The BACB’s RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) lists the knowledge and skills the RBT exam draws from. It has 43 tasks in 6 domains. This guide describes each domain in plain language. The official wording of every task is in the BACB outline, which is only two pages and worth reading in full.
| 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% |
A. Data Collection and Graphing (8 tasks)
Measuring behavior accurately, and showing what the data say. Expect continuous measures (such as frequency, duration, latency and interresponse time), discontinuous measures (partial and whole interval, momentary time sampling), and permanent product recording. You also describe behavior and the environment in observable, measurable terms, enter data and update graphs, calculate summaries such as rate and percentage, identify trends, and explain why unreliable data and weak procedural fidelity are risky.
B. Behavior Assessment (3 tasks)
Small by question count, but it feeds everything else. You conduct preference assessments (for example multiple stimulus, paired stimulus and free operant), take part in assessments of a client’s skill strengths and deficits, and take part in parts of functional assessment, such as descriptive assessment and functional analysis.
C. Behavior Acquisition (11 tasks)
The biggest domain. It covers teaching new skills: positive and negative reinforcement (including schedules and dimensions such as magnitude and variety), establishing and using conditioned reinforcers, discrete-trial teaching, naturalistic teaching, task analyzed chaining (forward, backward, total task), discrimination training, stimulus and response prompts with fading (errorless, least-to-most, stimulus fading, time delay), generalization, telling maintenance from acquisition procedures, shaping, and token economies.
D. Behavior Reduction (7 tasks)
Understanding why behavior happens and what to do about it. You identify common functions of behavior, implement antecedent interventions (such as NCR, high-probability request sequences and demand fading), differential reinforcement (DRO, DRA, DRI, DRL, FCT), extinction, and punishment procedures such as time-out. You also describe secondary effects of extinction and punishment, such as extinction bursts, resurgence and emotional responding, and implement crisis and emergency procedures.
E. Documentation and Reporting (4 tasks)
Communication with your supervisor and team: passing along concerns and suggestions from caregivers, teachers and other providers promptly, seeking and prioritizing clinical direction, reporting things that might affect client progress (illness, medication, schedule changes), and describing objectively what happened in a session in line with legal and workplace requirements.
F. Ethics (10 tasks)
The BACB ethics code for RBT certificants: its core principles, providing services only after demonstrating competence and only under ongoing supervision from a qualified supervisor, identifying effective supervision practices, confidentiality, public statements (including social media and misrepresenting credentials), multiple relationships, gift giving and receiving, professional skills such as accepting feedback and collaborating, and ongoing cultural humility. Domain F is 15% of the exam, about the same as the whole of Behavior Assessment plus part of Documentation.
How to use this
- Read the official outline once, start to finish.
- Weight your time by the question counts: Domain C and D together are 33 of 75 scored questions.
- For each task, practice saying it from memory in your own words, then check yourself.
- Revisit what you missed on a spaced schedule instead of rereading everything.
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Frequently asked questions
How many tasks are in the RBT 3rd edition outline?
43 tasks organized into 6 domains: Data Collection and Graphing (8 tasks), Behavior Assessment (3), Behavior Acquisition (11), Behavior Reduction (7), Documentation and Reporting (4) and Ethics (10).
When does the 3rd edition outline apply?
The BACB states that the RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) describes the content that will appear on the RBT exam beginning in 2026.
Which RBT domain has the most exam questions?
Behavior Acquisition (Domain C) has 19 of the 75 scored questions, about 25% of the exam.