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14 free questions · domain D

RBT behavior reduction practice test

Function hypotheses, antecedents, differential reinforcement and implementation boundaries. Answer first, then check what separates the choices.

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A focused subset of the 75-question mixed bank, not 14 additional unique items. Independent practice; no readiness prediction.

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What to look for

Two learners can perform similar movements under different contingencies. ABC records describe what preceded and followed an event. They do not independently prove function from a single observation. RBTs contribute to assessment under assigned supervision; descriptive observation does not authorize experimental manipulation.

Worked exampleA resetting two-minute DRO interval is interrupted at 70 seconds. Under that specifically stated rule, its clock restarts. This does not mean every DRO protocol uses the same reset rule.

Common trap: Calling a procedure time-out or extinction does not demonstrate its behavioral function or authorize using it.

Study the full behavior reduction guide, or practice all six domains.

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Question-and-answer reference

Answers are available here for study. Use the interactive practice above if you want to answer before seeing the reasoning. These are not secure or official exam items.

1. Two learners both push worksheets away. One recorded sequence ends with adult attention; another ends with a work break. What is the sound conclusion from the shared response form alone?
  1. The same topography does not establish the same maintaining function. — Correct
  2. The function can be identified from the movement without other assessment.
  3. Both behaviors must be maintained by automatic reinforcement.
  4. Both behaviors must be maintained by escape.

A description of how behavior looks is not a demonstration of why it persists. Function hypotheses require appropriate assessment evidence and supervisory interpretation.

  • B. Topography alone is insufficient for a functional conclusion.
  • C. No automatic contingency has been demonstrated.
  • D. Worksheet pushing alone does not prove escape for both learners.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.1
BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · D.1; topography distinguished from function

Item rpt75-v2-function-not-topography · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

2. An assessment summary states that the sensory effect produced directly by a response maintains it without another person delivering the consequence. Which label matches that stipulated finding?
  1. Socially mediated attention.
  2. Socially mediated access to an item.
  3. Escape delivered by a caregiver.
  4. Automatic reinforcement. — Correct

The summary explicitly identifies a consequence produced without another person mediating delivery. This labels the supplied finding; it is not a diagnosis based merely on observing someone alone.

  • A. Attention delivery would require a different stated contingency.
  • B. Another person delivering an item is not described.
  • C. A caregiver-delivered break is not the supplied finding.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.1
BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · D.1; stated automatic versus social contingency

Item rpt75-v2-automatic-description · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

3. A plan provides brief access to an activity at scheduled times whether or not calling out has just occurred. What feature identifies this as a response-independent arrangement?
  1. The activity is removed after each call.
  2. Access occurs only after ten calls.
  3. Delivery is scheduled independently of calling out. — Correct
  4. Calling out must occur immediately before every delivery.

The delivery rule does not make calling out a prerequisite. Calling an arrangement response-independent describes its contingency, not proof of treatment effectiveness for a particular learner.

  • A. Removal after a response describes a different contingency.
  • B. That is a response-count requirement.
  • D. That would make the response a condition for delivery.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.2
BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · D.2; explicitly stipulated response-independent schedule

Item rpt75-v2-ncr-independent-time · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

4. Before a scheduled task begins, a written plan lets the learner choose which of two equivalent materials to use. What makes this an antecedent strategy?
  1. The choice is delivered only after problem behavior.
  2. The RBT independently removes the learning goal.
  3. It changes a condition before the response opportunity. — Correct
  4. The procedure changes the score after the session.

The arrangement changes the conditions preceding responding. The example does not authorize dropping a goal or adding an unplanned consequence.

  • A. The choice is explicitly offered before the task.
  • B. The learning goal remains in place.
  • D. A scoring change is not the described antecedent arrangement.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.2
BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · D.2; pre-task arrangement

Item rpt75-v2-antecedent-choice · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

5. A behavior plan reinforces handing over a help card as an alternative to shouting. The requirement is the help-card response, not merely a quiet interval. Which procedure is described?
  1. Differential reinforcement of other behavior.
  2. A requirement to demonstrate physical incompatibility.
  3. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior. — Correct
  4. A noncontingent schedule with no response requirement.

The consequence depends on a specified alternative response. DRA does not require that the alternative be physically impossible to perform with the target behavior.

  • A. DRO depends on an absence criterion rather than this specific alternative.
  • B. Physical incompatibility is not required by this DRA description.
  • D. The card response is explicitly a delivery condition.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.3
BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · D.3; stipulated alternative-response contingency

Item rpt75-v2-dra-specific-response · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

6. A plan reinforces holding both hands flat on marked spots during a brief activity as an alternative to clapping. Within that specified interval, what makes the alternative incompatible?
  1. The learner receives reinforcement only after clapping.
  2. The plan depends only on the passage of ten minutes.
  3. Both hands cannot remain on the spots while clapping occurs. — Correct
  4. Every different response is necessarily physically incompatible.

DRI selects a response that cannot occur simultaneously with the target in the defined conditions. Simply being different is not enough to establish physical incompatibility.

  • A. The stated consequence is for the incompatible response.
  • B. No ten-minute absence-only rule is stated.
  • D. A different response may still occur at the same time as the target.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.3
BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · D.3; physical incompatibility in a defined interval

Item rpt75-v2-dri-incompatible · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

7. A DRO plan requires two consecutive minutes without the defined target and explicitly restarts the interval after any target occurrence. The target occurs at 70 seconds. What should the RBT do with the interval?
  1. Reduce the required interval to 70 seconds without approval.
  2. Continue to 120 seconds and deliver reinforcement anyway.
  3. Restart its two-minute clock according to the stated rule. — Correct
  4. Record a successful interval because most of it was target-free.

This question stipulates a resetting DRO. Follow that exact rule; other DRO arrangements can have different rules and should not be assumed equivalent.

  • A. Changing interval length is not authorized.
  • B. Delivery at the old endpoint would not meet this resetting requirement.
  • D. Most of an interval does not meet the stated consecutive-time criterion.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.3
BACB RBT Ethics Code (2.0) · 2.02; explicit resetting DRO protocol

Item rpt75-v2-dro-reset-rule · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

8. A written DRL rule provides access when no more than three requests occur in the five-minute period. Exactly three requests occur. Does the supplied numerical criterion qualify?
  1. Yes, but only after changing the limit to four.
  2. No; only zero responses can qualify.
  3. Yes; three is within “no more than three.” — Correct
  4. No; three must be treated as more than three.

The stated boundary includes three. A low-rate criterion is not the same as complete absence, and the RBT should not change the limit.

  • A. No change is needed to satisfy the written boundary.
  • B. Zero-only absence would be a different criterion.
  • D. Equality is included by “no more than.”

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.3
BACB RBT Ethics Code (2.0) · 2.02; inclusive numerical boundary

Item rpt75-v2-drl-boundary · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

9. A supervisor identifies access to a game as the maintaining consequence and writes an extinction component for shouting. Which change would implement that specified component?
  1. Remove all alternative communication opportunities.
  2. Give the game after louder shouting to shorten the episode.
  3. Do not provide the game because shouting occurred, while following the other safety and teaching components. — Correct
  4. Ignore every response and every safety concern during the visit.

Extinction concerns the identified response–reinforcer relation. It is not a universal instruction to ignore a person or safety risks; the full supervised plan still applies.

  • A. Alternative teaching opportunities need not be removed.
  • B. Contingent game access would preserve that response–reinforcer relation.
  • D. Extinction does not cancel safety obligations or all interactions.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.4
BACB RBT Ethics Code (2.0) · 1.06, 2.01 and 2.02; stipulated plan and safety boundary

Item rpt75-v2-extinction-specific-consequence · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

10. After a planned contingency change, a brief increase in the target response is observed. What should the RBT avoid concluding from that increase alone?
  1. That the change should be recorded accurately.
  2. That unexpected effects should be reported.
  3. That the written safety procedures still apply.
  4. That the increase proves the intervention is correct and should continue regardless of safety. — Correct

A temporary increase can have different explanations. Its presence neither validates the functional hypothesis nor overrides safety or the need for supervisory review.

