RBT Exam Prep
15 Free RBT Skill acquisition Practice Questions with Answers
Work through all 15 questions below, then open “Answer and explanation” under each one to check yourself. These go deeper than the main practice test: schedules of reinforcement, prompting systems, chaining methods, and stimulus control.
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Schedules of reinforcement
An RBT gives the client a token after every 5th completed math problem, no matter how long the 5 problems take. This is a:
- A) Fixed ratio 5 schedule
- B) Variable ratio 5 schedule
- C) Fixed interval 5 schedule
- D) Variable interval 5 schedule
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. A fixed ratio schedule delivers reinforcement after a fixed number of responses, here every 5th problem. B is wrong. A variable ratio schedule would vary the number of responses required, such as after 3, then 7, then 4. C is wrong. A fixed interval schedule is about time, reinforcing the first response after 5 minutes. D is wrong. A variable interval schedule varies the amount of time.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Schedules of reinforcement
A client earns a break after an unpredictable number of responses, sometimes after 2, sometimes after 9, averaging about 5. This kind of schedule typically produces:
- A) High, steady response rates with little pausing
- B) A long pause after each reinforcer, then a burst of responding
- C) Very low response rates
- D) Responding only when a timer goes off
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Variable ratio schedules produce high, steady rates of responding because the next response could always be the one that pays off, like a slot machine. B is wrong. A pause after reinforcement followed by accelerating responding is the scallop seen in fixed interval schedules. C is wrong. Variable ratio produces some of the highest response rates, not the lowest. D is wrong. Timer-based responding fits interval schedules, not ratio schedules.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Schedules of reinforcement
The first correct response after 5 minutes earns a reinforcer, and any responses before the 5 minutes are up earn nothing. This is a:
- A) Fixed interval 5-minute schedule
- B) Fixed ratio 5 schedule
- C) Variable interval schedule
- D) Continuous reinforcement schedule
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. A fixed interval schedule reinforces the first response after a fixed amount of time has passed. B is wrong. A fixed ratio schedule counts responses, not minutes. C is wrong. A variable interval schedule would change the time required from one interval to the next. D is wrong. Continuous reinforcement reinforces every single correct response.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Prompting systems
To teach zipper pulling, the RBT starts with full hand-over-hand help, then fades to a light touch at the elbow, then a gestural prompt, then no help at all. Starting with the most help and fading it is:
- A) Most-to-least prompting
- B) Least-to-most prompting
- C) Time delay
- D) Forward chaining
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Most-to-least prompting begins with the maximum assistance and fades it across trials so the client ends up responding alone. B is wrong. Least-to-most starts with no help and adds more only as needed. C is wrong. Time delay inserts a pause between the instruction and the prompt. D is wrong. Forward chaining teaches the steps of a chain in order, not a prompting order.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Prompting systems
During toothbrushing, the RBT keeps a hand over the client’s hand and gradually lightens her pressure within the same trial until the client moves alone. Fading physical pressure inside the trial is called:
- A) Graduated guidance
- B) Most-to-least prompting
- C) Shadowing
- D) Prompt delay
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Graduated guidance fades the intensity of physical guidance within the response itself, from firm to light to none. B is wrong. Most-to-least describes the order of prompt types across trials, not pressure fading inside one trial. C is wrong. Shadowing means hovering nearby without touching. D is wrong. Prompt delay is a pause between the instruction and the prompt.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Prompting systems
On the first teaching trials the RBT says “touch red” and immediately points to red, a 0-second delay. Once the client succeeds, she waits 4 seconds before pointing. This procedure is:
- A) Constant time delay
- B) Progressive time delay
- C) Least-to-most prompting
- D) Simultaneous prompting
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Constant time delay uses 0-second delay trials first, then a fixed delay, here 4 seconds, before the prompt. B is wrong. Progressive time delay would increase the delay gradually, such as 2 seconds, then 4, then 6. C is wrong. Least-to-most starts with no prompt and adds help as needed. D is wrong. Simultaneous prompting gives the prompt at the same moment as the instruction on every trial.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Chaining
To teach handwashing, the RBT teaches “turn on water” first. When the client masters it, she adds the next step, and so on through the chain. Teaching the first step first is:
- A) Forward chaining
- B) Backward chaining
- C) Total task chaining
- D) Shaping
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Forward chaining teaches the first step, then the first two steps, then the first three, building forward through the chain. B is wrong. Backward chaining teaches the last step first. C is wrong. Total task chaining has the client attempt every step each trial with help as needed. D is wrong. Shaping reinforces closer approximations of one response, not a sequence of steps.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Chaining
During each shoe-tying practice, the client attempts every step from start to finish while the RBT helps only where needed. Having the client try the whole chain every time is:
- A) Total task chaining
