BCBA — Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Test Content Outline, 6th edition, effective January 1, 2025. The exam has 175 scored questionsplus 10 unscored, in 240 minutes.
Content areas
9 areas, 104 tasks. The bar shows each area's share of the exam.
A. Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations
5% of the exam · 8 questions · 5 tasks
What the science is for, what it assumes, and how applied behavior analysis sits among the other branches of the field. Small on the exam but underneath everything else: the attitudes of science are what make the rest of the outline coherent.
- A.1 State what a science is trying to accomplish — describing, predicting and controlling its subject matter — and recognize each goal in behavior-analytic work. Know the three things a science tries to do, and spot each one in practice. Functional Relation
- A.2 Explain the assumptions a behavior analyst works from — determinism, empiricism, experimentation, replication, parsimony and philosophic doubt — and apply them. Know the attitudes of science and how each one shows up in good practice. DeterminismEmpiricismParsimonyPhilosophic DoubtReplication
- A.3 Describe radical behaviorism, including its treatment of private events as behavior, and contrast it with mentalistic and methodological positions. Explain radical behaviorism and how it differs from other views of behavior. Radical BehaviorismMentalismPrivate EventExplanatory Fiction
- A.4 Distinguish the branches of the field from one another — the experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, service delivery, and behaviorism as philosophy — by their goals and methods. Tell the four branches of behavior analysis apart by what each one does. Applied Behavior AnalysisExperimental Analysis of Behavior
- A.5 Identify the defining dimensions of applied behavior analysis in a description of practice, and judge whether a piece of work meets them. Know the seven dimensions of ABA and check whether a program meets them. Seven Dimensions of ABAApplied Behavior Analysis
15 glossary terms in this area
B. Concepts and Principles
14% of the exam · 24 questions · 24 tasks
The basic vocabulary of the science, defined precisely: behavior and stimulus classes, respondent and operant relations, reinforcement and punishment, schedules, stimulus control, motivating operations, verbal behavior, and the derived and emergent relations built on them. The largest domain by task count.
- B.1 Define behavior, response and response class, and identify each in an example. Know what counts as behavior, a single response, and a class of responses. BehaviorResponse Class
- B.2 Define stimulus and stimulus class, including classes formed by physical similarity, by temporal relation, and by function. Know what a stimulus is and the ways stimuli get grouped into classes. StimulusStimulus Class
- B.3 Distinguish respondent from operant conditioning by what is learned and what controls it, and identify each in an example. Tell reflex-based learning from consequence-based learning. Respondent ConditioningOperant Conditioning
- B.4 Define positive and negative reinforcement by their operations and effects, and identify each in an example. Know both kinds of reinforcement and what makes them different. Positive ReinforcementNegative Reinforcement
- B.5 Define positive and negative punishment by their operations and effects, and identify each in an example. Know both kinds of punishment and what makes them different. PunishmentPositive PunishmentNegative Punishment
- B.6 Distinguish automatic from socially mediated consequences, for both reinforcement and punishment. Know when a consequence comes from the behavior itself and when another person delivers it. Automatic ReinforcementSocially Mediated Reinforcement
- B.7 Distinguish unconditioned, conditioned and generalized reinforcers, and unconditioned and conditioned punishers, by how they acquired their function. Know which consequences work from birth and which have to be learned. Unconditioned ReinforcerConditioned ReinforcerGeneralized Conditioned Reinforcer
- B.8 Identify the simple schedules of reinforcement — continuous, fixed and variable ratio, fixed and variable interval — and the response patterns each produces. Know the basic schedules of reinforcement and how behavior looks under each. Continuous ReinforcementFixed-Ratio ScheduleVariable-Ratio ScheduleFixed-Interval ScheduleVariable-Interval Schedule
- B.9 Identify compound schedules of reinforcement — concurrent, multiple, mixed, chained, tandem and others — and what distinguishes them. Know the schedules that combine two or more simple schedules. Compound ScheduleConcurrent Schedule
- B.10 Distinguish operant extinction from respondent extinction, and describe the effects that accompany each. Know what extinction means for operant and for respondent behavior. ExtinctionExtinction BurstSpontaneous Recovery
- B.11 Describe stimulus control and the conditions under which a stimulus acquires it. Explain how a stimulus comes to control when a behavior happens. Stimulus ControlDiscriminative StimulusS-Delta
