22 Skill Acquisition Practice Questions & Answers

Every Skill Acquisition practice question from the RBT Practice Test, with the correct answer and a short explanation.

1. A client's plan teaches him to hand a break card to the RBT during work tasks. Each time he hands over the card, the RBT removes the worksheet for a short break. Over several weeks, handing the card has become much more frequent. Which principle accounts for the increase?
- A.Punishment, because the work task was taken away after the response
- B.Extinction, because handing the card no longer earns a break
- C.Negative reinforcement, because task removal increased card handing✓ Answer
- D.Positive reinforcement, because a break card was added to the session
Reinforcement is defined by its effect on future behavior, not by whether the consequence seems pleasant. Here the behavior increased, so it is reinforcement, and it is negative reinforcement because a stimulus (the work task) was removed contingent on the response. Negative reinforcement always increases behavior; punishment is what decreases it.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - positive and negative reinforcement proceduresReport a problem with this question
2. During discrete trial teaching, a learner answers correctly, but the RBT first finishes writing on the data sheet and delivers the token about eight seconds later. Correct responding has become inconsistent. What should the RBT change?
- A.Withhold the token for the next several correct responses
- B.Deliver the token immediately, then record the data✓ Answer
- C.Save the tokens and give one large reward at session end
- D.Repeat the instruction until the learner answers again
Reinforcement is most effective when it follows the target response immediately, because the contingency between that response and the consequence stays clear. In a delay of several seconds, other behavior can occur and be strengthened instead. Data recording is not time-sensitive and can wait until after the reinforcer is delivered.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - immediate and contingent delivery of reinforcementReport a problem with this question
3. A skill has been mastered and the supervisor wants responding to persist even through long stretches without reinforcement. Which schedule generally produces the highest, steadiest rate of responding and the greatest resistance to extinction?
- A.Fixed ratio, in which a set number of responses is reinforced
- B.Continuous reinforcement, in which every response is reinforced
- C.Variable ratio, in which a varying number of responses is needed✓ Answer
- D.Fixed interval, in which the first response after a set time counts
On a variable ratio schedule the learner cannot discriminate which response will produce reinforcement, so responding stays high and steady and does not drop off quickly when reinforcement is unavailable. Fixed schedules make the payoff predictable, which produces pausing after reinforcement, and continuous reinforcement makes the shift to no reinforcement very easy to detect.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - schedules of reinforcement; Cooper, Heron and Heward, Applied Behavior AnalysisReport a problem with this question
4. An RBT is introducing a brand-new labeling target. The written plan calls for reinforcing every correct response at this stage of teaching. Which statement best explains this arrangement?
- A.Continuous reinforcement maximizes resistance to extinction
- B.Continuous reinforcement is chosen when the learner likes the item
- C.Continuous reinforcement is thinned after one correct response
- D.Continuous reinforcement builds a new response fast, then thins✓ Answer
Dense, continuous reinforcement is the standard arrangement while a skill is being acquired because every correct response contacts the contingency and the new response strengthens rapidly. Intermittent schedules, not continuous ones, build resistance to extinction, so the plan thins the schedule gradually once the skill is established; thinning abruptly can cause responding to break down.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - continuous and intermittent schedules in acquisition and maintenanceReport a problem with this question
5. A client normally works hard for crackers. Today the caregiver reports he ate a large bowl of crackers right before the session, and crackers no longer maintain his responding. Which best accounts for this?
- A.Satiation has temporarily reduced the value of crackers as a reinforcer✓ Answer
- B.Crackers were never a reinforcer, so his responding is now under extinction
- C.Deprivation has temporarily increased the value of crackers as a reinforcer
- D.The crackers have become a conditioned reinforcer through pairing
Motivating operations change the momentary value of a consequence. Recent free consumption of an item is an abolishing operation: it decreases the value of that item and decreases behavior that has produced it, which is satiation. Deprivation works in the opposite direction, raising the item's value.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - motivating operations (satiation and deprivation)Report a problem with this question
6. Which of the following is best classified as a conditioned (secondary) reinforcer?
- A.Water for a learner who has had no drink all morning
- B.Food for a learner who has not eaten since breakfast
- C.Warmth for a learner who just came in from the cold
- D.Praise for a learner who just completed a task✓ Answer
Unconditioned reinforcers such as food, water and warmth function without any learning history. A conditioned reinforcer acquires its value by being paired with stimuli that already reinforce, which is how social praise comes to work. Because that value depends on pairing, praise can lose effectiveness if it is never paired again.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - establishing and using conditioned reinforcersReport a problem with this question
7. An RBT is starting services with a new client who moves away whenever the RBT comes near and cries when materials are placed on the table. Consistent with the plan's pairing procedures, what should the RBT do first?
- A.Sit apart, record data, and tell the caregiver he is not ready
- B.Deliver preferred items and fun interaction without any demands✓ Answer
- C.Present the first instruction and physically prompt him through it
- D.Withhold all preferred items until he complies with an instruction
Pairing works by repeatedly presenting a neutral stimulus, here the RBT and the teaching setting, together with established reinforcers delivered without demands, until the RBT becomes a conditioned reinforcer. Starting with demands instead keeps the RBT associated with effortful tasks and strengthens moving away.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - pairing to establish conditioned reinforcersReport a problem with this question
8. In discrete trial teaching, what is the function of the inter-trial interval?
- A.The short pause between one trial's end and the next instruction✓ Answer
