Unit C: Skill Acquisition is a foundational component of the Registered Behavior Technician (RBT) role in Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy, focusing on teaching new behaviors and skills to clients. While ABA is often associated with reducing challenging behaviors, skill acquisition is equally crucial and constitutes a significant part of an RBT’s responsibilities. It involves developing new behaviors through systematic teaching procedures designed to bring about positive and lasting change.
Core Purpose and Importance of Skill Acquisition
The primary role of an RBT is to implement behavior plans, which prominently include skill acquisition plans. RBTs teach clients a wide range of new skills, such as communication, social skills, pre-academic abilities, independent living skills, vocational skills, and safety skills. This direct support helps clients, often children with autism, learn new skills, promote positive behavior change, and improve their quality of life. The effectiveness of ABA therapy hinges on the RBT’s consistent and skillful implementation of these programs.
Key Tasks and Procedures in Unit C: Skill Acquisition
The RBT Task List outlines specific procedures RBTs are expected to implement or assist with in the skill acquisition domain.
RBT Task List (2nd ed.) includes:
- C-1 Identify the essential components of a written skill acquisition plan.
- C-2 Prepare for the session as required by the skill acquisition plan.
- C-3 Use contingencies of reinforcement (e.g., conditioned/unconditioned reinforcement, continuous/intermittent schedules).
- C-4 Implement discrete-trial teaching procedures.
- C-5 Implement naturalistic teaching procedures (e.g., incidental teaching).
- C-6 Implement task analyzed chaining procedures.
- C-7 Implement discrimination training.
- C-8 Implement stimulus control transfer procedures.
- C-9 Implement prompt and prompt fading procedures.
- C-10 Implement generalization and maintenance procedures.
- C-11 Implement shaping procedures.
- C-12 Implement token economy procedures.
The RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), effective starting January 1, 2026, slightly re-organizes these tasks but covers similar concepts:
- C.1. Implement positive and negative reinforcement procedures (e.g., immediately, contingently, according to schedules of reinforcement) along a continuum of dimensions (e.g., magnitude, intensity, variety).
- C.2. Implement procedures to establish and use conditioned reinforcers.
- C.3. Implement discrete-trial teaching procedures.
- C.4. Implement naturalistic teaching procedures (e.g., incidental teaching, natural environment training).
- C.5. Implement task analyzed chaining procedures (e.g., forward, backward, total task).
- C.6. Implement discrimination training.
- C.7. Implement procedures using stimulus and response prompts that include appropriate fading procedures (e.g., errorless, least-to-most, stimulus fading, time delay).
- C.8. Implement generalization procedures (e.g., conduct intervention procedures across settings, people, and stimuli).
- C.9. Distinguish between maintenance and acquisition procedures.
- C.10. Implement shaping procedures.
- C.11. Implement token economies.
Key Concepts and Procedures
Here are some of the essential concepts and procedures covered in Unit C:
- Skill Acquisition Plan: This plan defines the skill to be taught, the materials required, the teaching method, how correct and incorrect responses will be handled, how mastery will be determined, and strategies for maintaining the skill over time. Preparation before a session is crucial, ensuring all necessary materials, a distraction-free environment, and rewards are ready.
- Contingencies of Reinforcement: These explain how behaviors are strengthened by rewards.
- Reinforcement is an environmental change immediately following a behavior that increases the future frequency of that behavior.
- Positive Reinforcement involves adding something immediately after a behavior, making it more likely to occur again.
- Negative Reinforcement involves removing something immediately after a behavior, making it more likely to occur again.
- Unconditioned Reinforcers are naturally gratifying basic needs like food or water and don’t require learning.
- Conditioned Reinforcers are learned to be liked because they are associated with other rewards, like praise or tokens.
- Continuous Reinforcement provides a reward every time a behavior occurs, useful for initial learning.
- Intermittent Reinforcement provides rewards only sometimes, effective for maintaining established behaviors. Schedules include:
- Fixed Interval (FI): Reinforcement after a set amount of time if the behavior occurs.
