Free BCaBA Certification Examination Practice Questions

Sample Practice Questions

Try these 10 sample questions from the BCaBA Certification Examination practice bank. Each includes the answer and explanation. Continue with the interactive practice above to review the full question set.

1. 1A BCaBA notices that a client's whining reliably occurs just before the client screams, but no environmental variable has yet been identified or manipulated. What does this behavior-behavior relation allow the BCaBA to do?

   1. A. Predict screaming, but not influence it through the environment
   2. B. Influence screaming by changing the consequences for whining
   3. C. Explain screaming as caused by the whining that precedes it
   4. D. Demonstrate a functional relation between whining and screaming

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Meindl and Ivy note that "These behavior–behavior relations, however, only enable the prediction of behavior—if this behavior occurs then that behavior is likely to occur. This analysis does not lend itself to the influence of behavior." Knowing that whining precedes screaming lets the BCaBA anticipate screaming, but because no manipulable environmental variable has been identified, the relation neither explains screaming nor permits control of it, and it is not a demonstrated functional relation.

   Reference: A Neurobiological-Behavioral Approach to Predicting and Influencing Private Events — The Problem of Behavior–Behavior Relations

2. 2When given difficult work, a student sometimes screams, sometimes tears the worksheet, and sometimes drops to the floor; each of these produces removal of the work. How should these behaviors be classified?

   1. A. As separate behaviors, because their topographies differ
   2. B. As a behavior chain, because each response produces the next
   3. C. As one response class, because the same reinforcer maintains them
   4. D. As one stimulus class, because the same work sets the occasion

   Answer: C

   Explanation: Heinicke et al. state: "All response forms that are maintained by the same reinforcer are characterized as a response class," and "Response class members can include a wide variety of topographies." Screaming, tearing, and dropping differ in form but share escape from work as their maintaining consequence. They do not occur in a fixed sequence (a chain), and a stimulus class groups antecedent stimuli, not responses.

   Reference: The Effects of Fixed-Time Reinforcement Schedules on Functional Response Classes — Introduction

3. 3A BCaBA measures how many seconds pass between a teacher's instruction and a student's first response, and also the seconds between successive hand raises. Both measures belong to which dimensional quantity of behavior?

   1. A. Temporal locus
   2. B. Repeatability
   3. C. Temporal extent
   4. D. Topography

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Morris et al. explain that "temporal locus refers to the time between a behavior and another event and includes specific measures like latency and interresponse time (IRT)." By contrast, "Repeatability refers to the countable instances of behavior and includes specific measures like count and frequency/rate" and "Temporal extent refers to the total amount of time a behavior occurs and includes specific measures like duration." Topography is the form of a response, not a dimensional quantity of time.

   Reference: A Practitioner's Guide to Measuring Procedural Fidelity — Assigning Measures

4. 4A single-case study evaluates a tantrum intervention for a preschooler. In each session, observers record the proportion of 10-second intervals in which a tantrum occurs. In this study, what is the dependent variable?

   1. A. The tantrum intervention being introduced
   2. B. The proportion of intervals with tantrums
   3. C. The 10-second length of each interval
   4. D. The sessions in which data are recorded

   Answer: B

   Explanation: The WWC technical documentation describes an example study "using proportion of 10-second observation intervals with child tantrums as the dependent variable and a tantrum intervention as the independent variable." The measured outcome is the dependent variable; the intervention is the independent variable, and the interval length and sessions are features of the measurement system.

   Reference: What Works Clearinghouse Single-Case Design Technical Documentation — Section D, Visual Analysis of Single-Case Research Results, p. 19

5. 5During a case review, a BCaBA discovers an error in a client's data summary that the BCaBA had prepared, corrects it promptly, and then completes a program revision that the BCaBA had promised the family. Which core principle of the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts do these actions most directly reflect?

   1. A. Ensure their competence
   2. B. Benefit others
   3. C. Treat others with compassion, dignity, and respect
   4. D. Behave with integrity

   Answer: D

   Explanation: The Code's core principle "Behave with Integrity" lists "Following through on obligations" and "Holding themselves accountable for their work and the work of their supervisees and trainees, and correcting errors in a timely manner" among the ways behavior analysts embody it. Correcting the data error promptly and completing the promised revision apply exactly those behaviors. Benefit others centers on protecting welfare and avoiding harm, compassion/dignity/respect on equitable and respectful treatment and self-determination, and competence on scope of practice and professional development.

