Free · 2026 · ABA skill acquisition for the RBT exam Chaining in ABA: forward, backward and total-task chaining, with a task analysis you can watch

Chaining in ABA is a teaching procedure for skills made of several steps in a row, such as handwashing, getting dressed or brushing teeth. First a task analysis breaks the skill into small steps in order; then chaining teaches those steps until the learner links them into one routine, a behavior chain in which finishing each step is the cue for the next and the last step ends in reinforcement. There are three chaining procedures. Forward chaining teaches the first step first and adds each next step in order. Backward chaining teaches the last step first, so the learner finishes the task every time, and works back to the start. Total-task chaining teaches every step in every session, prompting only where the learner needs help. No procedure is best for every learner: in one study, every child learned with both forward and backward chaining, and no child consistently learned faster with either. Chaining is task C.5 on the 3rd edition RBT Test Content Outline and task 8 of the 2026 RBT competency assessment. Below: a handwashing task analysis, the three procedures compared, a simulator that teaches the same skill each way, how to take task analysis data, and a free 14-question drill with answers.

The task analysis: handwashing in 8 steps

A task analysis lists the steps of a skill in the order they're done, each small enough to teach. Every example on this page uses this one:

Turn on the water
Wet both hands
Get soap
Scrub hands
Rinse hands
Turn off the water
Dry hands on a towel
Throw the towel away

How a task analysis is built

Watch someone competent do the task and write down each step, ask people who teach it, or do it yourself and note every move. Then try it with the learner: steps they can't learn are split into smaller ones, and steps they already do can be merged.

What it's for

The task analysis is the plan and the data sheet at once. A first assessment shows which steps the learner already does, the BCBA picks a chaining procedure, and the RBT scores every step in every session.

Forward vs backward vs total-task chaining

The three chaining procedures (RBT task C.5)
	Forward chaining	Backward chaining	Total-task chaining
What is taught first	Step 1	The last step	Every step, every session
Who does the other steps	The RBT completes the later steps or guides the learner through them	The RBT completes or guides the earlier steps; the learner always does the last ones	The learner does all of them, with prompts where needed
When the reinforcer comes	After the step being taught, while it's being learned	At the end of the task, every time	At the end of the chain (and often for unprompted steps)
Often chosen when	The early steps are easier, or the order is learned from the start	Finishing the task is itself reinforcing, as in many self-care skills	The learner already does many steps, or the chain is short

In every procedure, prompts teach the step being worked on, and the plan says how they're faded. The prompt hierarchy page covers most-to-least, least-to-most and time delay.

Watch each procedure teach the same skill

Pick a procedure and move through the sessions. Each step shows whether the learner does it alone, is being taught it, or has the RBT do it; the star shows when the reinforcer comes; and the chart builds the "% of steps independent" data as you go.

Teach step 1 first. The RBT completes the later steps (or guides the learner through them) until each one is taught in order.

Teaching step 1 of 8

Turn on the waterTeaching now
Reinforcer here
Wet both handsRBT does or guides
Get soapRBT does or guides
Scrub handsRBT does or guides
Rinse handsRBT does or guides
Turn off the waterRBT does or guides
Dry hands on a towelRBT does or guides
Throw the towel awayRBT does or guides

Steps independent

0 of 8 (0%)

One bar per step taught, % of steps independent

Session block 1: teaching step 1, "Turn on the water". The RBT does the rest, and the learner is reinforced for step 1.

What the research says

Slocum and Tiger (2011) taught children the same kinds of tasks with forward and backward chaining. Every child learned every skill with both procedures, no child consistently learned faster with either, and a short practice task didn't predict which would work better on longer ones. The children preferred both procedures over no prompting, with no preference between them. Bancroft and colleagues (2011) looked at what to do with the later steps during forward chaining: the instructor completing them, guiding the learner through them, or leaving them undone. All three worked; guiding was the most efficient for five of seven children, and leaving them undone took the least training time for the four children who had that option.

Taking data on a task analysis

Score every step on every trial: independent, or the prompt the learner needed. The usual summary is the percent of steps done independently. Here are the five total-task sessions from the simulator as a data sheet:

Handwashing task analysis, total-task chaining
Step	Session 1	Session 2	Session 3	Session 4	Session 5
1. Turn on the water	G	I	I	I	I
2. Wet both hands	PP	G	I	I	I
3. Get soap	PP	PP	G	I	I
4. Scrub hands	FP	PP	PP	G	I
5. Rinse hands	PP	G	V	I	I
6. Turn off the water	G	I	I	I	I
7. Dry hands on a towel	PP	G	G	I	I
8. Throw the towel away	V	I	I	I	I
% independent	0%	38%	50%	88%	100%

I independent · V verbal · G gestural · M model · PP partial physical · FP full physical

Single-opportunity probe

The learner is asked to do the whole task with no help. The probe stops at the first error or no response, and every step from there on is scored as not yet independent. It's quick and conservative.

Multiple-opportunity probe

When the learner misses a step, the instructor completes it (or sets it up) and the probe continues, so every step gets assessed. It shows which later steps the learner already knows.