- B.The time the learner is given to respond after the instruction
- C.The delay between the instruction and the prompt that follows
- D.The period during which the reinforcer is consumed and praised
The inter-trial interval is the short break between the end of one trial and the instruction that starts the next, and it keeps each trial a discrete learning unit rather than one long blur of instructions. The time allowed to respond and the delay inserted before a prompt are different components; the latter is a time delay procedure used to transfer stimulus control.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - components of discrete trial teachingReport a problem with this question
9. During free play a child pulls the bubble jar toward the RBT. The RBT holds the jar, waits, prompts the word "bubbles," and blows bubbles when the child says it. Which teaching arrangement is described?
- A.Naturalistic (incidental) teaching, because the learner led it✓ Answer
- B.Discrimination training, because he chose bubbles over another toy
- C.Total task chaining, because blowing bubbles involves several steps
- D.Discrete trial teaching, because a prompt preceded the response
Naturalistic teaching is embedded in the learner's ongoing activity, follows the learner's lead, and uses the natural reinforcer directly related to the response, so asking for bubbles produces bubbles. Prompts are used in both arrangements, so the presence of a prompt does not make it discrete trial teaching; the giveaways for discrete trials are adult-led massed trials at a structured work area with reinforcers that need not relate to the response.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - naturalistic and incidental teaching proceduresReport a problem with this question
10. A plan targets manding for "open." Which arrangement best contrives a motivating operation for that mand?
- A.Place a preferred snack in a clear container he cannot open✓ Answer
- B.Give free access to the open snack container before the trial
- C.Say the word "open" every few minutes during a disliked activity
- D.Ask "what do you want?" at the table with no items present
A mand is evoked by a motivating operation, so the teaching arrangement must make the item momentarily valuable and make the learner's own response the way to get it. A visible but inaccessible preferred item creates exactly that condition, whereas free access abolishes the value of the item and an empty table gives the learner nothing to want.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - contriving motivating operations in naturalistic teachingReport a problem with this question
11. A supervisor selects backward chaining to teach a task-analyzed dressing routine. Which is the strongest rationale for that choice?
- A.The first step is taught to criterion before any step is added
- B.The learner does the last step and contacts the natural reinforcer✓ Answer
- C.It removes the need to write a task analysis for the routine
- D.The learner attempts every step each session, with prompts as needed
In backward chaining the instructor completes the earlier steps and the learner independently performs the last step, so the trial always ends with the learner producing the completed outcome and contacting the natural reinforcer. The other descriptions define total task presentation and forward chaining, and every chaining variation still requires a validated task analysis.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - task analysis and chaining proceduresReport a problem with this question
12. An RBT teaches hand washing by having the learner independently turn on the water while the RBT completes all the remaining steps. Once turning on the water meets criterion, the learner performs the first two steps and the RBT completes the rest. Which procedure is this?
- A.Backward chaining
- B.Behavior shaping
- C.Total task chaining
- D.Forward chaining✓ Answer
The reliable discriminator among chaining variations is which step the learner performs independently. Here teaching starts at the beginning of the task analysis and adds steps in order, which is forward chaining; backward chaining would start with the last step, and total task presentation would have the learner attempt every step each session.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - forward, backward and total task chainingReport a problem with this question
13. A learner says "ba" when he wants a ball. The plan has the RBT reinforce "ba," then reinforce only "baw," then only "ball." Which procedure is this, and why is it not chaining?
- A.Shaping, because these are approximations of one response✓ Answer
- B.Prompt fading, because an antecedent stimulus is changed gradually
- C.Discrimination training, because "ba" is eventually not reinforced
- D.Chaining, because each sound is a separate step in a sequence
Shaping refines a single response by reinforcing closer approximations while placing earlier approximations on extinction, so the topography of one behavior changes over time. Chaining is different in kind: it links several distinct behaviors into a sequence in which each step cues the next, and prompting works on the antecedent side rather than the consequence side.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - shaping by successive approximationReport a problem with this question
14. During shaping, when should the RBT move to reinforcing only a closer approximation?
- A.As soon as the learner emits the closer approximation once
- B.Only after the terminal behavior has occurred independently
- C.When the current approximation is occurring consistently✓ Answer
- D.After a set number of trials, whatever the learner is doing
Shaping advances on the learner's data, not on a fixed timetable: the criterion is raised once the current approximation is stable so there is a strong response to differentially reinforce. Raising it too quickly puts responding on extinction before the next approximation is available and the behavior deteriorates, while lingering too long at one level stalls progress.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - shaping procedures and criterion advancementReport a problem with this question
15. Data across several sessions show no progress on an acquisition target, and the RBT believes a more intrusive prompt would help. What should the RBT do?
- A.Ask the caregiver whether to increase the prompt level
- B.Keep running the plan as written and tell the supervisor✓ Answer
- C.Switch to a full physical prompt and log it in session notes
- D.Move the target to maintenance and teach a different one
The technician's role is to implement the skill acquisition plan with procedural fidelity and to document what happens; designing and modifying the plan, including prompt level, targets and mastery criteria, is the supervisor's responsibility. Changing the procedure unilaterally also makes the data uninterpretable, because the results no longer describe the plan that was written.
Source: BACB RBT Task List - implementing skill acquisition plans with procedural fidelity under supervisionReport a problem with this question
16. In a field of two cards, a learner selects the card on the left on nearly every trial, whether the instruction is "touch dog" or "touch cup." What is the most likely problem and the appropriate response?
- A.The reinforcer is too weak; substitute one the RBT prefers
- B.The card's position controls responding; counterbalance it✓ Answer
- C.The learner has generalized; move at once to a much larger array
- D.The learner has mastered the discrimination; begin maintenance probes
Discrimination training works only if reinforcement follows responding to the discriminative stimulus and not to irrelevant features. A left-side pattern that ignores the instruction is a position bias, a form of faulty stimulus control, and the fix is to rotate and counterbalance the target's position so location no longer predicts reinforcement. Selecting a different reinforcer is a plan change and is not the technician's decision.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - discrimination training and stimulus controlReport a problem with this question
17. A plan targets a new safety-related skill for a learner who becomes upset and stops working after making errors. Which prompting strategy best fits?
- A.Most-to-least prompting, with the prompts then faded systematically✓ Answer
- B.Reinforcing error responses to keep the learner engaged in work
- C.No prompting at all, so the instruction alone gains control faster
- D.Least-to-most prompting, so errors and self-correction can occur
Errorless teaching arrangements start with enough assistance to guarantee the correct response and then fade it, which is indicated for brand-new skills, safety-critical skills, and learners whose errors reliably produce frustration or escape. Least-to-most deliberately allows errors and suits skills already partly in the repertoire, and errors should never be reinforced.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - errorless teaching and most-to-least prompt fadingReport a problem with this question
18. A learner reliably imitates the RBT's model but sits with his hands still and waits for the model even on targets he has performed independently before. Following the plan's fading procedures, what should the RBT do?
- A.Keep giving the model at the same moment as the instruction
- B.Repeat the instruction until the learner finally responds
- C.Deliver the model twice in each trial to make it clearer
- D.Delay the model, and reinforce independent responses more richly✓ Answer
Waiting for a prompt that is no longer needed is prompt dependence, which develops when prompts are not faded. A time delay opens a window in which the learner can respond to the instruction alone, and reinforcing unprompted responses more richly than prompted ones transfers stimulus control from the prompt to the natural instruction.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - time delay and transfer of stimulus controlReport a problem with this question
19. To help a learner select a target letter, the RBT prints it much larger and bolder than the comparison cards, then over sessions makes it look just like the others. How is that added help best described?
- A.An extra-stimulus prompt, since a separate cue was added nearby
- B.A response prompt, since the learner's movement was guided
- C.A conditioned reinforcer, since the card was paired with praise
- D.A within-stimulus prompt, since the letter itself was altered✓ Answer
Stimulus prompts act on the teaching materials rather than on the learner's behavior. Altering the target stimulus itself, such as making it larger or bolder, is a within-stimulus prompt, whereas adding something separate like an arrow or a point is extra-stimulus. Gradually returning that physical dimension to normal is stimulus fading, which shifts control to the unaltered stimulus.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - stimulus prompts and stimulus fading; Cooper, Heron and Heward, Applied Behavior AnalysisReport a problem with this question
20. A learner names community signs accurately with one RBT at one table, but not with other staff, with different picture sets, or at home. What is the most appropriate programming step?
- A.Return to continuous reinforcement in the original setting
- B.Move it to maintenance, since one instructor meets criterion
- C.Keep training in one setting and expect the skill to transfer
- D.Teach across several instructors, settings, and sets of materials✓ Answer
Generalization has to be programmed rather than hoped for, and teaching under one narrow set of conditions is the classic reason a skill does not appear elsewhere. Using multiple exemplars, varying irrelevant features, and building in features of the natural environment broaden the range of stimuli that control the response.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - programming for generalization across settings, people and stimuliReport a problem with this question
21. A skill that met mastery criterion months ago is no longer performed, even with the same RBT, in the same room, with the same materials. This is best described as a failure of which outcome?
- A.Maintenance, which is responding that persists over time✓ Answer
- B.Generalization, which is responding in new settings
- C.Acquisition, because the skill was never actually learned
- D.Discrimination, because he can no longer tell materials apart
Maintenance is responding that continues after teaching has ended, so it is measured across time; generalization is responding that spreads to new settings, people and materials. Here nothing about the conditions changed except elapsed time, which makes it a maintenance problem, typically addressed with periodic probes and interspersed practice rather than treating the target as newly unlearned.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - distinguishing maintenance from acquisition and generalizationReport a problem with this question
22. A token economy that had been working well is now failing: the learner earns tokens but stops working before the exchange, and at exchange time chooses the same small toy and drops it right away. Which is the most likely problem and the indicated fix?
- A.Remove tokens for off-task behavior; response cost always works
- B.The learner simply needs more tokens per correct response
- C.The backup reinforcers have lost value; re-assess and rotate them✓ Answer
- D.The tokens have lost their intrinsic value; use shinier ones
Tokens are generalized conditioned reinforcers with no value of their own; they work only because they are exchanged for backup reinforcers, so a stale or satiated backup menu collapses the whole system. The fix is to refresh and vary the backups, not to hand out more tokens. Removing earned tokens is a reduction procedure that may be used only when it is written into the plan and authorized, never added by the technician.
Source: BACB RBT Task List, Behavior Acquisition - token economies, generalized conditioned reinforcers and backup reinforcersReport 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 →

