ABAT Natural Environment Teaching (NET) and Incidental Teaching — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Natural Environment Teaching (NET) differs from Discrete Trial Training (DTT) primarily because NET:
- Uses punishers to reduce errors during skill practice
- Embeds teaching opportunities within the learner's naturally occurring activities and follows the learner's motivation (Correct answer)
- Requires the therapist to control all materials and initiate every teaching trial
- Is only appropriate for learners who have already mastered skills in a structured setting
Correct answer: Embeds teaching opportunities within the learner's naturally occurring activities and follows the learner's motivation
In NET, teaching occurs within naturally occurring routines and activities, and the learner's current interests and motivation guide which skills are targeted in the moment. This contrasts with DTT, where the instructor controls the pace, materials, and sequence of discrete trials at a table.
Question 2: Which of the following is an example of 'capturing' a teaching opportunity in Natural Environment Teaching?
- Setting up a situation where a preferred toy is placed out of reach to prompt a request
- Teaching a skill during a structured table-top session with a predetermined trial sequence
- Taking advantage of a learner spontaneously reaching for a cookie to prompt the mand 'cookie please' (Correct answer)
- Using a written lesson plan to decide exactly which skills to practice in a 30-minute session
Correct answer: Taking advantage of a learner spontaneously reaching for a cookie to prompt the mand 'cookie please'
Capturing a teaching opportunity means recognizing and using a naturally occurring moment of motivation — the learner already wants something — to prompt and reinforce the target skill. Contriving an opportunity (like placing a toy out of reach) is a different but related NET strategy.
Question 3: In incidental teaching, the instructor's role when a learner approaches and reaches for a desired item is FIRST to:
- Immediately give the item to maintain a positive rapport
- Wait for the learner to initiate communication and then prompt an elaborated response if needed (Correct answer)
- Redirect the learner to a structured table task before providing the item
- Record the behavior on a frequency data sheet before responding
Correct answer: Wait for the learner to initiate communication and then prompt an elaborated response if needed
Incidental teaching begins with the learner's initiation (approach/reach/vocalization toward a preferred item). The instructor then uses a time delay or prompt hierarchy to elicit a more elaborate response before providing the item as natural reinforcement. The learner's initiation is the teaching trigger.
Question 4: A key advantage of Natural Environment Teaching over purely structured teaching sessions is that skills learned through NET tend to:
- Be acquired more quickly because fewer practice trials are needed
- Generalize more readily because they are taught across varied, natural contexts from the start (Correct answer)
- Require less supervision because the learner works independently
- Produce higher rates of correct responding within the first session
Correct answer: Generalize more readily because they are taught across varied, natural contexts from the start
Because NET teaches skills in the settings and contexts where they will naturally be used — and using natural reinforcers — generalization of those skills is built into the teaching process rather than being a separate programming step.
Question 5: Which of the following BEST describes the concept of 'contriving' a teaching opportunity in NET?
- Waiting for a naturally occurring moment and then delivering reinforcement without prompting
- Deliberately engineering an environmental situation to create motivation to communicate or respond (Correct answer)
- Using a fixed trial sequence at a table to introduce a new skill
- Withholding reinforcement indefinitely to increase motivation
Correct answer: Deliberately engineering an environmental situation to create motivation to communicate or respond
Contriving an opportunity involves intentionally setting up the environment to create a situation that motivates the learner (e.g., placing a preferred item in view but out of reach, giving a puzzle with a missing piece, handing over a jar the learner cannot open). This artificially creates a motivating operation that sets the stage for a functional communication or skill response.
Question 6: During a NET session, a child reaches for blocks on a high shelf but cannot reach them. The RBT waits a few seconds, then models 'blocks please' and the child imitates. The RBT immediately gives the child the blocks. This sequence is an example of:
- Negative reinforcement — removing the aversive demand of reaching
- A mand training trial using a contrived motivating operation and natural reinforcement (Correct answer)
- Punishment — withholding the blocks was aversive until the correct response occurred
- Errorless teaching — no opportunity for the child to make an error was provided
Correct answer: A mand training trial using a contrived motivating operation and natural reinforcement
The child's motivation to have the blocks is a motivating operation (MO). The instructor contrived the situation by placing blocks out of reach, then used a model prompt to evoke the mand 'blocks please.' Providing the blocks is natural reinforcement that directly addresses the child's current motivation — a hallmark of naturalistic mand training.
ABAT Natural Environment Teaching (NET) and Incidental Teaching
Natural Environment Teaching (NET) differs from Discrete Trial Training (DTT) primarily because NET: