10. 10. A client arrives with unexplained injuries and says an adult at home caused them. The RBT tells the supervisor, who says to wait and watch for a few more sessions. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Wait as instructed, since the supervisor directs the RBT's work.
    • B.Note the injuries in the session record and take no further step.
    • C.Carry out the reporting duty that applies to the RBT himself.✓ Answer
    • D.Ask the parent about the injuries at pickup before any other step.

    The duty to report suspected abuse is a legal obligation held by the individual who forms the suspicion, so a supervisor's instruction to wait cannot cancel it; deferring also leaves the client exposed to further harm. The specific deadline, form, and receiving agency vary by jurisdiction and employer, so the RBT follows the requirements that apply where he works while informing the supervisor and documenting.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — do no harm; compliance with mandated reporting requirementsReport a problem with this question

11. 11. During an observation, a supervisor tells an RBT that she is delivering prompts too late. The RBT believes the delay was caused by how the client was behaving that day. What is the BEST response?

    • A.Explain why the observation does not reflect a typical session.
    • B.Accept the feedback, practice the corrected timing, and apply it.✓ Answer
    • C.Ask for a different supervisor to do the future observations.
    • D.Agree in the moment, but keep prompting the way she has been.

    Professional conduct applies during supervision itself, and the required response to corrective feedback is to change performance rather than to justify it. Rehearsing the corrected procedure while the supervisor is present is what confirms the skill has actually changed, which is why practice with feedback is a core part of how technicians are trained.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — professional conduct during supervision and acting on supervisor feedbackReport a problem with this question

12. 12. After a refresher training, an RBT realizes she has been running one prompting step incorrectly for the past several sessions. What should she do?

    • A.Start running the step correctly from now on and say nothing.
    • B.Remove the affected data so the record does not mislead anyone.
    • C.Tell the supervisor now and follow her direction on the data.✓ Answer
    • D.Wait and raise it at the next scheduled supervision meeting.

    The supervisor makes clinical decisions from the data, so data collected while a procedure was run incorrectly can lead to a wrong decision about whether a program is working. Reporting the error promptly and accurately is part of the technician's accountability, and that report should identify which sessions were affected; deleting the data falsifies the record rather than correcting it.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — honesty and accurate documentation; accountability to the supervisorReport a problem with this question

13. 13. A new client's plan includes a feeding protocol the RBT has never been trained to run. The supervisor is unavailable and the parent asks the RBT to start it today. What should the RBT do?

    • A.Watch an instructional video during the session and then run it.
    • B.Run the protocol, since it is written into the approved plan.
    • C.Ask the parent to demonstrate it and follow along with her.
    • D.Do not run it until he is trained, and contact the supervisor.✓ Answer

    An RBT provides a service only after the supervisor has confirmed that he can carry it out correctly; a written plan authorizes the procedure for the client, not an untrained technician to perform it. Self-teaching from a video or a parent's demonstration is not confirmed competence, and feeding procedures carry real safety risk when run incorrectly.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — providing services only after the supervisor confirms competenceReport a problem with this question

14. 14. A restrictive procedure is written into a client's documented behavior plan, but the supervisor has not yet watched the RBT practice it or confirmed his competence with it. What should the RBT do?

    • A.Implement it only when the problem behavior becomes severe.
    • B.Wait until the supervisor confirms his competence with it.✓ Answer
    • C.Implement it, because it is part of the documented plan.
    • D.Have an experienced coworker watch him do it once and sign off.

    Restrictive and punishment-based procedures require two conditions at once: the procedure must be part of a documented behavior-change plan, and the supervisor must have verified the technician's competence with it. Both are required because these procedures carry the greatest risk of harm when run poorly, and a peer's opinion does not substitute for the supervisor's verification.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — restrictive and punishment-based proceduresReport a problem with this question

15. 15. While implementing a plan exactly as written, an RBT notices that one physical guidance step consistently causes the client visible pain. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Stop that step, notify the supervisor at once, and document it.✓ Answer
    • B.Continue exactly as written, since only the supervisor may change it.
    • C.Soften the step on his own and note the change in the record.
    • D.Ask the caregiver whether that step should keep being used.

    The obligation to avoid harm outranks procedural fidelity, so continuing a step that is hurting the client is not defensible simply because it is written down. The RBT still does not redesign the plan: he protects the client in the moment, reports to the supervisor immediately so the plan can be revised by the person responsible for it, and documents the observation.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — do no harm; protecting client rights and reporting to the supervisorReport a problem with this question

16. 16. Which of the following BEST describes effective ongoing supervision of an RBT?

    • A.The supervisor observes, models, has the RBT rehearse, and gives feedback.✓ Answer
    • B.The supervisor sends a training video and confirms the RBT watched it.
    • C.The supervisor asks each month whether any problems have come up.
    • D.The supervisor reviews the data sheets and emails written comments.

