Identify the extra help
A response prompt assists the learner’s response, while a stimulus prompt changes some feature of the relevant materials or cues. The program determines what prompt is appropriate, how it is delivered and how it is recorded. The same adult movement can function differently depending on the task and timing, so use the operational descriptions in the plan. Do not assume a prompt is harmless or permitted merely because it produces a correct response.
Compare independent and supported performance
In an original sorting task, a learner places a card correctly after the technician points directly to the matching bin. The response is correct with the stated assistance; it is not an independent discrimination. On another trial, the learner sorts correctly before any extra cue. Recording those events separately makes the support visible. If the data form lacks a category for what actually occurred, seek clarification instead of forcing the response into a misleading independent-correct category.
Fade through the assigned change
A fading procedure may change prompt intensity, timing, stimulus features or another specified dimension. Follow the assigned progression and decision rules. Removing every prompt suddenly after a few correct responses is not automatically appropriate fading. Keeping the same intrusive assistance indefinitely can also prevent the intended independence from being assessed. If the learner repeatedly waits for a prompt or the prescribed step produces repeated errors, document the pattern and request direction.
Apply a timing contrast
Consider a plan that creates an opportunity for an independent response before a prompt. If the technician prompts before that opportunity has elapsed, the trial no longer tests the intended level of independence. The important observation is the timing relative to the written procedure, not a judgment that faster help is always better. In a transfer task, explain why a correct prompted response can demonstrate a useful teaching step while still failing to establish independent performance. Both the outcome and the assistance must remain in the record.
Name the question being tested
Acquisition concerns learning a response under the teaching conditions. Maintenance concerns continued performance over time under the specified arrangement. Generalization concerns relevant changes in people, materials, settings or other stimulus conditions. A correct answer at the teaching table cannot, on its own, establish all three. Use the program’s definitions and criteria, and state which dimension the observation actually addresses rather than calling every later success “mastery.”
Compare original transfer observations
A learner identifies one familiar cup with one instructor. The team then arranges the approved opportunity to identify a different cup with another trained instructor. Success in the second arrangement supplies evidence about that specific transfer. It does not prove success with every object or every person. A later probe with the original materials after a planned delay addresses maintenance more directly. Keep the changed conditions and timing explicit when explaining why two probes test different questions.
Distinguish ways to build a skill
A task analysis describes the observable steps in a multistep skill. Chaining procedures organize how those steps are taught and supported. Shaping reinforces successive approximations to a target response according to the program. These are not interchangeable procedures. For a fictional handwashing sequence, teaching the final step of a chain while supporting earlier steps is different from reinforcing progressively closer versions of one response. Use the assigned method and record the step or approximation actually completed.
Check the limits of a claim
A token system also requires clear earned-token and exchange arrangements; a token is not necessarily effective merely because it is handed out. Questions about changing a criterion, step sequence or exchange rule require supervision. Try a transfer explanation: a learner performs a routine independently in the clinic but needs help at home. The clinic success remains valid, but the home condition is not yet demonstrated. Report the setting-specific difference and follow the planned generalization procedure instead of erasing the support need from the summary.
After an instruction, an RBT demonstrates the target movement for the learner to imitate. Which prompt is described?
- Apply the relevant C.7 distinction: Prompts are supplementary antecedent assistance; type and level are recorded under the individualized plan.
- Demonstrating the response supplies a model to imitate.
- The response is interpreted within the stated observation conditions and RBT role; do not add an unsupported universal conclusion.
Compare the other answer choices
The choice 'Permanent product' does not follow the specified observation or approved procedure. Demonstrating the response supplies a model to imitate.
The choice 'Negative punishment' does not follow the specified observation or approved procedure. Demonstrating the response supplies a model to imitate.
The choice 'Frequency recording' does not follow the specified observation or approved procedure. Demonstrating the response supplies a model to imitate.
Try it, then explain it.
Complete a short set without looking at the example. After each answer, explain which evidence or rule supports your decision and why the alternatives do not fit.
Sources & authorship
Original Slope explanations and examples. References support the concepts; they are not the source of copied questions. Independent educator review is pending.
RBT Test Content Outline3rd editionRegistered Behavior Technician official overview