RBT Exam PrepThe short answer: The RBT Test Content Outline, 3rd edition, took effect January 1, 2026. It organizes the exam into 6 domains: Skill acquisition (about 25%), Behavior reduction (about 19%), Measurement (about 17%), Professional conduct and scope of practice (about 15%), Documentation and reporting (about 13%), and Assessment (about 11%).
What the 3rd edition is
The Test Content Outline (TCO) is the BACB's official description of what the RBT exam covers. The 3rd edition replaced the older 2nd edition task list and took effect January 1, 2026. It contains 43 tasks organized into 6 domains. Every question on the current exam traces back to one of these tasks, which is why studying to the outline is the single highest-leverage thing you can do.
The 6 domains and their weights
| Domain | Approx. weight | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Skill acquisition | 25% | Reinforcement, prompting, DTT, NET, shaping, chaining, generalization and maintenance |
| Behavior reduction | 19% | Functions of behavior, extinction, differential reinforcement, antecedent interventions, crisis procedures |
| Measurement | 17% | Continuous and discontinuous measurement, data collection, graphing |
| Professional conduct and scope of practice | 15% | Ethics code, confidentiality, boundaries, supervision, mandated reporting duties |
| Documentation and reporting | 13% | Objective session notes, data reporting, communicating with supervisors |
| Assessment | 11% | Assisting with FBAs, ABC data, preference assessments |
The percentages reflect the published breakdown of the 75 scored questions (roughly 19, 14, 13, 11, 10, and 8 questions per domain). The BACB does not label individual questions on your exam, so treat the weights as planning guidance, not a promise.
How to split your study time
A simple rule: study time should roughly follow the weights. If you have 20 hours, that is about 5 hours on skill acquisition, 4 on behavior reduction, 3.5 on measurement, 3 on professional conduct, 2.5 on documentation, and 2 on assessment. Then adjust: spend extra on your weakest domain and on the ethics traps, because professional conduct questions are famously tricky despite the smaller weight.
Domain-by-domain watch list
- Skill acquisition: the exam loves positive vs negative reinforcement traps and prompting hierarchy direction (most-to-least vs least-to-most).
- Behavior reduction: know the four functions cold, and the difference between an extinction burst and spontaneous recovery.
- Measurement: partial vs whole interval and momentary time sampling get mixed up constantly. Learn the decision rules, not just definitions.
- Professional conduct: scope of practice (only the BCBA changes the plan), confidentiality absolutes, and gift rules.
- Documentation: objective vs subjective notes. If a note contains an opinion, it is wrong.
- Assessment: your role is to ASSIST and record, never to design assessments. ABC data is the bread and butter.
Where to read the official outline
The BACB publishes the 3rd edition Test Content Outline as a free PDF. Read it once end to end, then use it as a checklist: every task should feel familiar before exam day. Our free practice test and 1000-question bank are both mapped to these 6 domains.