ABA Terms Glossary for the RBT Exam
BACB Task List 3rd Edition alignedLast updated August 2026Original questions with explanations
Every term here appears on this site's practice questions and maps to the RBT Task List. Definitions are written in plain language at exam-answer depth: enough to answer a question with, short enough to actually remember. Search by name or browse by domain.
142 of 142 terms
FrequencyMeasurement
A count of how many times a behavior occurs during an observation period.
RateMeasurement
Count divided by time, such as responses per minute. Makes sessions of different lengths comparable.
DurationMeasurement
How long a behavior lasts, measured from its onset to its offset.
LatencyMeasurement
Time between a specific stimulus, like an instruction, and the start of the response.
Inter-response time (IRT)Measurement
Time between two consecutive occurrences of the same behavior, such as bite to bite while eating.
Continuous measurementMeasurement
Procedures that capture every instance of behavior: frequency, rate, duration, latency and IRT.
Discontinuous measurementMeasurement
Procedures that sample time slices and estimate behavior: partial interval, whole interval and momentary time sampling.
Partial interval recordingMeasurement
Scoring an interval if the behavior occurs at any point within it. Tends to overestimate; used for reduction targets.
Whole interval recordingMeasurement
Scoring an interval only if the behavior lasts the entire interval. Tends to underestimate; used for acquisition targets.
Momentary time samplingMeasurement
Checking whether the behavior is occurring only at the moment each interval ends. Practical when the observer must teach between checks.
Permanent productMeasurement
Measuring behavior through the lasting outcome it leaves, like a completed worksheet, rather than observing it live.
Operational definitionMeasurement
A description of behavior in observable, measurable terms specific enough that any observer would score it identically.
BaselineMeasurement
Measurement of behavior under current conditions before intervention begins. The comparison that shows whether treatment worked.
Interobserver agreement (IOA)Measurement
The degree to which two independent observers record the same data for the same session, used to verify measurement quality.
TrendMeasurement
The overall direction of a data path across time: ascending, descending or flat.
LevelMeasurement
The overall height of data on the vertical axis within a condition.
VariabilityMeasurement
How much data points bounce around their level. Stable data are low-variability.
Phase change lineMeasurement
A vertical line on a graph separating conditions, like baseline and intervention. Data paths do not connect across it.
Cumulative recordMeasurement
A graph whose line only rises or stays flat, adding each response to a running total. Flat means no responding.
Percent of opportunitiesMeasurement
Correct responses divided by the number of chances to respond, times 100. Requires recording both successes and opportunities.
Preference assessmentAssessment
A structured procedure identifying which items and activities a client currently prefers, producing a ranked hierarchy of likely reinforcers.
Paired stimulus (forced choice)Assessment
Preference assessment presenting items two at a time until every pair has been compared. Produces the most reliable ranking.
MSWOAssessment
Multiple stimulus without replacement: the full array is presented and chosen items are removed each round, revealing the preference order.
MSWAssessment
Multiple stimulus with replacement: chosen items return to the array, so strong favorites dominate and lower preferences stay hidden.
Single stimulus presentationAssessment
Items offered one at a time while recording approach or rejection. Suits learners who cannot scan an array.
Free operant observationAssessment
Recording how long a client engages with freely available items, nothing removed. Gentlest format for clients who react badly to removal.
ABC dataAssessment
Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence recording of naturally occurring events, used to find patterns suggesting a behavior's function.
AntecedentAssessment
What happens immediately before a behavior: an instruction, a denial, a transition, attention shifting away.
ConsequenceAssessment
What happens immediately after a behavior. Consequences a behavior reliably produces are what maintain it.
Functional analysis (FA)Assessment
Systematically arranged test conditions (attention, demand, tangible, alone) compared against a control to demonstrate what maintains a behavior.
Functional behavior assessment (FBA)Assessment
The umbrella process of identifying a behavior's function, including interviews, ABC data and possibly a functional analysis.
ScatterplotAssessment
A time-grid recording showing when behavior clusters across the day, used to find temporal patterns.
Cold probeAssessment
A single unprompted presentation of a target at session start, before any teaching, to measure retained skill.
Curriculum-based assessmentAssessment
Skill probes against a curriculum's sequence to find where a learner's abilities currently end.