1. A client's plan teaches him to hand a break card to the RBT during work tasks. Each time he hands over the card, the RBT removes the worksheet for a short break. Over several weeks, handing the card has become much more frequent. Which principle accounts for the increase?

2. During discrete trial teaching, a learner answers correctly, but the RBT first finishes writing on the data sheet and delivers the token about eight seconds later. Correct responding has become inconsistent. What should the RBT change?

3. A skill has been mastered and the supervisor wants responding to persist even through long stretches without reinforcement. Which schedule generally produces the highest, steadiest rate of responding and the greatest resistance to extinction?

4. An RBT is introducing a brand-new labeling target. The written plan calls for reinforcing every correct response at this stage of teaching. Which statement best explains this arrangement?

5. A client normally works hard for crackers. Today the caregiver reports he ate a large bowl of crackers right before the session, and crackers no longer maintain his responding. Which best accounts for this?

6. Which of the following is best classified as a conditioned (secondary) reinforcer?

7. An RBT is starting services with a new client who moves away whenever the RBT comes near and cries when materials are placed on the table. Consistent with the plan's pairing procedures, what should the RBT do first?

8. In discrete trial teaching, what is the function of the inter-trial interval?

9. During free play a child pulls the bubble jar toward the RBT. The RBT holds the jar, waits, prompts the word "bubbles," and blows bubbles when the child says it. Which teaching arrangement is described?

10. A plan targets manding for "open." Which arrangement best contrives a motivating operation for that mand?

11. A supervisor selects backward chaining to teach a task-analyzed dressing routine. Which is the strongest rationale for that choice?

12. An RBT teaches hand washing by having the learner independently turn on the water while the RBT completes all the remaining steps. Once turning on the water meets criterion, the learner performs the first two steps and the RBT completes the rest. Which procedure is this?

13. A learner says "ba" when he wants a ball. The plan has the RBT reinforce "ba," then reinforce only "baw," then only "ball." Which procedure is this, and why is it not chaining?

14. During shaping, when should the RBT move to reinforcing only a closer approximation?

15. Data across several sessions show no progress on an acquisition target, and the RBT believes a more intrusive prompt would help. What should the RBT do?

16. In a field of two cards, a learner selects the card on the left on nearly every trial, whether the instruction is "touch dog" or "touch cup." What is the most likely problem and the appropriate response?

17. A plan targets a new safety-related skill for a learner who becomes upset and stops working after making errors. Which prompting strategy best fits?

18. A learner reliably imitates the RBT's model but sits with his hands still and waits for the model even on targets he has performed independently before. Following the plan's fading procedures, what should the RBT do?

19. To help a learner select a target letter, the RBT prints it much larger and bolder than the comparison cards, then over sessions makes it look just like the others. How is that added help best described?

20. A learner names community signs accurately with one RBT at one table, but not with other staff, with different picture sets, or at home. What is the most appropriate programming step?

21. A skill that met mastery criterion months ago is no longer performed, even with the same RBT, in the same room, with the same materials. This is best described as a failure of which outcome?

22. A token economy that had been working well is now failing: the learner earns tokens but stops working before the exchange, and at exchange time chooses the same small toy and drops it right away. Which is the most likely problem and the indicated fix?