RBT Prompting and Prompt Fading Questions

Saying 'Get the soap' is a verbal prompt: spoken words that tell Mia which response to emit next. Verbal prompts can be full instructions, single words, or even sounds, as long as the help is delivered vocally. A gestural prompt would involve the RBT pointing at or motioning toward the soap pump without speaking, which did not happen here. A model prompt would require the RBT to demonstrate the step by pumping the soap herself so Mia could imitate it. A physical prompt would involve touching Mia, such as guiding her hand to the pump. Because the only help Mia received was the spoken instruction, the correct classification is a verbal prompt, which the RBT records and fades according to the plan.

Saying only the first sound, 'b,' is a partial verbal prompt: it gives Ava a spoken phoneme that cues the correct vocal response while still requiring her to produce the rest of the word. Saying the whole word 'ball' is also verbal, but it is a full verbal (echoic) prompt, a more intrusive level than the plan calls for. Pointing to the ball is a gestural prompt; it draws attention to the object but gives no spoken cue about what to say. Showing a card with the printed word is a visual or textual prompt rather than a spoken one. Matching the exact prompt level written in the plan keeps data accurate and lets the prompt be faded systematically.

Placing a picture of a dog above the word card is an extra-stimulus prompt: an external cue added alongside the target stimulus to make the correct response more likely, then faded so the printed word alone controls reading. A within-stimulus prompt would change a feature of the word card itself, such as enlarging or coloring the letters, rather than adding a separate item. A gestural prompt would involve the RBT pointing or motioning, while here the help comes from added material, not the RBT's movement. A model prompt would require the RBT to say 'dog' for Luis to imitate. Knowing the prompt type helps the RBT fade it correctly, by gradually shrinking or removing the added picture.

Moving to the verbal prompt level follows the written fading plan, and systematic fading is what prevents prompt dependence, where a learner waits for help instead of responding to the instruction. Continuing the gestural prompt until there are no errors at all keeps Jonah reliant on the gesture and ignores a criterion he has already met. Removing every prompt at once skips the planned steps and risks a sudden burst of errors and frustration. Raising the criterion to 100% is a change to the plan, which only the supervisor can make; if the RBT has concerns, they share them with the supervisor while still implementing the plan as written. Prompts are temporary supports that must be faded on schedule.

In constant time delay, the first trials use a zero-second delay, so the prompt is delivered together with the instruction. After those trials, every trial uses the same fixed delay, here 3 seconds, giving Sofia a chance to touch the correct body part before the prompt arrives. Continuing to prompt at the same moment as the instruction keeps her on zero-second trials and blocks independent responding. Adding 1 second per trial describes progressive time delay, a different procedure from the one in the plan. Stopping prompts altogether removes the error-reducing support that time delay is designed to provide. The RBT waits the fixed 3 seconds, reinforces correct responses made before the prompt, and records whether each response was prompted.

Making the red card larger than the others is a stimulus prompt, because it alters a physical feature of the instructional material itself, here its size, so the correct card is more noticeable. Changes to color or shape work the same way, and the added size is faded until all cards match. A gestural prompt would involve the RBT pointing or nodding toward the red card, which is a behavior of the RBT, not a change to the materials. A partial physical prompt would involve lightly touching Priya, such as nudging her elbow toward the card. A model prompt would require the RBT to touch red first so Priya could imitate. Here, only the material changed.

Most-to-least prompting begins at the most intrusive level in the hierarchy, here full physical guidance, so Carlos experiences success and reinforcement from the first trial. As he responds correctly, the RBT fades systematically to partial physical, then gestural, then verbal, following the plan's criteria. Starting with a verbal prompt describes least-to-most prompting, where help increases only after an error or no response; it is the reverse sequence. A gestural prompt is a middle level and would skip the more supportive starting point the plan requires. A partial physical prompt is close, but it is the second step in this hierarchy, used only after Carlos meets the criterion at full physical guidance. The order of the list does not set the starting point.

Trial outcomes are recorded during the inter-trial interval, the brief pause after the consequence and before the next instruction, while the response and prompt level are still fresh. This keeps data accurate without slowing teaching much. Scoring right after the instruction is too early, because Noah has not yet responded and the prompt level is unknown. Waiting until the end of a 10-trial block forces the RBT to recall several responses, which invites errors, especially in telling prompted from independent trials. A mental count at the end of the session is the least accurate choice and loses the trial-by-trial prompt information the supervisor needs to make fading decisions. Immediate recording is part of correct discrete-trial implementation.

Printing the model slightly lighter each time Ellie meets the criterion is stimulus fading: the visual prompt's opacity is reduced gradually, so control shifts from the dark model to Ellie's own writing with few errors. Eventually the faint model can be removed entirely. Removing the model all at once after a single accurate tracing skips the gradual steps and often produces errors. Keeping the model dark and adding a verbal cue for every letter adds a second prompt instead of fading the first, increasing the risk of prompt dependence. Guiding Ellie's hand is a physical prompt, a more intrusive level of help that moves in the wrong direction when she is already tracing accurately.

An intraverbal is a verbal response to someone else's words that does not simply repeat them and has no picture or object to name, such as completing 'You sleep in a...' with 'bed.' Leo must answer from what he hears, which is exactly what the program sheet describes. Holding up a picture of a bed and asking what it is makes the picture the main cue, so that trial teaches a tact, or labeling. Saying 'Say bed' and having Leo repeat the word is an echoic trial, where the response copies the RBT's sound. Asking Leo to touch the bed among three pictures is listener responding, also called receptive identification, which needs no vocal answer at all. Only the fill-in phrase meets the intraverbal definition.