Discrete trial teaching (DTT)Teaching
A structured cycle of instruction, learner response, immediate consequence and a brief inter-trial interval, repeated across many trials.
Natural environment teaching (NET)Teaching
Teaching within play and daily routines, capturing the learner's current motivation so the reinforcer is what they already want.
Incidental teachingTeaching
Arranging the environment so the learner initiates, then requiring an elaborated response before granting access.
Discriminative stimulus (SD)Teaching
The antecedent stimulus that signals reinforcement is available for a particular response, like the instruction in a trial.
Three-term contingencyTeaching
Antecedent, behavior, consequence: the basic unit of behavior analysis and of every teaching trial.
PromptTeaching
Added help that makes the correct response more likely: verbal, gestural, model, physical or positional.
Most-to-least promptingTeaching
Starting with the most supportive prompt and fading toward independence. Minimizes early errors on new skills.
Least-to-most promptingTeaching
Giving an independent opportunity first, adding progressively stronger prompts only as needed.
Time delayTeaching
Prompt fading by inserting a growing pause between instruction and prompt, letting independence beat the prompt.
Errorless learningTeaching
Prompting immediately so only correct responses get practiced, then fading systematically.
Graduated guidanceTeaching
Physical assistance adjusted moment to moment, from full guidance to shadowing, faded within the movement itself.
Prompt dependenceTeaching
When a learner waits for the prompt instead of responding independently; the prompt has joined the behavior's controlling stimuli.
Transfer of stimulus controlTeaching
The goal of fading: the response comes under the natural cue or instruction alone, without added prompts.
ShapingTeaching
Reinforcing successively closer approximations to a target behavior that does not yet exist in the repertoire.
Task analysisTeaching
A complex skill broken into ordered, teachable component steps; doubles as the data sheet for chaining.
Forward chainingTeaching
Teaching the first step of a task analysis first, adding each next step as the previous is mastered.
Backward chainingTeaching
Teaching the final step first so the learner always completes the chain and contacts its natural end reinforcer.
Total task chainingTeaching
Running every step of the chain each trial, prompting only the steps the learner cannot yet do.
Discrimination trainingTeaching
Reinforcing responses to the target stimulus and withholding reinforcement for responses to others.
Stimulus generalizationTeaching
A learned response transferring to new stimuli, settings and people beyond the training examples.
Response generalizationTeaching
Untaught variations of a response emerging to serve the same function, like new greetings after one is taught.
MaintenanceTeaching
A skill persisting after teaching and dense reinforcement end, verified by probing old targets on a schedule.
Multiple exemplar trainingTeaching
Teaching with varied examples, materials and phrasings from the start so the learner acquires a concept, not one picture.
Behavioral momentumTeaching
A run of quick, easy, mastered instructions before a difficult one, building compliance momentum without coercion.
Behavioral skills training (BST)Teaching
Teaching skills through instruction, modeling, rehearsal and feedback, looped to criterion.
FluencyTeaching
Speed plus accuracy: performing a skill quickly and effortlessly, which predicts retention and real-world use.
Behavioral cuspTeaching
A skill that opens access to many new learning opportunities, like imitation or reading.
PairingTeaching
Associating yourself and the setting with preferred items and fun so your presence itself becomes reinforcing.
Instructional controlTeaching
A cooperative relationship where the learner reliably responds to instructions, built through pairing and consistent follow-through.
Mastery criterionTeaching
The plan's rule for when a target counts as learned, like 90 percent independent across three sessions with two implementers.
InterspersalTeaching
Mixing mastered targets among acquisition targets to keep success rates and motivation high.
Self-monitoringTeaching
A learner observing and recording their own behavior, often improving it in the process; a bridge to self-management.
Behavior intervention plan (BIP)Behavior Reduction
The written plan containing a behavior's definition, function, prevention strategies, replacement behaviors and consequence procedures.
Function of behaviorBehavior Reduction
Why a behavior persists: attention, escape, access to tangibles, or automatic reinforcement. Function, not form, drives intervention.
Attention functionBehavior Reduction
Behavior maintained by reactions from others: eye contact, comments, comfort, even reprimands.
Escape functionBehavior Reduction
Behavior maintained by ending, postponing or avoiding demands and aversive situations.
Tangible functionBehavior Reduction
Behavior maintained by obtaining items or activities, often after denial.