- B.12 Describe stimulus discrimination and the training that produces it. Explain how a learner comes to respond differently to different stimuli. Stimulus DiscriminationDiscrimination Training
- B.13 Distinguish stimulus generalization from response generalization and identify each in an example. Know the difference between a skill spreading to new situations and spreading to new forms. Stimulus GeneralizationResponse GeneralizationGeneralization
- B.14 Describe maintenance of behavior change over time after intervention has ended. Explain what it means for a skill to last after teaching stops. Maintenance
- B.15 Define motivating operations, including establishing and abolishing operations and their value-altering and behavior-altering effects. Explain what changes how much a consequence is wanted right now. Motivating OperationEstablishing OperationAbolishing OperationDeprivationSatiation
- B.16 Distinguish the motivational function of a stimulus from its discriminative function, and identify which is operating in an example. Tell the difference between a stimulus that changes wanting and one that signals availability. Motivating OperationDiscriminative Stimulus
- B.17 Distinguish rule-governed from contingency-shaped behavior and describe how each is acquired and maintained. Know the difference between behavior learned from instructions and behavior learned from consequences. Rule-Governed BehaviorContingency-Shaped Behavior
- B.18 Define the elementary verbal operants — mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal, textual, transcription — and identify each by its controlling variables. Know the basic verbal operants and what controls each one. Verbal BehaviorMandTactEchoicIntraverbalTextualTranscription
- B.19 Describe multiple control of verbal behavior, including convergent and divergent control, and identify it in an example. Explain what happens when more than one variable controls what someone says. Multiple Control
- B.20 Describe emergent relations and generative performance, including stimulus equivalence, and identify untrained relations that follow from trained ones. Explain how learners come to respond correctly to relations they were never taught. Stimulus Equivalence
- B.21 Describe behavioral momentum — persistence of responding under changed conditions — and the variables that strengthen it. Explain why behavior with a rich reinforcement history resists disruption. Behavioral Momentum
- B.22 Describe the matching law — response allocation tracking relative reinforcement — and apply it to choice between concurrently available alternatives. Explain how people divide their behavior between options based on the payoff of each. Matching LawConcurrent Schedule
- B.23 Distinguish imitation from observational learning and describe the conditions under which each occurs. Know the difference between copying a model right away and learning from watching. ImitationObservational Learning
- B.24 Describe how derived relational responding — relating stimuli by trained frames such as sameness, comparison and opposition — accounts for generative language. Explain how relating things in trained ways lets learners produce responses nobody taught. Stimulus Equivalence
66 glossary terms in this area
- Abolishing Operation
- Autoclitic
- Automatic Reinforcement
- Behavior
- Behavioral Momentum
- Compound Schedule
- Concurrent Schedule
- Conditioned Punisher
- Conditioned Reinforcer
- Contingency-Shaped Behavior
- Continuous Reinforcement
- Deprivation
- Discrimination Training
- Discriminative Stimulus
- Echoic
- Escape Extinction
- Establishing Operation
- Extinction
- Extinction Burst
- Fixed-Interval Schedule
- Fixed-Ratio Schedule
- Function of Behavior
- Generalization
- Generalized Conditioned Reinforcer
- Imitation
- Intermittent Reinforcement
- Intraverbal
- Listener Responding
- Maintenance
- Mand
- Matching Law
- Motivating Operation
- Multiple Control
- Negative Punishment
- Negative Reinforcement
- Observational Learning
- Operant Conditioning
- Planned Ignoring
- Positive Punishment
- Positive Reinforcement
- Punishment
- Reinforcer
- Respondent Conditioning
- Response Class
- Response Generalization
- Rule-Governed Behavior
- S-Delta
- Satiation
- Sensory Extinction
- Setting Event
- Socially Mediated Reinforcement
- Spontaneous Recovery
- Stimulus
- Stimulus Class
- Stimulus Control
- Stimulus Discrimination
- Stimulus Equivalence
- Stimulus Generalization
- Tact
- Textual
- Three-Term Contingency
- Transcription
- Unconditioned Reinforcer
- Variable-Interval Schedule
- Variable-Ratio Schedule
- Verbal Behavior
C. Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation
12% of the exam · 21 questions · 12 tasks
Turning behavior into numbers you can trust and pictures you can read: defining targets, choosing dimensions and procedures, judging validity and reliability, graphing, and interpreting what a graph shows — including whether the intervention was delivered as written.