- B) Forward chaining
- C) Backward chaining
- D) Discrete trial training
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Total task chaining, also called total task presentation, has the learner attempt all steps of the chain on every trial with assistance given only as needed. B is wrong. Forward chaining teaches the first step first and adds steps one at a time. C is wrong. Backward chaining teaches the last step first. D is wrong. Discrete trial training is a trial format, not a chaining method.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Stimulus control
After teaching, the instruction “clap hands” reliably makes the client clap, and the client rarely claps when the instruction is absent. When an instruction reliably evokes the behavior, the instruction has:
- A) Stimulus control over the behavior
- B) Become a conditioned reinforcer
- C) Created an S-delta
- D) Produced an establishing operation
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Stimulus control means the discriminative stimulus reliably evokes the response it was taught with. B is wrong. A conditioned reinforcer follows and strengthens behavior, it does not cue it. C is wrong. An S-delta signals that reinforcement is not available. D is wrong. An establishing operation changes how valuable a reinforcer is.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Motivating operations
A client has not had a drink all morning. Water is now more valuable to him, and he works harder on tasks that earn sips of water. Going without water is an:
- A) Establishing operation
- B) Abolishing operation
- C) Discriminative stimulus
- D) Conditioned punisher
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Deprivation is an establishing operation: it increases the value of water as a reinforcer and evokes behavior that has earned water before. B is wrong. An abolishing operation, like satiation, decreases reinforcer value. C is wrong. A discriminative stimulus signals that reinforcement is available but does not change its value. D is wrong. A conditioned punisher decreases behavior.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Motivating operations
After a big pizza lunch, the client stops working for the cracker reinforcers he loved all morning. Being full is an:
- A) Abolishing operation
- B) Establishing operation
- C) S-delta
- D) Extinction trial
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Satiation is an abolishing operation: it decreases the value of the reinforcer and reduces behavior that earned it. B is wrong. An establishing operation increases reinforcer value, the opposite of what happened. C is wrong. An S-delta signals reinforcement is unavailable, but here the crackers are still available, just less wanted. D is wrong. An extinction trial withholds the reinforcer; the crackers were still delivered.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Punishment
Each time the client pinches, the RBT firmly says “No pinching.” Pinching decreases over the week. The word “No” works as a punisher only because it was paired with disapproval, which makes it a:
- A) Conditioned punisher
- B) Unconditioned punisher
- C) Negative reinforcer
- D) S-delta
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. A conditioned punisher, like the word “no” or a frown, works through learning history rather than biology. B is wrong. Unconditioned punishers, like pain, work without any learning. C is wrong. A negative reinforcer increases behavior through removal. D is wrong. An S-delta signals that reinforcement is unavailable.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Token economies
In the classroom token system, students earn plastic chips and trade 10 chips for 10 minutes of computer time. The computer time is called the:
- A) Backup reinforcer
- B) Token
- C) Conditioned punisher
- D) Establishing operation
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Backup reinforcers are the real rewards that tokens are exchanged for, and they are what give tokens their power. B is wrong. The chip itself is the token, a conditioned reinforcer. C is wrong. A punisher decreases behavior. D is wrong. An establishing operation changes reinforcer value.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Maintenance
Two months after shoe-tying teaching ended, the RBT asks the client to tie his shoes with no teaching or prompts, just to see if the skill stuck. This check is called a:
- A) Maintenance probe
- B) Baseline probe
- C) Generalization probe
- D) Preference assessment
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Maintenance is the skill lasting after teaching ends, and a probe checks it without teaching in place. B is wrong. A baseline probe measures performance before teaching begins. C is wrong. A generalization probe tests new people, places, or materials; here the shoes and setting are the same, only time has passed. D is wrong. A preference assessment ranks liked items.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
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Generalization
A client was taught to wave hello. Without any teaching, he starts nodding and smiling as greetings too. These new, untaught forms of greeting show:
- A) Response generalization
- B) Stimulus generalization
- C) Maintenance
- D) Response cost
Answer and explanation
Correct answer: A
A is correct. Response generalization means new, untrained forms of the response appear in the same situation. B is wrong. Stimulus generalization is the same response to new stimuli or people. C is wrong. Maintenance is the trained skill lasting over time. D is wrong. Response cost removes earned reinforcers after a behavior.
Source: BACB RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), Skill acquisition (A); RBT Handbook.
Sources
- BACB RBT Test Content Outline, 3rd edition (effective January 2026). Defines the exam domains; the Skill acquisition questions on this page are drawn from domain A.
- BACB RBT Handbook. Covers eligibility, the 40-hour training, the Competency Assessment, supervision, and exam policies referenced in these explanations.
Not affiliated with or endorsed by the BACB.