(RBT®) Discrete Trial Teaching: Understanding the Basics

Watching an experienced RBT run discrete trial teaching (DTT) can feel overwhelming. Materials move quickly, instructions change from one trial to the next, responses are reinforced, data are collected, and before you know it, the next trial has already begun.

In this hands-on PDU, we’ll slow the process down and break DTT into manageable steps before putting everything back together. You’ll explore the foundational structure of a discrete trial, including the three-term contingency, discriminative stimulus (SD), teaching targets, and distractors. You’ll learn why target placement and distractors matter for discrimination, how SDs can vary depending on the skill being taught, and how to prepare and arrange materials across several common teaching programs.

You’ll also explore how RBTs transition between programs, intersperse known and new teaching targets, organize materials, and collect data while keeping teaching moving. Along the way, you’ll see how teaching procedures and materials may be individualized by the supervising BCBA based on the learner and the program.

Most importantly, you won’t just watch. Using a downloadable set of DTT practice cards, you’ll follow along with video modeling to arrange materials, practice presenting different SDs, and rehearse each step yourself. Then you’ll put the pieces together and practice running complete trials from beginning to end.

Once you’ve mastered the basic practice sequence, you’ll take on additional challenges designed to build fluency. Using the same materials, you’ll practice shuffling targets, expanding teaching arrays, varying distractors, interspersing known and new targets, creating additional practice targets, and adding simulated data collection—all while becoming more comfortable moving smoothly from one trial to the next.

This PDU intentionally focuses on the basics of DTT, giving you a strong foundation while providing plenty of opportunities to practice, challenge yourself, and begin building fluency before implementing these skills with a learner.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify the three components of a discrete trial.
• Prepare and arrange teaching materials for common DTT programs.
• Present a variety of SDs used during discrete trial teaching.
• Demonstrate the basic sequence of running a discrete trial.
• Practice transitioning between teaching programs while interspersing known and new teaching targets.