RBT Practice Exam Test – Section D

Behaviors that cause physical harm (e.g., biting, hitting leading to injury) are considered dangerous and require a formal BIP. This plan outlines proactive, reactive, and teaching strategies to reduce risk and improve behavior over time.

Jessica is learning to replace shouting with hand-raising. When hand-raising is reinforced and shouting is ignored, this combination of reinforcing a replacement and extinguishing the problem behavior is DRA with extinction.

In the event of a severe escalation (e.g., hitting or biting), the RBT should follow the BCBA-approved crisis plan. This ensures the response is safe, ethical, and consistent with training. Skipping or improvising steps can lead to harm or ethical violations.

If the behavior (like throwing chairs) poses a risk to the client or others, the RBT must follow the pre-written crisis plan. Crisis plans are only used in situations where safety is a concern — not for mild frustration or inconvenience.

When reinforcement is removed, the behavior often gets worse before it gets better. For example, if a client’s tantrums used to result in escape, and now they don’t, the tantrums may increase briefly. This spike is known as an extinction burst.

If the client's screaming is maintained by attention and the RBT stops providing attention when it happens, this is extinction. It reduces the behavior by removing the reinforcement (attention) that previously followed it.

DRO (Differential Reinforcement of Other behavior) involves reinforcing any behavior other than the problem behavior within a time period. For example, if the client does not run away for 5 minutes, they earn a reward — reinforcing the absence of the behavior.

The behavior plan reinforces appropriate communication (e.g., using a device) and ignores yelling. This is Differential Reinforcement of Alternative behavior (DRA), which teaches a more acceptable way to access the same outcome (a preferred item).

The visual timer is introduced before the behavior occurs, preparing the client for the transition. This is an antecedent intervention because it modifies the environment or routine to reduce the likelihood of the challenging behavior.

The client screams right after being given a task demand, and likely avoids or delays the clean‑up. This pattern indicates that the screaming serves an escape function — helping the client avoid a non‑preferred activity.

The behavior (throwing toys) immediately leads to the teacher responding (picking up the toy), and the child smiles in response. This suggests the behavior is reinforced by gaining social attention, making "attention" the most likely function.

A BIP must include preventative strategies, replacement skills to teach the client a better way to meet their needs, and crisis procedures in case the behavior escalates. These components guide consistent responses and ensure client safety.