    Effective supervision is built on behavioral skills training — instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback — anchored in direct observation of the technician actually delivering services. Reviewing paperwork or asking whether anything went wrong describes the work secondhand and cannot show how the procedure is being performed, so it cannot reliably improve performance.

    Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline, Ethics — identifying effective supervision practices (behavioral skills training)Report a problem with this question

17. 17. A family tells an RBT that a mealtime routine used in the clinic conflicts with the way meals are handled at home. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Read up on what families from that background usually do at meals.
    • B.Keep the clinic routine unchanged, since consistency matters most.
    • C.Change the routine in sessions to match what the family does.
    • D.Ask the family about their routine and relay it to the supervisor.✓ Answer

    Cultural responsiveness is something the technician does, not something she assumes: she asks the family about their practices and priorities and carries that information to the supervisor, who is the person who can adjust the plan. Looking up what a group "usually" does substitutes a generalization for information about this family, and changing the procedure without direction is outside the RBT's role.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — cultural responsiveness and working with the supervisor to obtain needed trainingReport a problem with this question

18. 18. An RBT is beginning with a new client whose family background is unfamiliar to her, and she needs to identify reinforcers. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Use the items that worked for a similar client on her caseload.
    • B.Run a preference assessment and ask the caregivers what he likes.✓ Answer
    • C.Ask the supervisor to pick reinforcers based on his diagnosis.
    • D.Use items that children from that background usually enjoy.

    Reinforcers are individual: what functions as a reinforcer is established by direct assessment and by information from the people who know the client, never inferred from cultural background, from another client, or from a diagnosis. Assuming preferences from group membership is both a measurement error and a form of bias the technician is expected to check in herself.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — evaluating personal bias; BACB RBT Test Content Outline, Behavior Assessment (preference assessment)Report a problem with this question

19. 19. An RBT is going through a serious personal crisis, has been arriving distracted, and has missed steps in sessions for two weeks. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Lower demands on clients so the sessions are easier to finish.
    • B.Tell the supervisor and follow the plan they agree on together.✓ Answer
    • C.Take a personal day and say nothing, since the matter is private.
    • D.Push through, since personal matters should not affect the work.

    Personal circumstances become a professional matter as soon as they impair service delivery, because the client is the one who absorbs the missed steps. The expected response is to inform the supervisor, agree on steps to resolve the problem — which may include refraining from client work for a period — and document what was done; quietly lowering demands changes the client's program without authority and hides the problem.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — personal challenges that may impair service deliveryReport a problem with this question

20. 20. In a group room, another staff member begins loudly discussing a client's toileting accident in front of the client and the other children. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Answer the questions quietly so the client cannot hear them.
    • B.Leave a note on the client's cubby so all staff know about it.
    • C.Say nothing, since that staff member is not supervised by the RBT.
    • D.Move the discussion to a private area and give care out of view.✓ Answer

    Client dignity and confidentiality are protected by controlling where and to whom information is shared: personal care happens in private, and only the information a colleague actually needs is shared, in a setting where others cannot overhear. Whispering still discusses the client in front of him and in front of peers, and a posted note broadcasts private information to everyone who passes.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — client dignity and confidentiality in the workplaceReport a problem with this question

21. 21. A client refuses to begin work. Another staff member suggests holding back the client's lunch until he cooperates. What is the BEST action?

    • A.Withhold lunch briefly, then give it whether or not he complies.
    • B.Follow the suggestion, since lunch is a powerful reinforcer here.
    • C.Ask the parent for permission to use lunch as a reinforcer.
    • D.Do not withhold the meal; use the reinforcers in the plan.✓ Answer

    Food, drink, and access to the bathroom are basic needs and protected rights, not items to be made contingent on compliance, and withholding them is a harm regardless of how briefly it is done or who agrees to it. Parental permission does not convert a rights violation into an acceptable procedure; the technician uses the reinforcers the plan specifies and reports the suggestion so the supervisor can address it.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — do no harm and protection of client rightsReport a problem with this question

22. 22. At a school meeting, a teacher introduces the RBT to the team as "the behavior analyst who designed the child's program." What is the BEST action?

    • A.Accept it and clarify her role privately with the teacher later.
    • B.Politely correct it, saying she implements the plan under supervision.✓ Answer
    • C.Use the meeting to explain the reasoning behind the program.
    • D.Say nothing in the meeting so the teacher is not embarrassed.

    An RBT must not make or allow misleading statements about her qualifications, and letting an inflated title stand in front of a team is allowing one. Correcting it in the moment tells the team who actually holds responsibility for clinical decisions, so their questions reach the supervisor rather than someone whose role is to implement the plan.

    Source: BACB RBT Ethics Code — public statements about qualifications and servicesReport a problem with this question

Practice questions based on the BACB RBT Task List and standard applied behavior analysis practice. RBT and BACB are marks of the Behavior Analyst Certification Board; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by the BACB. Requirements, training rules, and the task list itself are revised periodically — confirm current requirements with the BACB and your supervisor before testing. About the RBT credential →