The Skill Acquisition section focuses on how RBTs assist in teaching new skills and maintaining learned behaviors. This is one of the most vital components of ABA therapy, as it directly relates to helping clients gain independence, communication, and social skills. The RBT works under supervision to implement teaching procedures consistently and effectively.
📌 C‑01: Identify the Essential Components of a Written Skill Acquisition Plan
A Skill Acquisition Plan (SAP) outlines how to teach a specific skill. Every program or goal in ABA therapy should come with a well-defined plan.
✅ Core Components of a Skill Acquisition Plan:
- Target Behavior: The specific skill to be taught (e.g., “Requesting help with a peer”).
- Operational Definition: Clear, observable, and measurable description of the behavior.
- Teaching Procedure: Exact method of instruction (e.g., Discrete Trial Training, Natural Environment Teaching).
- Prompting Strategy: What kind of prompts will be used (e.g., physical, gestural) and how they’ll be faded.
- Reinforcement Plan: What reinforcement will be given, how often, and under what conditions.
- Data Collection Method: How success will be recorded (e.g., percentage, frequency).
- Mastery Criteria: The level of accuracy required to consider the skill mastered (e.g., 80% over 3 sessions).
📌 Tip: As an RBT, your job is to follow the plan exactly as written and collect accurate data to inform your BCBA.
📌 C‑02: Prepare for the Session as Required by the Skill Acquisition Plan
Before each session:
- Review the SAPs for the day.
- Gather all materials: flashcards, visuals, tokens, reinforcers, and data sheets.
- Organize your workspace to reduce distractions and allow smooth transitions.
- Know the client’s current status: check which step they’re on and previous data trends.
🧠 Example: If the client is learning to label colors, prepare colored cards, know the last prompt used, and ensure reinforcers are ready.
📌 C‑03: Use Contingencies of Reinforcement (e.g., Conditioned/Unconditioned Reinforcement, Continuous/Intermittent Schedules)
✅ Reinforcement Basics:
- Reinforcement increases the likelihood that a behavior will occur again.
Types of Reinforcers:
- Unconditioned Reinforcers (Primary): Naturally reinforcing (e.g., food, warmth).
- Conditioned Reinforcers (Secondary): Learned through association (e.g., tokens, praise).
Reinforcement Schedules:
- Continuous Reinforcement (CRF): Reinforce every correct response—best for teaching new skills.
- Intermittent Reinforcement (INT): Reinforce some responses—best for maintaining behaviors.
🧠 Example: Giving a child a high-five (conditioned reinforcer) every time they say “hello” is CRF. Later, giving it every third time is INT.
📌 C‑04: Implement Discrete-Trial Teaching (DTT)
DTT is a structured teaching method using a clear beginning, middle, and end.
Steps of a DTT Trial:
- SD (Discriminative Stimulus): Give the instruction (“Touch your nose”).
- Response: The client responds.
- Consequence: Provide reinforcement or error correction.
- Inter-trial Interval: Brief pause before the next trial.
🧠 Example: You say “What’s your name?” → Client says “John” → You say “Great job!” and give a token.
DTT is ideal for teaching new, isolated skills in a highly controlled setting.
📌 C‑05: Implement Naturalistic Teaching Procedures (e.g., Incidental Teaching)
Natural Environment Teaching (NET) uses the client’s interests and naturally occurring situations to teach.
Key Features:
- Conducted during play or daily routines.
- Learner-initiated.
- Uses natural consequences (e.g., getting the toy after requesting it).
🧠 Example: If a child reaches for bubbles, wait for them to say “bubbles” before blowing them.
NET is excellent for generalization and real-world application of skills.
📌 C‑06: Implement Task Analyzed Chaining Procedures
Chaining is used to teach multi-step tasks by breaking them down into smaller steps (task analysis).
Types of Chaining:
- Forward Chaining: Teach the first step first, then move forward.
- Backward Chaining: Teach the last step first.
- Total Task: Teach the entire sequence at once.
🧠 Example: Teaching hand washing:
- Turn on water
- Wet hands
- Apply soap
- Scrub
- Rinse
- Dry hands
You may start by helping the client master step 1, then gradually fade help as they learn the sequence.
📌 C‑07: Implement Shaping Procedures
Shaping is the process of reinforcing successive approximations toward a target behavior.
🧠 Example: To teach saying “water,” you might reinforce:
- Any vocal sound
- “Wa”
- “Wata”
- Full word “water”
Each step is reinforced until the client reaches the final goal. Shaping is useful for building new behaviors from scratch.
📌 C‑08: Implement Prompt and Prompt Fading Procedures
Prompts help the client respond correctly but should be faded over time to promote independence.
Types of Prompts:
- Physical (hand-over-hand)
- Verbal
- Gestural
- Model
- Visual
Prompt Fading Strategies:
- Least-to-most prompting (LTM)
- Most-to-least prompting (MTL)
- Time delay: Wait a few seconds before prompting to encourage independent responses.
🧠 Example: Use a hand-over-hand prompt to teach zipping a jacket, then slowly reduce to gestural cues.
📌 C‑09: Implement Generalization and Maintenance Procedures
✅ Generalization:
- The ability to use a learned skill across different settings, people, and situations.
- Strategies: vary instructions, settings, materials, and instructors.
✅ Maintenance:
- Continuing to perform a learned skill over time, even after formal teaching has stopped.
- Strategies: use intermittent reinforcement, revisit skills occasionally.
🧠 Example: A client who learns to request help at home should also do so at school, with peers, and in public.
📌 C‑10: Assist with the Training of Stakeholders (e.g., Parents, Caregivers, Teachers)
As an RBT, you may help your BCBA by modeling techniques, offering data summaries, or showing how to prompt correctly.
🧠 Example: If a parent struggles with getting their child to use a communication device, you can model how to prompt usage during a routine activity like snack time.
🎯 Note: Stakeholder training must always be supervised and guided by the BCBA.
📌 C‑11: Implement Stimulus Control Transfer Procedures
This process ensures the correct stimulus (SD) reliably evokes the correct response.
🧠 Example: Teaching a child to say “hello” when they see a person (not just when you say “Say hello”).
Use prompting and fading to transfer control from artificial cues (e.g., prompts) to natural cues (e.g., a peer entering the room).
📌 C‑12: Implement Stimulus Fading Procedures
Stimulus fading involves gradually altering a stimulus to promote independence while keeping the behavior intact.
🧠 Example: If a child learns to trace a large, dark letter “A,” you slowly fade the boldness or size of the letter until they write it independently.
✅ Wrap-Up
Unit C teaches you how to effectively:
- Follow skill acquisition plans
- Use a range of teaching methods (DTT, NET, chaining, shaping)
- Reinforce behavior appropriately
- Generalize and maintain client progress
Being consistent, data-driven, and responsive to your client’s needs is what makes a successful RBT during skill acquisition.
📝 Ready to review what you’ve learned? Take the Skill Acquisition Quiz below to reinforce your knowledge from Unit C!