RBT® study guide for the 2026 exam: six domains, 43 tasks
This study guide follows the BACB Test Content Outline (3rd ed.), which the RBT® exam uses from 2026. It covers the six domains in exam order, lists the 43 tasks, and gives the key terms for each domain. Each section ends with a free 20-question quiz and 15 confusable-pairs items, because the fastest way to learn this material is to answer questions and read the explanations.
How to use it: do not read it front to back first. Take the 20-question quick check, then start with the two domains it flags.
The exam in numbers
| Domain | Tasks | Scored questions | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Data Collection and Graphing | 8 | 13 | 17% |
| B. Behavior Assessment | 3 | 8 | 11% |
| C. Behavior Acquisition | 11 | 19 | 25% |
| D. Behavior Reduction | 7 | 14 | 19% |
| E. Documentation and Reporting | 4 | 10 | 13% |
| F. Ethics | 10 | 11 | 15% |
| Total | 43 | 75 | 100% |
The exam has 85 questions; 10 are unscored pilot items mixed in with the 75 scored ones. You have 90 minutes. Details are on the exam page.
Domain A: Data Collection and Graphing (13 questions)
What it is. Measuring behavior accurately and showing it on a graph so the team can see change.
The eight tasks. Continuous measurement (A.1); discontinuous measurement (A.2); permanent product recording (A.3); entering data and updating graphs (A.4); describing behavior and environment in observable, measurable terms (A.5); calculating and summarizing data (A.6); identifying trends in graphed data (A.7); risks of unreliable data and poor procedural fidelity (A.8).
Key terms. Frequency, rate, duration, latency, interresponse time (IRT); partial-interval, whole-interval, momentary time sampling; permanent product; level, trend, variability; interobserver agreement; procedural fidelity; operational definition.
Worked example. A client raises her hand 6 times in a 20-minute session and 9 times in a 45-minute session. Frequency went up; rate went down (0.30 per minute to 0.20 per minute). When session lengths differ, report rate.
→ Data Collection and Graphing quiz
Domain B: Behavior Assessment (8 questions)
What it is. Finding out what a client prefers, what skills they have, and why a problem behavior happens, under a supervisor's direction.
The three tasks. Preference assessments (B.1); assessments of skill strengths and deficits (B.2); components of functional assessment procedures (B.3).
Key terms. Paired stimulus; multiple stimulus with replacement (MSW) and without replacement (MSWO); free operant; reinforcer assessment; curriculum-based, developmental, and social-skills assessment; descriptive assessment; ABC recording; functional analysis.
Step by step: MSWO. Lay out five items. Record the first choice. Remove it. Rearrange the remaining four and present again. Repeat until all are chosen or the client stops choosing. The order of selection is the preference ranking.
Domain C: Behavior Acquisition (19 questions)
What it is. Teaching new skills: how reinforcement is delivered, how trials are run, how prompts are given and removed, and how skills are kept and spread to new situations.
The eleven tasks. Positive and negative reinforcement along dimensions and schedules (C.1); conditioned reinforcers (C.2); discrete-trial teaching (C.3); naturalistic teaching (C.4); task-analyzed chaining (C.5); discrimination training (C.6); stimulus and response prompts with fading (C.7); generalization (C.8); maintenance vs. acquisition (C.9); shaping (C.10); token economies (C.11).
Key terms. Positive and negative reinforcement; continuous and intermittent schedules (FR, VR, FI, VI); conditioned and unconditioned reinforcers; discrete-trial teaching (SD, response, consequence, intertrial interval); incidental teaching, natural environment training; forward, backward, and total-task chaining; discriminative stimulus (SD) and S-delta; errorless teaching, least-to-most, most-to-least, time delay, stimulus fading; generalization; maintenance; shaping and successive approximations; token economy and backup reinforcer.
Prompt fading at a glance.
| Method | Starts with | Moves toward | Typical use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Most-to-least | Full prompt | Independence | New skills, errorless teaching |
| Least-to-most | Independence | Fuller prompts as needed | Skills partly learned |
| Time delay | Immediate prompt (0 s) | Delayed prompt | Transferring control to the SD |
| Stimulus fading | Altered materials | Natural materials | Stimulus prompts |
Domain D: Behavior Reduction (14 questions)
What it is. Reducing problem behavior by understanding its function and applying the plan's antecedent, reinforcement, extinction, punishment, and crisis procedures.
The seven tasks. Common functions of behavior (D.1); antecedent interventions (D.2); differential reinforcement (D.3); extinction (D.4); positive and negative punishment (D.5); secondary effects of extinction and punishment (D.6); crisis and emergency procedures (D.7).
Key terms. Attention, escape, tangible, automatic functions; noncontingent reinforcement (NCR); high-probability request sequence; demand fading; DRO, DRA, DRI, DRL, functional communication training (FCT); extinction; extinction burst; spontaneous recovery; resurgence; positive and negative punishment; time-out; response cost; crisis plan.
Differential reinforcement at a glance.
| Procedure | What gets reinforced | Example |
|---|---|---|
| DRA | A specific alternative behavior | Asking for a break instead of throwing materials |
| DRI | A behavior incompatible with the target | Hands in lap instead of hand-flapping |
| DRO | Absence of the target for an interval | Token after each 2 minutes with no screaming |
| DRL | A lower rate of the target | Reinforcer if 3 or fewer questions in 10 minutes |
Domain E: Documentation and Reporting (10 questions)
What it is. Getting the right information to the right person at the right time, and writing it down objectively.
The four tasks. Communicating team concerns and suggestions to the supervisor (E.1); seeking and prioritizing clinical direction (E.2); reporting variables that might affect progress (E.3); objective session notes that meet legal, regulatory, and workplace requirements (E.4).
Key terms. Objective vs. interpretive language; timely reporting; chain of command; data irregularities; setting events (illness, medication, sleep, schedule changes); session note; protected health information.
Objective note, rewritten. Instead of "Client was defiant and had a bad day," write "Client dropped to the floor 4 times when given the instruction to transition, each lasting 1 to 3 minutes. Caregiver reported client slept about 5 hours last night."
→ Documentation and Reporting quiz
Domain F: Ethics (11 questions)
What it is. The BACB ethics code for RBTs, applied to everyday situations: scope, supervision, confidentiality, relationships, gifts, public statements, feedback, and cultural humility.
The ten tasks. Core principles (F.1); competence before service (F.2); ongoing supervision (F.3); effective supervision practices (F.4); confidential information (F.5); public statements (F.6); multiple relationships (F.7); gift giving and receiving (F.8); interpersonal and professional skills (F.9); cultural humility and responsiveness (F.10).
Key terms. Benefit others; compassion, dignity, respect; integrity; scope of competence; supervision requirements; confidentiality; public statements and social media; misrepresentation; multiple relationships; gift thresholds; accepting feedback; cultural humility; bias.
The one rule that answers many questions. When in doubt, the right answer involves telling your supervisor and acting within the plan, not solving it yourself.
Put it together
- Quick check to find your two weakest domains.
- Those two domains' quizzes and confusable pairs, with every explanation read.
- Re-test what you missed three days later with a new scenario (the paid Re-test Loop does this automatically).
- The 85-question practice exam with the timer on.
The research behind each step is on the method page. Task-by-task pages with their own example questions are coming after launch.