Teaching new skills forms the core of ABA practice. RBTs help clients develop communication abilities, social skills, academic readiness, independent living capabilities, and safety behaviors. These teaching procedures provide systematic approaches for promoting meaningful skill development.
This comprehensive guide covers skill acquisition procedures essential for RBT certification. You will learn teaching methods, reinforcement strategies, and generalization techniques that support effective skill instruction across diverse client populations.
1. Understanding Skill Acquisition Plans
Skill acquisition plans provide detailed blueprints for teaching specific abilities. These written documents ensure consistency across all team members working with clients. Each plan contains essential components that guide systematic instruction and progress monitoring.
Effective skill acquisition plans include clear skill definitions, specific teaching procedures, required materials, prompting strategies, error correction methods, data collection systems, mastery criteria, and generalization guidelines. These components work together to create comprehensive teaching frameworks.
Skill Acquisition Implementation Process
Review
Preparation
Instruction
Collection
Review
Each step ensures systematic skill development and continuous progress monitoring
2. Session Preparation Procedures
Proper session preparation maximizes teaching effectiveness and client engagement. RBTs review skill acquisition plans, prepare necessary materials, organize reinforcement systems, and arrange optimal learning environments before each session begins.
Preparation includes gathering teaching materials, setting up data collection tools, reviewing previous session notes, and organizing reinforcer options. Mastering these environmental arrangement skills through RBT quizzes helps remove distractions and creates conditions that support focused learning interactions.
3. Reinforcement Contingencies and Schedules
Reinforcement contingencies describe relationships between behaviors and consequences that strengthen or increase behavior occurrence. Understanding different reinforcement schedules helps RBTs implement effective motivation systems that promote skill acquisition and maintenance.
Continuous reinforcement provides consequences after every correct response, making it ideal for initial skill learning. Intermittent reinforcement delivers consequences only sometimes, creating more durable behavior patterns that resist extinction.
Reinforcement Schedule Types
Fixed ratio schedules provide reinforcement after specific numbers of correct responses. Variable ratio schedules deliver reinforcement after varying numbers of responses, creating consistent behavior patterns. These ratio schedules base reinforcement on response frequency rather than time.
Fixed interval schedules provide reinforcement after set time periods when target behaviors occur. Variable interval schedules deliver reinforcement after varying time periods. These interval schedules base reinforcement on time passage rather than response frequency.
Intermittent Reinforcement Schedules
Fixed Ratio (FR)
Every X responses
Example: Token after every 5 problems
Variable Ratio (VR)
Average X responses
Example: Token after 3-7 problems
Fixed Interval (FI)
Every X minutes
Example: Praise every 10 minutes
Variable Interval (VI)
Average X minutes
Example: Praise every 8-12 minutes
4. Conditioned and Unconditioned Reinforcement
Unconditioned reinforcers satisfy basic biological needs without prior learning. These primary reinforcers include food, water, warmth, and physical comfort. All individuals naturally find these stimuli reinforcing from birth.
Conditioned reinforcers acquire reinforcing properties through pairing with other reinforcers. These secondary reinforcers include praise, tokens, money, and preferred activities. Teams develop conditioned reinforcers by consistently pairing them with naturally reinforcing experiences.
5. Teaching Procedure Implementation
Discrete Trial Teaching (DTT) provides structured instruction using clear instructions, learner responses, and immediate consequences. This systematic approach breaks complex skills into manageable components taught through repeated practice opportunities.
DTT consists of three essential components: discriminative stimulus presentation, learner response opportunity, and consequence delivery. Brief inter-trial intervals allow data recording and preparation for subsequent teaching trials.
Naturalistic Teaching Approaches
Naturalistic teaching capitalizes on learner motivation and environmental opportunities to teach skills in natural contexts. This approach follows client interests and uses everyday situations as teaching moments for meaningful skill development.
Incidental teaching occurs during naturally occurring activities when clients demonstrate interest in environmental stimuli. RBTs arrange environments to create motivation and then prompt skill demonstrations during high-interest moments.
Discrete Trial Teaching
Systematic instruction with clear SD, response, and consequence components. Ideal for breaking down complex skills into teachable steps.