Automatic reinforcementBehavior Reduction
Behavior producing its own sensory consequence, persisting even when the person is alone.
ExtinctionBehavior Reduction
No longer delivering the reinforcer that maintained a behavior. Nothing added, nothing removed; the old payoff stops.
Extinction burstBehavior Reduction
The predictable temporary escalation in intensity or frequency when extinction begins.
Spontaneous recoveryBehavior Reduction
A brief reappearance of an extinguished behavior after time passes. It fades again if it still earns nothing.
DRABehavior Reduction
Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior: a chosen replacement earns the functional reinforcer; the problem behavior no longer does.
DROBehavior Reduction
Differential reinforcement of other behavior: reinforcement for the absence of the target behavior during an interval, with occurrences resetting the timer.
DRIBehavior Reduction
Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior: the replacement physically cannot co-occur with the target, like hands in lap versus hand-mouthing.
DRLBehavior Reduction
Differential reinforcement of low rates: reinforcing a behavior only when it stays at or below an acceptable rate.
Functional communication training (FCT)Behavior Reduction
Teaching a communication response that earns the same reinforcer the problem behavior earned, faster and more reliably.
Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)Behavior Reduction
Delivering the maintaining reinforcer on a time schedule regardless of behavior, weakening the behavior's monopoly on it.
Antecedent interventionBehavior Reduction
Environment changes made before behavior occurs: choices, transition warnings, task interspersal, scheduled breaks.
Response blockingBehavior Reduction
Physically preventing completion of a harmful response, as a safety component alongside constructive procedures.
Time-outBehavior Reduction
Time out from positive reinforcement: contingent removal of access to reinforcement. Backfires for escape-maintained behavior.
Response costBehavior Reduction
Negative punishment through contingent loss of a reinforcer already possessed, like losing a token.
Crisis proceduresBehavior Reduction
The plan's emergency safety steps for dangerous behavior: known in advance, followed exactly, documented and reported immediately.
Treatment integrityBehavior Reduction
The degree to which procedures are implemented exactly as written. Outcomes are only interpretable when integrity is high.
Ratio strainBehavior Reduction
Deteriorating responding when reinforcement is thinned too quickly and the work-to-pay ratio becomes too steep.
MandVerbal Behavior
A request: verbal behavior controlled by a motivating operation and reinforced by receiving the requested thing.
TactVerbal Behavior
A label: verbal behavior controlled by a nonverbal stimulus that is present, reinforced socially.
EchoicVerbal Behavior
Repeating what was heard, with point-to-point correspondence to a verbal model.
IntraverbalVerbal Behavior
Verbal behavior controlled by someone else's verbal behavior without echoing it: answering questions, filling in blanks, conversing.
Listener respondingVerbal Behavior
Acting on others' spoken language, like touching, getting or doing what is asked, without requiring speech.
Multiple controlVerbal Behavior
A response controlled by more than one variable at once, like an answer controlled by both a question and a visible object.
AACVerbal Behavior
Augmentative and alternative communication: signs, picture systems and speech devices. A device user's access to it is a protected right.
ReinforcementReinforcement
A consequence that increases the future likelihood of the behavior it follows. Defined by effect, not intention.
Positive reinforcementReinforcement
Adding a stimulus after a behavior, increasing its future likelihood.
Negative reinforcementReinforcement
Removing or reducing an aversive stimulus after a behavior, increasing its future likelihood. Not punishment.
PunishmentReinforcement
A consequence that decreases the future likelihood of the behavior it follows. Positive adds; negative removes.
Unconditioned reinforcerReinforcement
A reinforcer effective without learning history because it supports survival: food, water, warmth.
Conditioned reinforcerReinforcement
A stimulus that acquired reinforcing value through pairing with established reinforcers: praise, tokens, money.
Backup reinforcerReinforcement
The items and activities tokens are exchanged for. Tokens borrow their value from the backups.
Token economyReinforcement
A system where conditioned reinforcers (tokens) are earned for target behaviors and exchanged for backup reinforcers.
Continuous reinforcement (FR1)Reinforcement
Reinforcing every occurrence of a behavior. Builds new behavior fastest.
Fixed ratio (FR)Reinforcement
Reinforcement after a set number of responses, like every third response on FR3.
Variable ratio (VR)Reinforcement
Reinforcement after a varying number of responses around an average. Produces persistent, extinction-resistant behavior.
Fixed interval (FI)Reinforcement
Reinforcement for the first response after a set time elapses.
Variable interval (VI)Reinforcement
Reinforcement for the first response after a varying time around an average. Generates steady responding.
Schedule thinningReinforcement
Gradually moving from dense to intermittent reinforcement so behavior becomes durable and natural.
Motivating operation (MO)Reinforcement
A momentary condition that changes a reinforcer's value and the likelihood of behavior that produces it.
Establishing operationReinforcement
An MO that increases a reinforcer's value, like deprivation making food more powerful.
Abolishing operationReinforcement
An MO that decreases a reinforcer's value, like satiation after a big meal.
SatiationReinforcement
Reduced reinforcer effectiveness from recent abundant access.
DeprivationReinforcement
Increased reinforcer effectiveness from restricted access.
Premack principleReinforcement
Access to a high-probability behavior reinforcing a low-probability one: first worksheet, then trampoline.
Reinforcer immediacyReinforcement
Delivering reinforcement within seconds of the target response so the contingency attaches to the right behavior.
Scope of practiceEthics & Professional
What a credential authorizes. For RBTs: implementing behavior-analytic services under ongoing supervision, not designing or interpreting.
Supervision requirementEthics & Professional
The ongoing oversight a qualified supervisor must provide for an RBT to practice at all.
Dual relationshipEthics & Professional
A personal, financial or other role layered onto the professional one, compromising objectivity. Avoided and disclosed.
Professional boundariesEthics & Professional
Limits keeping the clinical relationship clinical: no gifts, loans, side jobs, romantic involvement or social media connections.
ConfidentialityEthics & Professional
Protecting client identity and information in every medium and place, permanently, including after services end.
Informed consentEthics & Professional
Authorization obtained before services and assessments. RBTs work within its boundaries and flag anything outside them.
Mandated reporterEthics & Professional
A person legally required to report suspected abuse or neglect to authorities, immediately and personally.
Data integrityEthics & Professional
Records reflecting only what actually happened. Estimated, copied or invented data are falsification.
Client dignityEthics & Professional
Treating clients as people: respectful language, privacy in personal care, involvement in their own routines.
AssentEthics & Professional
A client's own willingness to participate, beyond guardian consent, respected and monitored during services.
Session noteEthics & Professional
The factual clinical record of a session: programs run, data summaries, notable events, in objective language.
Incident reportEthics & Professional
Formal documentation of injuries, emergencies and unusual events, completed promptly per policy.
RBTEthics & Professional
Registered Behavior Technician: the BACB's entry-level credential for implementing behavior-analytic services under supervision.
BCBAEthics & Professional
Board Certified Behavior Analyst: a master's-level credential authorizing independent practice, assessment and program design.
BCaBAEthics & Professional
Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analyst: a bachelor's-level credential practicing under a BCBA while supervising technicians.
BACBEthics & Professional
The Behavior Analyst Certification Board, the nonprofit that credentials RBTs, BCaBAs and BCBAs.
Competency assessmentEthics & Professional
The hands-on skills demonstration observed by a qualified assessor, required initially and at each annual renewal.
Applied behavior analysis (ABA)General ABA
The science of applying learning principles to socially important behavior, measuring results and adjusting from data.
BehaviorGeneral ABA
Anything a person does that can be observed and measured, including speech. Not thoughts, intentions or labels.
Response classGeneral ABA
A group of behaviors that serve the same function, however different they look.
StimulusGeneral ABA
Any event or object in the environment that can affect behavior.
Stimulus controlGeneral ABA
A behavior occurring reliably in the presence of a specific stimulus because of its reinforcement history there.
GeneralizationGeneral ABA
The spread of learning beyond the training context: to new stimuli, settings, people and response forms.
Social validityGeneral ABA
Whether goals, methods and outcomes matter to the client and family, not just to the data.
Evidence-based practiceGeneral ABA
Choosing interventions supported by research evidence, clinical expertise and client values together.
Task ListGeneral ABA
The BACB's published outline of RBT duties across six domains; the blueprint the exam is written from.
Turn these into active recall with the flashcard sets, then test yourself with the domain quizzes.