1. An RBT is teaching Mateo to hand over a break card instead of throwing his work materials. Today the card was left in a bin across the room, and Mateo throws his worksheet before he can reach it.
What should the RBT do?
Answer: B
Functional communication training works only when the replacement response is easier for the learner than the problem behavior. With the break card across the room, throwing takes less effort, so it keeps winning. Keeping the card within reach on the table makes requesting a break the most efficient option. Requiring a full sentence with the card adds effort and makes throwing comparatively easier. Honoring requests only after Mateo walks to the bin keeps the communicative response harder than the problem behavior. Choosing a new replacement response without the supervisor is a change to the behavior plan that only the supervisor can make; the RBT should report concerns rather than alter the plan.
2. Ava's behavior plan states that time-out ends only after she has been quiet for 2 consecutive minutes. After 90 seconds of quiet in the time-out chair, Ava screams once, then becomes quiet again.
How should the RBT handle the time-out timer?
Answer: C
The plan sets a release contingency: time-out ends only after 2 consecutive minutes without screaming. Because Ava screamed at 90 seconds, the requirement was not met, so the RBT restarts the 2-minute count once she is quiet again. Ending time-out after 30 more seconds treats the 2 minutes as cumulative and could release Ava moments after screaming, which may reinforce screaming. Ending time-out right away because she was mostly quiet ignores the written criterion. Adding 30 seconds as a penalty invents a rule that is not in the protocol. The RBT implements time-out exactly as the supervisor wrote it and documents what happened during the session.
3. At a day program, a staff member suggests giving Jordan an over-the-counter allergy medicine that is not prescribed for him before community outings, saying it will make him drowsy and less likely to hit.
Which restrictive practice is the staff member proposing?
Answer: D
Chemical restraint is the use of medication that is not prescribed for the person, or not used as prescribed, to manage behavior or restrict movement. Giving Jordan an unprescribed allergy medicine to make him drowsy so he hits less fits this definition exactly. An RBT must never give medication for this purpose and should decline and report the suggestion to the supervisor. Mechanical restraint uses devices such as straps or belts to restrict movement. Physical restraint involves staff using their bodies to hold or restrict a person. Seclusion means confining a person alone in a room or area they cannot leave. None of those three involves medication, so none describes this proposal.
4. Before asking Lena to put on her shoes, which she often refuses, the RBT plans to give three quick requests she always follows: 'Touch your nose,' 'Give me five,' and 'Clap your hands.'
How should the RBT respond each time Lena follows an easy request?
Answer: A
A high-probability request sequence builds behavioral momentum: the RBT presents several easy requests in quick succession, reinforces compliance with each one immediately, and then delivers the low-probability request. Brief, immediate praise after every easy response strengthens the pattern of following directions that carries over to the shoe request. Saving all praise for the shoe request removes the reinforcement that creates momentum, so the easy requests accomplish little. Pausing about a minute between requests breaks the rapid pace that momentum depends on. Giving one large reinforcer only after all three easy requests delays reinforcement for the earlier responses and interrupts the quick flow into the shoe request.
5. Kai drops to the floor during handwriting, and his supervisor has identified the behavior as escape-maintained. A classroom teacher suggests that the RBT send Kai to the time-out corner every time he drops to the floor.
What would time-out MOST likely do to Kai's dropping behavior?
Answer: B
Kai drops to the floor to get out of handwriting. Sending him to time-out removes the writing task, which is exactly what the behavior produces, so time-out would function as negative reinforcement and strengthen dropping. That is why time-out is contraindicated for escape-maintained behavior. Time-out weakens behavior only when the setting being left is reinforcing, so removing access to reinforcers does not apply when the task is what Kai wants to avoid. Time-out does not add an unpleasant consequence; that describes positive punishment. Time-out is not the same as ignoring, and leaving the task is not neutral here. The RBT should share the concern with the supervisor rather than adopt the suggestion.
6. Darius, a 15-year-old client, is pacing, clenching his fists, and raising his voice after a peer took his seat. The RBT moves closer to monitor him and stay ready to follow the crisis plan.
How should the RBT position their body?
Answer: C
Standing at roughly a 45-degree angle, about a leg's length away, is the supportive stance taught in most crisis programs. It looks less confrontational than facing someone head-on, keeps the RBT out of easy striking range, and allows a quick step away if needed. Standing squarely in front of Darius can feel like a challenge and may escalate him further. Standing right behind him can startle him and makes it hard to see his face and hands. Standing close with a hand on his shoulder invades his personal space and adds unwanted touch, which often increases agitation in someone who is already escalating.
7. When an RBT tells Noah, 'Get your backpack, put your folder inside, and line up at the door,' Noah often drops to the floor and whines. His supervisor notes that Noah has trouble following multi-step directions.
Which change in how the RBT gives this direction is MOST likely to prevent the problem behavior?
Answer: D
Noah's dropping appears when he faces a direction he cannot easily follow, so the demand itself becomes aversive. Breaking the routine into single steps, such as 'Get your backpack,' and giving the next step only after each one is finished makes the instruction clear and doable, which reduces the motivation to escape. Repeating the whole direction more loudly keeps the same confusing demand and adds pressure. Threatening loss of recess adds an aversive consequence without making the direction any easier to understand. Saying the full direction twice still asks Noah to hold three steps in memory at once, so the source of the confusion remains.
8. Tyrell slams the classroom door when he is upset. Following his behavior plan, after each slam the RBT has Tyrell open the door and close it gently ten times while giving minimal prompts.
Which procedure is the RBT implementing?