Incidental Teaching
Client-led instruction using natural motivation and environmental opportunities. Promotes spontaneous skill use across settings.
Task Analysis Chaining
Complex skills broken into sequential steps taught through forward, backward, or total task procedures.
Discrimination Training
Teaching clients to differentiate between stimuli and respond appropriately to specific environmental cues.
6. Task Analysis and Chaining Procedures
Task analysis breaks complex skills into sequential steps that build toward complete skill performance. This systematic approach identifies each component required for independent skill demonstration. Teams create detailed step sequences that guide systematic instruction.
Forward chaining teaches steps sequentially from beginning to end. Learners master initial steps independently while receiving assistance with remaining components. Backward chaining teaches final steps first, working backward toward initial components.
Chaining Implementation Methods
Total task chaining allows learners to attempt entire skill sequences with prompts provided only when needed. This approach works well for clients who demonstrate some competency with target skills but need assistance with specific components.
Chaining procedures systematically build independence by focusing instruction on specific skill components. Teams choose chaining methods based on individual learner strengths, skill complexity, and acquisition patterns.
7. Discrimination Training and Stimulus Control
Discrimination training teaches learners to differentiate between environmental stimuli and respond appropriately to specific cues. This process develops stimulus control by reinforcing correct responses to target stimuli while withholding reinforcement for incorrect selections.
Systematic discrimination training creates clear response patterns that transfer across similar situations. Learners develop abilities to identify relevant environmental features and respond accurately to various stimulus presentations.
Stimulus Control Transfer Procedures
Stimulus control transfer procedures fade artificial prompts while strengthening responses to naturally occurring environmental cues. This process promotes independence by reducing reliance on external assistance during skill performance.
Systematic prompt fading gradually transfers stimulus control from therapeutic prompts to natural environmental stimuli. Teams plan fading sequences that maintain response accuracy while building learner independence.
8. Prompting and Prompt Fading Strategies
Prompts provide assistance that helps learners demonstrate correct responses during skill acquisition. Effective prompting strategies balance support provision with independence development. Teams select prompt types based on individual learner needs and skill requirements.
Gestural prompts use visual cues like pointing or demonstrating actions. Verbal prompts provide spoken assistance or reminders. Physical prompts offer tactile guidance ranging from minimal touch to full hand-over-hand assistance. Model prompts demonstrate correct responses for learner imitation.
Prompt Hierarchy: Most to Least Intrusive
Systematic fading moves from more intrusive to less intrusive prompts
Prompt Fading Implementation
Most-to-least prompt fading begins with highly intrusive prompts that guarantee success, then systematically reduces assistance as learners demonstrate competency. This approach prevents error patterns while building confidence through initial success experiences.
Least-to-most prompt fading starts with minimal assistance and increases support only when learners struggle with independent responses. This method promotes independence from the beginning while providing necessary support when needed.
9. Generalization and Maintenance Procedures
Generalization ensures learned skills transfer across different people, settings, materials, and situations. Effective generalization programming creates meaningful skill applications that enhance daily functioning and quality of life.
Stimulus generalization occurs when learners respond correctly to new examples of trained stimuli. Response generalization happens when learners demonstrate variations of trained responses. Both types promote flexible skill application across diverse circumstances.
Maintenance Strategy Implementation
Maintenance procedures ensure skills continue after formal instruction ends. Teams program maintenance through intermittent practice sessions, environmental arrangement, and natural reinforcement identification.
Effective maintenance requires identifying naturally occurring reinforcement sources that will support continued skill use. Teams help families and caregivers recognize opportunities to reinforce skills in daily routines.
- Teach skills across multiple exemplars and settings
- Use various instructional formats and materials
- Involve different people in skill instruction
- Program common stimuli across teaching environments
- Identify natural reinforcement opportunities
10. Shaping and Token Economy Procedures
Shaping procedures systematically reinforce successive approximations toward target behaviors. This gradual approach allows complex skill development through incremental progress recognition. Teams identify intermediate steps that build toward final performance criteria.
Token economies provide structured reinforcement systems using symbolic rewards that exchange for preferred items or activities. These systems create powerful motivation while teaching delayed gratification and choice-making skills.