The RBT Task List is a document published by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) that outlines every skill a Registered Behavior Technician must learn and demonstrate. It serves as both the training blueprint and the exam blueprint for the RBT credential, defining exactly what topics the 40-hour training course must cover and what knowledge the certification exam will test. If you’re preparing to become an RBT or studying for the exam, the task list is essentially your syllabus.
How the Task List Works
The BACB organizes the RBT Task List into content domains, each covering a distinct area of practice. Within each domain, individual tasks describe specific skills or concepts an RBT needs to know. These tasks range from concrete procedures like recording data during a session to broader responsibilities like maintaining professional boundaries with clients.
Training providers build their 40-hour RBT coursework around these tasks, and the RBT competency assessment (a hands-on evaluation by a BCBA) directly checks your ability to perform them. The certification exam then tests your understanding of the same material in a multiple-choice format. In short, the task list drives everything: your training, your skills check, and your exam.
Current and Upcoming Editions
The RBT Task List (2nd edition) is the active version through December 31, 2025. Starting January 1, 2026, the BACB will transition to the RBT Test Content Outline (3rd edition). If you’re planning to take the exam, the edition that applies to you depends on your exam date. Anyone testing before the end of 2025 should study the 2nd edition task list; anyone testing in 2026 or later will need to prepare using the 3rd edition content outline.
Note the name change: the BACB is shifting from calling it a “Task List” to a “Test Content Outline,” but the function is the same. It still lists the domains and tasks you’re responsible for knowing.
The Six Content Domains
The 3rd edition organizes 43 tasks across six domains. Here’s what each domain covers and how heavily it’s weighted on the exam, which contains 75 scored questions (plus 10 unscored pilot questions that don’t count toward your score).
- Data Collection and Graphing (17%, 13 questions): Recording behavioral data accurately during sessions, using measurement procedures like frequency counts and duration recording, and reading or creating simple graphs that track client progress over time.
- Behavior Assessment (11%, 8 questions): Describing behavior in observable, measurable terms, identifying environmental factors that may influence behavior, and conducting preference assessments to find items or activities that motivate a client.
- Behavior Acquisition (25%, 19 questions): The largest section of the exam. This covers the teaching procedures RBTs use to help clients learn new skills, including prompting strategies, discrete trial training, naturalistic teaching, and prompt-fading techniques.
- Behavior Reduction (19%, 14 questions): Implementing behavior intervention plans designed by a supervising BCBA, using reinforcement-based strategies to decrease challenging behavior, and following crisis or emergency protocols when needed.
- Documentation and Reporting (13%, 10 questions): Writing session notes, communicating with supervisors about client progress or concerns, and maintaining accurate records in compliance with organizational and BACB requirements.
- Ethics (15%, 11 questions): Following the BACB’s ethical guidelines, maintaining professional boundaries, respecting client dignity and confidentiality, and understanding the scope of an RBT’s role (which always requires supervision by a certified behavior analyst).
Why the Weighting Matters for Exam Prep
Behavior Acquisition alone makes up a quarter of the exam. Combined with Behavior Reduction, those two domains account for 44% of your scored questions. That doesn’t mean you can ignore the other areas, but it does tell you where to spend extra study time if you’re feeling stretched thin. Data Collection and Ethics together make up another 32%, so four of the six domains cover roughly three-quarters of the exam.
Every question on the exam ties back to a specific task in the content outline. When you study, work through the tasks one by one rather than reading broadly about applied behavior analysis. The exam doesn’t test general ABA theory at the graduate level. It tests whether you can perform the specific responsibilities of an RBT under supervision.
Where to Find the Official Task List
The BACB publishes the current task list and the upcoming test content outline as free PDF downloads on its website (bacb.com) under the certification exam resources section. Always download the document directly from the BACB rather than relying on third-party summaries, since training providers and study guides occasionally reference outdated editions. The official document is only a few pages long, making it easy to print and use as a study checklist as you work through your training.