Shaping vs chaining

Shaping (RBT task C.10) changes one behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations of it, such as "b", then "ba", then "ball", and no longer reinforcing the earlier forms. Chaining (task C.5) links several behaviors, each one the learner can do or learn on its own, into a sequence. A quick test on the exam: if the scenario changes the form of a single response, it's shaping; if it adds steps to a routine, it's chaining.

Chaining practice: 14 questions with answers

Name the procedure, read the task analysis data, and tell shaping from chaining, like the questions on the RBT exam. The reason shows after each answer.

Question 1 of 14 · 0 right so far

To teach handwashing, the RBT teaches "turn on the water" until it's mastered, then adds "wet both hands", and so on. The RBT does the remaining steps each time. Which procedure is this?

Chaining on the RBT exam

On the 3rd edition RBT Test Content Outline, Behavior Acquisition is 19 of the 75 scored questions, the largest section. Task C.5 is "Implement task analyzed chaining procedures (e.g., forward, backward, total task)." Expect scenarios that describe a teaching sequence and ask which procedure it is, what happens with the untaught steps, or how to score the data.

Forward chaining teaches the first step first; backward chaining teaches the last step first; total-task chaining teaches every step every session.
In backward chaining the learner still finishes the whole task every time: the RBT does or guides the earlier steps.
Shaping changes one behavior through closer and closer approximations; chaining links several behaviors into a sequence.
The task analysis is the list of steps; chaining is the procedure for teaching them.
Prompting strategies (least-to-most, most-to-least) are used within chaining to teach a step; they aren't chaining procedures.
Score each step: independent, or the prompt the learner needed. Report the percent of steps independent.

On the 2026 competency assessment

Task 8 of the RBT Initial Competency Assessment is "Chaining: Implement task analyzed chaining procedures," with a client or in role-play. Practice naming the procedure you're using, teaching the target step with the planned prompts, completing or guiding the other steps as the plan says, and scoring every step. Our RBT competency assessment guide has a role-play for each of the 19 tasks.

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Take the free 85-question RBT practice exam on the 3rd edition outline, with an explanation for every answer and your score for every section.

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Chaining and task analysis FAQ

What is chaining in ABA?

Chaining is an ABA procedure for teaching a skill made of several steps in a row, such as handwashing or getting dressed. The skill is first broken into steps with a task analysis, then the steps are taught until the learner links them into one routine. The three procedures are forward chaining, backward chaining and total-task chaining.

What is a task analysis in ABA?

A task analysis is a list of the steps of a complex skill, broken down small enough to teach, in the order they are done. It is built by watching someone competent do the task, asking experts, or doing the task yourself, and it doubles as the data sheet: each step is scored as independent or with the prompt the learner needed.

What is the difference between forward and backward chaining?

Forward chaining teaches the first step first and adds the next step in order once each is mastered, with the instructor completing or guiding the later steps. Backward chaining teaches the last step first, with the instructor completing or guiding the earlier steps, so the learner finishes the task and contacts the reinforcer for finishing on every trial.

What is total task chaining?

Total-task chaining (total-task presentation) teaches every step of the task analysis in every session. The learner does each step they can on their own, gets the prompt they need on the others, and the prompts are faded until the whole chain is independent. It is often chosen when the learner can already do many of the steps or the chain is short.

Is forward or backward chaining better?

Neither is better for every learner. In a 2011 study, every child learned the target skills with both forward and backward chaining, no child consistently learned faster with either, and the children showed no preference between them. The supervising BCBA picks the procedure for the learner and the skill.

What is the difference between shaping and chaining?

Shaping changes one behavior by reinforcing closer and closer approximations of it, such as "b", then "ba", then "ball". Chaining links several different behaviors into a sequence, such as the steps of handwashing. Both are on the RBT Test Content Outline: shaping is task C.10 and chaining is task C.5.

How do you take data on a task analysis?

Score every step on each trial as independent or with the prompt the learner needed, then report the percent of steps done independently (6 of 10 steps is 60%). Probes use either the single-opportunity method, which stops at the first error, or the multiple-opportunity method, in which the instructor completes a missed step and assessment continues.

What is a behavior chain?

A behavior chain is a sequence of responses in which finishing each response produces a change that serves as the cue for the next response and as conditioned reinforcement for the one before it. The last response in the chain produces the reinforcer, such as clean, dry hands at the end of handwashing.

Sources, checked October 31, 2026: BACB: RBT Test Content Outline (3rd ed.) · BACB: RBT Initial Competency Assessment (2026) · Slocum & Tiger (2011): The efficiency of and child preference for forward and backward chaining, JABA · Bancroft, Weiss, Libby & Ahearn (2011): Procedural variations in teaching behavior chains, JABA · Cooper, Heron & Heward: Applied Behavior Analysis (3rd ed., 2020). For exam study, not clinical guidance: your supervising BCBA writes the task analysis and picks the chaining procedure, and RBTs carry out the plan as written.