   Reference: Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts — Core Principles, principle 3 (Behave with Integrity), p. 4

6. 6While reviewing intake records, a BCaBA notes that a client's head hitting began around the time the client started pulling at one ear and waking at night. According to the Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, what should the BCaBA ensure?

   1. A. That a functional analysis is completed first, with a medical referral only if results are unclear
   2. B. That medical needs are assessed, the referral is documented, and the client is followed up with
   3. C. That the case is closed until a physician confirms no medical cause, without further follow-up
   4. D. That treatment begins at once, with the possible ear problem noted in the plan for later review

   Answer: B

   Explanation: Standard 2.12 states that "Behavior analysts ensure, to the best of their ability, that medical needs are assessed and addressed if there is any reasonable likelihood that a referred behavior is influenced by medical or biological variables. They document referrals made to a medical professional and follow up with the client after making the referral." Ear pulling and night waking make a medical influence reasonably likely, so delaying the referral, closing the case, or treating first does not meet the standard.

   Reference: Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts — Standard 2.12 Considering Medical Needs, p. 12

7. 7A client's self-injury is maintained by adult attention. The BCaBA's plan has staff deliver attention every 30 seconds on a timer, regardless of whether the client is engaging in self-injury at that moment. Which procedure is this?

   1. A. Noncontingent reinforcement
   2. B. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior
   3. C. Differential reinforcement of other behavior
   4. D. Fixed-ratio reinforcement

   Answer: A

   Explanation: Wallace et al. define noncontingent reinforcement as "the delivery of reinforcers according to a schedule that is not response contingent." Attention on a fixed-time schedule regardless of behavior is NCR. DRA requires an alternative response, DRO requires the absence of the target behavior for an interval, and a fixed-ratio schedule requires a set number of responses.

   Reference: Noncontingent Reinforcement: A Further Examination of Schedule Effects during Treatment — Introduction

8. 8A draft behavior plan includes the step "staff will treat the client with dignity and respect." According to guidance on writing measurable treatment procedures, what should the BCaBA do with this step?

   1. A. Keep the wording, since staff already understand respectful care
   2. B. Operationally define it as specific, observable staff behaviors
   3. C. Remove it, because values cannot be part of a behavior plan
   4. D. Replace it with a rating of how respectful staff feel they were

   Answer: B

   Explanation: Morris et al. advise that "when terms like this are embedded within treatment components, it is important that they be operationally defined in the treatment plan and PF checklist to decrease the subjectivity of the terms," giving the example of specifying respectful salutations rather than stating that staff should treat clients with compassion, dignity, and respect. Leaving the wording vague or relying on self-ratings keeps the step unmeasurable, and the value should be operationalized rather than dropped.

   Reference: A Practitioner's Guide to Measuring Procedural Fidelity — Step 1, Task Analyze Treatment Procedures into Measurable Units

9. 9An agency is losing many behavior technicians to resignation. In a survey of 100 technicians cited in the performance management literature, which factors were found to influence technicians' intent to quit?

   1. A. Commute distance, client diagnosis, and the total number of hours on the caseload
   2. B. Satisfaction with initial training, ongoing staff support, and supervisor behavior
   3. C. Session length, client age, and the type of data collection system that is used
   4. D. Credential level, years of schooling, and the size of the organization's caseload

   Answer: B

   Explanation: Novak et al. report that "Kazemi, Shapiro, and Kavner (2015) surveyed 100 behavior technicians from several companies and found that satisfaction with initial training, ongoing staff support, and supervisor behavior were key factors influencing respondents’ intent to quit their jobs." Ineffective supervision therefore risks employee turnover; the other options list factors the survey did not identify as key.

   Reference: Evidence-Based Performance Management: Applying Behavioral Science to Support Practitioners — Introduction

10. 10ABC recording in a classroom shows that teacher attention often follows a student's disruptions. Before any variable has been manipulated, what can the BCaBA conclude from these descriptive data?

    1. A. Attention has been shown to be the reinforcer maintaining disruption
    2. B. The two events are correlated, but a causal relation is not shown
    3. C. Disruption has been shown to be under the control of attention as an SD
    4. D. Withholding attention has been shown to reduce disruption in class

    Answer: B

    Explanation: Borrero and Borrero explain that "Although descriptive observation methods identify only correlations rather than causal relations among events, they have been shown to be useful for describing response sequences or the temporal organization of behavior." Descriptive data serve the goal of description; showing that attention reinforces or controls disruption, or that withholding it reduces disruption, requires manipulating the variable.

    Reference: Descriptive and Experimental Analyses of Potential Precursors to Problem Behavior — Introduction