- Fixed Ratio (FR): Reinforcement after a predetermined number of responses.
- Variable Interval (VI): Reinforcement after unpredictable amounts of time.
- Variable Ratio (VR): Reinforcement after an unpredictable number of responses.
- Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT): A structured, one-on-one teaching method that breaks down complex skills into small, manageable steps called trials. Each trial has three key components:
- Instruction (Antecedent): A clear and concise instruction from the therapist.
- Student’s Response (Behavior): The learner’s action, either correct or incorrect.
- Consequence (Reinforcement or Correction): Immediate feedback, such as positive reinforcement for a correct response or a correction procedure for an incorrect one. DTT is methodical and repetitive, making it suitable for teaching specific skills like colors, shapes, or letters, especially for learners with autism or developmental delays.
- Naturalistic Teaching Procedures (NET): Also known as incidental teaching, NET capitalizes on everyday situations and the learner’s interests to teach skills in their natural environment. It is less structured than DTT and focuses on the generalization of skills. For example, a teacher might encourage a child to request or label toys during playtime.
- Task Analyzed Chaining Procedures: This involves breaking down complex behaviors into smaller, sequential steps. Each step is taught individually, and once mastered, it is linked to the next until the entire skill is learned. Examples include brushing teeth or tying shoes. Types include:
- Whole Task Chaining: Teaches the entire skill in one go, with prompts and rewards as needed.
- Forward Chaining: Teaches skills step by step, starting from the first and progressing sequentially.
- Backward Chaining: Teaches skills by starting from the last step and working backward to the first, building confidence early.
- Discrimination Training: Teaches learners to differentiate between various stimuli or situations and respond appropriately to each. Prompts and reinforcement are used initially and then faded.
- Stimulus Control Transfer Procedures: These procedures help shift control of a behavior from a prompt to the natural discriminative stimulus (SD). This is achieved by gradually fading the prompts as the learner becomes more proficient.
- Prompt and Prompt Fading Procedures:Prompting involves providing assistance to help a learner perform a desired behavior. Prompts can be:
- Physical Prompts: Guiding the learner through physical touch.
- Verbal Prompts: Spoken cues or instructions.
- Visual Prompts: Pictures or diagrams.
- Gestural Prompts: Hand or body movements. Prompt fading is the gradual reduction of assistance as the learner becomes more independent, aiming to prevent prompt dependency.
- Generalization and Maintenance Procedures: Generalization ensures that newly acquired skills can be used in various settings, with different materials, and with different people. Maintenance involves periodic review sessions and reinforcement schedules to ensure skills are retained over time.
- Shaping Procedures: This involves gradually molding a desired behavior by reinforcing successive approximations towards the target behavior. Rewards are provided for steps that get closer to the final goal. This process is effective for teaching new or complex behaviors when an individual cannot initially perform the desired skill.
- Token Economy Procedures: These involve using symbolic units (tokens) as rewards for desired behaviors. These tokens can then be exchanged for preferred items, activities, or privileges. They provide immediate rewards and can be customized to individual preferences.
Skill Acquisition in RBT Certification
- RBT Initial Competency Assessment: The competency assessment evaluates an RBT candidate’s ability to perform essential tasks, including those in skill acquisition. Tasks like Discrete-Trial Teaching, Naturalistic Teaching, Chaining, Shaping, Discrimination Training, Stimulus Control Transfer, Prompting, and Token Systems are assessed via direct observation with a client or through role-play. At least three of these tasks must be demonstrated with a client.
- RBT Certification Examination: Skill Acquisition is the largest content area on the RBT exam.
- Under the 2nd edition RBT Task List, this section comprises 24 scored questions, making up 32% of the total examination content.
- Beginning January 1, 2026, with the RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), the “Behavior Acquisition” domain will account for 19 questions, representing 25% of the exam.
Thorough preparation for the RBT exam involves understanding these concepts and practicing how to apply them to various scenarios.