  • A. Accurate data remain necessary.
  • B. Reporting unexpected effects is appropriate.
  • C. Safety procedures are not suspended by an observed increase.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.6
BACB RBT Ethics Code (2.0) · 2.01, 2.02 and 2.06; unexpected effects

Item rpt75-v2-extinction-burst-not-proof · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

11. Under a documented and trained procedure, one earned token is removed immediately after a defined response. That response decreases over later comparable opportunities. Which process is illustrated?
  1. Negative punishment. — Correct
  2. Negative reinforcement.
  3. Positive punishment.
  4. Positive reinforcement.

An earned stimulus is removed and the future response decreases. This conceptual classification is not permission for an RBT to introduce response cost independently.

  • B. Negative reinforcement would increase the response after removal.
  • C. Positive punishment involves adding a consequence that decreases responding.
  • D. Positive reinforcement adds a consequence and increases responding.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.5
OpenStax Psychology 2e: Operant Conditioning · Removal plus subsequent decrease; ethical implementation boundary 2.05

Item rpt75-v2-response-cost-definition · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

12. A team is reviewing a proposed time-out from a preferred game. What fact matters when considering whether removal from that activity could function as negative punishment?
  1. Whether removal from the reinforcing activity actually decreases the future target response. — Correct
  2. Whether the procedure is called time-out on the worksheet.
  3. Whether the RBT personally dislikes the target response.
  4. Whether the activity is unpleasant and escape is highly preferred.

A procedure’s behavioral function depends on its effect, not its label. An RBT still requires a documented plan, training and supervisory confirmation of competence.

  • B. The name alone does not demonstrate a decreasing effect.
  • C. Personal dislike does not establish the function of a consequence.
  • D. Removal from an unpleasant activity could instead reinforce responding.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.5
OpenStax Psychology 2e: Operant Conditioning · Punishment defined by subsequent response decrease; no treatment recommendation

Item rpt75-v2-time-out-context · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

13. A crisis plan assigns an RBT a specific safety action for which competence was verified. A coworker suggests an unfamiliar physical technique instead. What should guide the RBT’s response?
  1. Use the authorized trained emergency procedures and obtain the required assistance. — Correct
  2. Try the unfamiliar technique because it sounds faster.
  3. Wait to document before responding to immediate safety needs.
  4. Treat any crisis as permission to improvise restrictive procedures.

Emergency circumstances do not create competence in unfamiliar techniques. Respond through the approved safety plan and applicable emergency channels; documentation follows the safety response.

  • B. An untrained technique introduces additional risk.
  • C. Documentation must not delay immediate required safety action.
  • D. A crisis is not blanket authorization for restrictive improvisation.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.7
BACB RBT Ethics Code (2.0) · 1.06, 2.01, 2.04, 2.05 and 2.07

Item rpt75-v2-crisis-trained-role · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.

14. After a scheduled plan change, a learner begins a new response form not covered by the existing definition. The RBT can safely continue the authorized routine. What is the best next data action?
  1. Label it an extinction burst as an established cause.
  2. Add the new form to the old total without telling the supervisor.
  3. Describe and promptly report the new form without silently changing the target definition. — Correct
  4. Delete the earlier observations to keep the graph consistent.

Preserve what was observed and communicate the new pattern. Changes to definitions or causal interpretations require appropriate supervisory review.

  • A. The observation alone does not establish its cause.
  • B. Silently changing a definition makes comparisons ambiguous.
  • D. Earlier observations must not be erased to simplify the pattern.

BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · Task D.6
BACB RBT Ethics Code (2.0) · 2.02 and 2.06; accurate reporting of unexpected effects

Item rpt75-v2-unexpected-pattern-report · Question bank updated October 20, 2026.