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BCBA Exam Prep Questions With 100%
Verified Answers
What are the common attitudes and assumptions of science? - answer✔determinism, empiricism,
experimentation, replication, parsimony, and philosophic doubt
Explain the difference between EAB and ABA - answer✔EAB involves basic research, reporting
only on basic behavior experiments whose primary goal is to discover and clarify the basic
principles of behavior and determine functional relations between behavior and controlling
variables.
ABA involves applied research and has the goal of creating a technology for improving socially
significant behavior and to determine functional relations between socially significant behavior
and controlling variables.
Describe the methodological features of EAB - answer✔rate of response is the most common
dependent variable; repeated or continuous measurement is made of carefully defined response
classes; within-subject experimental comparisons are used instead of group designs; visual
analysis of graphed data is preferred over statistical inference; a description of functional
relations is valued over formal theory testing.
5 functions/phases of behavioral assessment - answer✔a) screening, b) defining and quantifying
problems or goals, c) pinpointing the target behavior(s), d) monitoring progress, e) following up
4 main methods for obtaining assessment information - answer✔interviews, checklists, tests, and
direct observation
What is an ecological assessment? - answer✔gathering a large amount of information about the
person and the environments in which that person lives and works; this type of assessment is
neither necessary nor warranted for most ABA programs
What is reactivity? - answer✔the effects of an assessment procedure on the behavior being
assessed, most likely during direct observation when the individual is aware they are being
observed
, ©BRAINBARTER 2024/2025
What questions should be asked to determine the social significance and habilitative (adjustment,
competence) value of a potential target behavior? - answer✔Will the behavior be reinforced in
the person's daily life?
Is the behavior a necessary prerequisite for a useful skill?
Will the behavior increase the person's access to environments in which other important
behaviors can be learned or used?
Will the behavior predispose others to interact with the person in a more appropriate and
supportive manner?
Is the behavior a cusp or pivotal behavior?
Is the behavior age appropriate?
Does the behavior represent the actual problem or is it only indirectly related?
What are the two basic effects that a stimulus change has on behavior? - answer✔1. an
immediate but temporary effect of increasing or decreasing the current frequency of the behavior
(ex: a sudden downpour is likely to immediately increase the frequency of all behavior that has
resulted in the person successfully escaping the rain in the past)
2. a delayed but relatively permanent effect in terms of frequency of that type of behavior in the
future
(ex: if the individual decided not to take an umbrella the downpour will decrease the frequency
of that behavior on cloudy days in the future)
Explain higher order respondent conditioning - answer✔the process when a neutral stimulus is
paired with a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned reflex
Describe respondent extinction - answer✔when a conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly
without the unconditioned stimulus until the conditioned stimulus no longer elicits the
conditioned response
Define and describe the difference between ontogeny and phylogeny - answer✔The former is the
history of development of an individual organism during its lifetime. The latter is the history of
the natural evolution of a species.
Explain the multiple ways that consequences affect behavior (operant conditioning) -
answer✔Consequences can affect only future behavior.
Consequences select response classes, not individual responses.
Immediate consequences are most effective.
Consequences select any behavior that precedes them.
BCBA Exam Prep Questions With 100%
Verified Answers
What are the common attitudes and assumptions of science? - answer✔determinism, empiricism,
experimentation, replication, parsimony, and philosophic doubt
Explain the difference between EAB and ABA - answer✔EAB involves basic research, reporting
only on basic behavior experiments whose primary goal is to discover and clarify the basic
principles of behavior and determine functional relations between behavior and controlling
variables.
ABA involves applied research and has the goal of creating a technology for improving socially
significant behavior and to determine functional relations between socially significant behavior
and controlling variables.
Describe the methodological features of EAB - answer✔rate of response is the most common
dependent variable; repeated or continuous measurement is made of carefully defined response
classes; within-subject experimental comparisons are used instead of group designs; visual
analysis of graphed data is preferred over statistical inference; a description of functional
relations is valued over formal theory testing.
5 functions/phases of behavioral assessment - answer✔a) screening, b) defining and quantifying
problems or goals, c) pinpointing the target behavior(s), d) monitoring progress, e) following up
4 main methods for obtaining assessment information - answer✔interviews, checklists, tests, and
direct observation
What is an ecological assessment? - answer✔gathering a large amount of information about the
person and the environments in which that person lives and works; this type of assessment is
neither necessary nor warranted for most ABA programs
What is reactivity? - answer✔the effects of an assessment procedure on the behavior being
assessed, most likely during direct observation when the individual is aware they are being
observed
, ©BRAINBARTER 2024/2025
What questions should be asked to determine the social significance and habilitative (adjustment,
competence) value of a potential target behavior? - answer✔Will the behavior be reinforced in
the person's daily life?
Is the behavior a necessary prerequisite for a useful skill?
Will the behavior increase the person's access to environments in which other important
behaviors can be learned or used?
Will the behavior predispose others to interact with the person in a more appropriate and
supportive manner?
Is the behavior a cusp or pivotal behavior?
Is the behavior age appropriate?
Does the behavior represent the actual problem or is it only indirectly related?
What are the two basic effects that a stimulus change has on behavior? - answer✔1. an
immediate but temporary effect of increasing or decreasing the current frequency of the behavior
(ex: a sudden downpour is likely to immediately increase the frequency of all behavior that has
resulted in the person successfully escaping the rain in the past)
2. a delayed but relatively permanent effect in terms of frequency of that type of behavior in the
future
(ex: if the individual decided not to take an umbrella the downpour will decrease the frequency
of that behavior on cloudy days in the future)
Explain higher order respondent conditioning - answer✔the process when a neutral stimulus is
paired with a conditioned stimulus producing a conditioned reflex
Describe respondent extinction - answer✔when a conditioned stimulus is presented repeatedly
without the unconditioned stimulus until the conditioned stimulus no longer elicits the
conditioned response
Define and describe the difference between ontogeny and phylogeny - answer✔The former is the
history of development of an individual organism during its lifetime. The latter is the history of
the natural evolution of a species.
Explain the multiple ways that consequences affect behavior (operant conditioning) -
answer✔Consequences can affect only future behavior.
Consequences select response classes, not individual responses.
Immediate consequences are most effective.
Consequences select any behavior that precedes them.