- C.1 Write an operational definition of a target behavior that is observable, complete and unambiguous, and evaluate a given definition against those standards. Write a definition of a behavior that two people would score the same way. Operational DefinitionTopography
- C.2 Distinguish direct, indirect and product measures of behavior and choose among them. Know when to measure behavior as it happens, ask about it, or measure what it left behind. Permanent ProductIndirect Assessment
- C.3 Measure occurrence of behavior — count, frequency, rate, percentage, trials to criterion — and select the right one for the question. Know the ways to measure how often a behavior happens and when to use each. Frequency and RatePercentageTrials to Criterion
- C.4 Measure the temporal dimensions of behavior — duration, latency, interresponse time — and select the right one for the question. Know the ways to measure the timing of behavior and when to use each. DurationLatencyInterresponse Time
- C.5 Distinguish continuous from discontinuous measurement procedures and describe the trade-offs between them. Know the difference between recording every instance and sampling, and what each costs you. Continuous MeasurementDiscontinuous Measurement
- C.6 Design and use interval-recording and time-sampling procedures — partial interval, whole interval, momentary time sampling — and describe how each over- or under-estimates behavior. Set up interval and time-sampling recording and know how each one biases the estimate. Partial-Interval RecordingWhole-Interval RecordingMomentary Time Sampling
- C.7 Evaluate measurement for efficiency and practicality in the setting where it will actually be used, and adjust the procedure accordingly. Choose measurement that the people in the room can actually do while working. Continuous Measurement
- C.8 Evaluate the validity and reliability of a measurement system, including interobserver agreement, and identify threats such as observer drift and reactivity. Judge whether your data measure the right thing and would come out the same way twice. Interobserver AgreementObserver DriftReactivity
- C.9 Select a measurement system that fits the behavior's dimensions, the question being asked and the setting's constraints. Match the measurement method to the behavior and the question. Frequency and RateDuration
- C.10 Construct graphs — line, bar, cumulative and others — that display data accurately with correctly labeled axes, phases and condition changes. Draw graphs that show the data honestly and are easy to read. Line GraphCumulative RecordBar Graph
- C.11 Interpret graphed data by visual analysis — level, trend, variability and immediacy of change within and across conditions. Read a graph for level, trend and variability and say what changed. Visual AnalysisBaseline
- C.12 Measure procedural integrity — the degree to which an intervention was delivered as designed — and interpret the result alongside outcome data. Check whether the plan was actually carried out the way it was written. Treatment Integrity
31 glossary terms in this area
- Bar Graph
- Baseline
- Continuous Measurement
- Count
- Cumulative Record
- Discontinuous Measurement
- Duration
- Frequency and Rate
- Indirect Assessment
- Interobserver Agreement
- Interresponse Time
- Latency
- Level
- Line Graph
- Magnitude
- Momentary Time Sampling
- Objective Language
- Observer Drift
- Operational Definition
- Partial-Interval Recording
- Percentage
- Permanent Product
- Phase Change Line
- Reactivity
- Topography
- Treatment Integrity
- Trend
- Trials to Criterion
- Variability
- Visual Analysis
- Whole-Interval Recording
D. Experimental Design
7% of the exam · 13 questions · 9 tasks
How behavior analysts show that an intervention caused a change: dependent and independent variables, validity and its threats, the single-case designs and their logic, and how to read and critique data from them.
- D.1 Identify the dependent and independent variables in a study or intervention, and state the relation between them. Know which thing was changed on purpose and which thing was measured. Dependent VariableIndependent Variable
- D.2 Distinguish internal from external validity and explain what each tells you about a demonstration. Know the difference between "it really caused the change" and "it would work elsewhere". Internal ValidityExternal Validity
- D.3 Identify threats to internal validity — confounds such as history, maturation, reactivity and drift — and how a design controls for them. Spot the other explanations for a change and know how designs rule them out. Confounding VariableInternal Validity
- D.4 Describe the defining features of single-case experimental designs, including repeated measurement, baseline logic and within-subject replication. Know what makes single-case designs work as experiments. Single-Case Experimental DesignBaselineReplication
- D.5 Distinguish single-case from group designs and explain the strengths and limits of each for applied questions. Know when a single-case design is the better tool and when a group design is. Single-Case Experimental Design
- D.6 Critique data from a single-case design: judge whether experimental control was demonstrated and identify weaknesses in the demonstration. Look at a single-case graph and say whether it really shows the treatment worked. Experimental ControlVisual Analysis
- D.7 Describe reversal and withdrawal designs and identify the conditions under which they are and are not appropriate. Know how A-B-A-B designs work and when you should not use one. Reversal Design
- D.8 Describe multiple-baseline and multiple-probe designs across behaviors, settings or people, and the logic by which they demonstrate control. Know how staggering the start of treatment across baselines shows it worked. Multiple Baseline Design
- D.9 Describe multielement, alternating-treatments, changing-criterion and comparative or component or parametric analyses, and choose among designs for a given question. Know the designs that compare treatments or step a criterion, and pick the right one. Multielement DesignChanging Criterion Design
16 glossary terms in this area
E. Ethical and Professional Issues
13% of the exam · 22 questions · 12 tasks
The core principles behind the Ethics Code and how they play out: competence, confidentiality, public statements, ending or transferring services, multiple relationships, working across cultures, examining one's own biases, and meeting legal and regulatory requirements.
