RBT Behavior Reduction Study Guide

What a behavior reduction plan must contain

An operational definition, the identified function, antecedent strategies, a replacement behavior, consequence procedures, crisis procedures where relevant, and data collection. If a plan tells you to do something you have not been trained on, you say so and get trained — you do not improvise.

Virtually every plan includes a replacement behavior because the problem behavior is doing a job. Suppressing it without giving the client an appropriate way to meet the same need leaves the need unmet, and the behavior usually returns or is replaced by something worse.

Antecedent interventions

Antecedent strategies change the conditions before the behavior occurs, so fewer occurrences happen at all. That is safer than responding after the fact, and it is why plans lead with them.

Non-contingent reinforcement (NCR)

Deliver the maintaining reinforcer on a time schedule regardless of behavior. Abolishes the motivating operation — the client no longer has to act out to get it.

High-probability request sequence

Several easy, high-compliance requests immediately before a difficult one. Also called behavioral momentum.

Choice

Offering a choice between acceptable options before work begins.

Priming

Preparing the client for what is coming — reviewing the schedule, a visual timer before a transition.

MO manipulation

Changing the value of the maintaining reinforcer, for example shortening work intervals when the behavior is escape-maintained.

Differential reinforcement — the four you must distinguish

These four appear constantly, and the exam separates them on precise definitions rather than general sense.

DRA — alternative

Reinforce a specific alternative response that produces the same reinforcer as the problem behavior. For it to work, the alternative must be at least as easy and as reliable as the problem behavior.

DRI — incompatible

Reinforce a response that physically cannot co-occur with the problem behavior. Hands in lap versus hand-flapping.

DRO — other

Reinforce the *absence* of the behavior across an interval. If the behavior occurs, the interval typically resets and no reinforcer is delivered.

DRL — low rates

Reinforce the behavior when it occurs at or below a specified rate. For behaviors that are fine in moderation but problematic in excess.

Extinction, and why it is rarely used alone

Extinction means withholding the maintaining reinforcer — and which reinforcer that is depends entirely on function. For attention-maintained behavior it means withholding attention. For escape-maintained behavior it means keeping the demand in place. Ignoring an escape-maintained tantrum while quietly removing the task is not extinction; it is reinforcement.

Expect an extinction burst: a temporary increase in frequency, intensity or duration right after the procedure starts. Stopping during the burst reinforces the behavior at its worst. Spontaneous recovery — a brief reappearance after the behavior has already declined — is also normal and fades if the procedure holds.

Inconsistent extinction is worse than no extinction. Occasionally giving in places the behavior on an intermittent schedule, which is the schedule that produces the most persistent responding of all.

Functional communication training (FCT) is a specific form of DRA: teach a communicative response that produces the same reinforcer, while the problem behavior no longer does.

Crisis and emergency procedures

Safety comes before programming and before any concern about reinforcing behavior. Follow the written crisis plan. Only use physical procedures that are written into that specific client’s plan and for which you hold current training — a technique learned at a previous employer is not authorised here, and a good outcome does not authorise it retroactively.

Afterward, follow the post-crisis procedures, complete the incident report objectively and promptly, and notify your supervisor.