Answer: A
Positive practice overcorrection requires the client to repeatedly perform the correct form of a behavior after an occurrence of the problem behavior. Opening and closing the door gently ten times is practice of the appropriate version of the very behavior Tyrell performed incorrectly. Restitution, the other form of overcorrection, requires repairing the damage caused, such as cleaning or fixing what was disrupted, and slamming left nothing to repair here. Contingent exercise also involves repetition, but the exercise is unrelated to the misbehavior, such as doing push-ups. Response cost removes a reinforcer the client already has, such as tokens, and involves no practice of any behavior.
9. During a session in a clinic therapy room, 13-year-old Sofia becomes agitated and shouts at the RBT, 'Get away from me!' No one is in immediate danger, and the room has no hazards.
What is the BEST response from the RBT?
Answer: B
When an escalating client asks for space and no one is in danger, increasing distance lowers the sense of threat and pressure. The RBT still keeps continuous visual observation so they can respond quickly if the situation changes. Leaving the room removes supervision, so the RBT could miss self-injury, property destruction, or a medical concern. Moving closer to tell Sofia to lower her voice adds demands and closeness at the moment she has asked for distance, which often escalates behavior. Positioning at the door to keep her in the room is a restrictive action that no plan here describes, and it can provoke a confrontation.
10. Liam screams and throws the tablet when his tablet time suddenly ends. His behavior plan includes an antecedent strategy to make this transition smoother, and tablet time is scheduled to end in a few minutes.
Which strategy BEST prepares Liam for the end of tablet time?
Answer: C
Verbal countdown warnings are an antecedent strategy: telling Liam 'Two more minutes,' then 'One more minute,' signals that the activity is about to end, so the transition is predictable rather than sudden. Predictability lowers the chance of screaming and throwing when the tablet is put away. Taking the tablet away quickly without warning recreates the abrupt ending that triggers the behavior. Letting Liam keep the tablet until he chooses to stop avoids the transition instead of preparing him for it, and the session schedule falls apart. Giving a reprimand after screaming is a consequence delivered after the behavior, not a strategy that prevents it.
11. Ben's behavior plan calls for response blocking of hand biting. While working on a puzzle, Ben starts to raise his hand toward his mouth, a movement that usually comes right before he bites.
When should the RBT block the response?
Answer: D
Response blocking means physically intervening the moment the behavior begins so that it cannot be completed. Blocking as soon as Ben's hand starts toward his mouth prevents the bite, protects him from injury, and keeps the behavior from producing its usual consequence. Blocking after his teeth make contact is too late, because the bite has already occurred. Giving a verbal warning first delays the block and gives the bite time to happen. Waiting until Ben has bitten twice allows repeated injury and is not how blocking works. The RBT blocks immediately every time, using only the gentle technique taught in training.
12. An RBT trained in the agency's crisis program is helping a coworker carry out an approved seated hold with Malik, who had been hitting staff with closed fists. Suddenly, Malik coughs and begins to vomit.
What is the RBT's immediate priority?
Answer: A
Vomiting during a physical hold is a medical emergency, because a person who is restrained may inhale vomit into the lungs. The RBT should release the hold immediately, allow Malik to move freely, and monitor his breathing, getting medical help as needed and following the agency's reporting procedure. Keeping the hold until he is calm continues the very restriction that creates the choking risk. Rolling him onto his stomach places him in a prone position, which further restricts breathing. Loosening the grip while staying in the hold still limits his ability to move his head and clear his airway, so the danger remains.
13. Hazel's behavior plan calls for noncontingent attention on a variable-time 60-second schedule to reduce attention-maintained screaming. The RBT is setting up a timer before the session starts.
How should the RBT deliver attention during the session?
Answer: B
A variable-time schedule delivers the reinforcer independent of behavior at unpredictable moments that average out to the set interval, such as after 40, 75, 50, and 75 seconds for an average of 60. Attention arrives on the clock, not in response to anything Hazel does, which is what makes it noncontingent. Delivering attention exactly every 60 seconds describes a fixed-time schedule, not a variable one. Giving attention only after 60 seconds with no screaming is differential reinforcement of other behavior, which depends on the absence of the behavior. Reinforcing the first appropriate request after 60 seconds describes a fixed-interval schedule, which requires a response.
14. Marcus's behavior plan includes exclusionary time-out for property destruction. After he throws a chair, Marcus refuses to walk to the time-out room, and the RBT has completed the agency's escort training.
What is the BEST way for the RBT to get Marcus to time-out?
Answer: C
When a behavior plan requires moving a client to time-out, the RBT may use only the non-injurious escort procedures approved by the agency and taught in their training. These methods are designed to protect both the client and staff, and they are the only physical contact the plan authorizes. Gripping Marcus by the wrist and pulling him quickly is an unapproved method that can cause bruising or joint injury. A hold a coworker demonstrated has not been approved or trained, however effective it seems. Picking him up and carrying him is a high-risk lift that can injure both people and is not an approved escort.
15. While supporting a school classroom, an RBT sees a paraprofessional holding a student face-down on the floor with pressure across his back after the student hit a peer.
Which type of restraint is the paraprofessional using?
Answer: D
Prone restraint means holding a person face-down on the stomach. It carries a high risk of positional asphyxia, because body position and pressure on the back or chest can prevent the person from breathing, and deaths have occurred. Many states and agencies ban it, and the RBT should report what they saw to their supervisor right away. Supine restraint holds a person face-up on the back, which is also risky but is not what was described. Seated restraint is applied while the person sits in a chair or on the floor. Mechanical restraint uses devices such as straps, belts, or cuffs rather than staff members' bodies.
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