- E.1 Identify the core ethical principles of the profession and apply them to a practice situation. Know the core principles of the ethics code and use them to decide what to do. Ethics CodeDignity
- E.2 Identify the risks of unethical behavior to clients, the profession and the practitioner, and describe the accountability mechanisms that follow. Know who gets hurt by unethical practice and what happens when it is reported. Ethics CodeSelf-Reporting
- E.3 Practice within the boundaries of one's competence, and describe how competence is built and maintained through training, supervision and professional development. Do only what you are trained to do, and keep learning. Scope of CompetenceScope of Practice
- E.4 Protect confidentiality and privacy across records, conversations, technology and public settings, within applicable law. Keep client information private everywhere it could leak. ConfidentialityHIPAA
- E.5 Make truthful, non-misleading public statements, including on social media and in advertising, and avoid using client information in them. Be honest and careful in anything said publicly about services or clients. Public Statement
- E.6 Discontinue or transition services responsibly, with planning, notice and continuity of care. End or hand over services in a way that does not leave the client stranded. Continuity of Care
- E.7 Identify multiple relationships and conflicts of interest, and manage or avoid them. Recognize when a second relationship with a client or supervisee is a problem. Dual RelationshipConflict of Interest
- E.8 Use effective interpersonal and communication skills with clients, caregivers, colleagues and other professionals. Communicate clearly and respectfully with everyone involved in a client's services. Collaboration
- E.9 Practice cultural humility — an ongoing, self-examining stance toward other people's identities and contexts. Approach every family's culture as something to learn about, not assume. Cultural Humility
- E.10 Deliver services in a culturally responsive way, adapting assessment, goals and procedures to the client's values and context. Fit services to the client's culture and values instead of the other way round. Cultural ResponsivenessCultural Humility
- E.11 Identify one's own biases and how they can affect assessment, treatment and supervision decisions, and take steps to counter them. Notice your own assumptions and stop them from steering decisions. Cultural Humility
- E.12 Comply with the legal, regulatory, licensing and funder requirements that apply to behavior-analytic services, including mandated reporting. Know the laws, rules and funder requirements that apply to your work. Mandated ReporterHIPAA
18 glossary terms in this area
F. Behavior Assessment
13% of the exam · 23 questions · 8 tasks
Finding out what to work on and why: reviewing records, accounting for cultural variables, assessing skills and preferences, running descriptive and experimental functional assessments, and turning all of it into socially significant goals.
- F.1 Review existing records and available data before assessment, and identify what they do and do not establish. Read what is already known about the client before assessing anything new. Indirect Assessment
- F.2 Identify and account for cultural and contextual variables that affect assessment and the goals chosen from it. Take the client's culture and setting into account during assessment. Cultural Responsiveness
- F.3 Conduct assessments of current skills and deficits using direct observation and criterion-referenced tools, and interpret them. Find out what the client can already do and what they need to learn. Skills Assessment
- F.4 Conduct preference assessments — single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, multiple-stimulus and free-operant formats — and interpret the results. Find out what the client prefers, using a method that fits them. Preference AssessmentPaired-Stimulus Preference AssessmentMultiple-Stimulus Without ReplacementFree-Operant Preference Assessment
- F.5 Conduct descriptive assessments — ABC recording, scatter plots, structured observation — and interpret the correlations they reveal. Watch behavior in its usual setting and record what comes before and after it. Descriptive AssessmentABC RecordingScatterplot
- F.6 Conduct functional analyses, including variations such as brief, trial-based and synthesized formats, and interpret the results. Test what a behavior is for by arranging conditions and watching what happens. Functional AnalysisFunctional Behavior Assessment
- F.7 Interpret referral information and assessment results to determine whether behavior-analytic services are needed and what kind. Decide from the assessment whether services are needed and what they should be. Functional Behavior Assessment
- F.8 Identify and prioritize socially significant goals from assessment results, weighing risk, likely benefit, and the client's and caregivers' values. Choose goals that matter to the client and put the most important ones first. Social Validity
20 glossary terms in this area
- ABC Recording
- Behavioral Cusp
- Cultural Responsiveness
- Descriptive Assessment
- Ecological Assessment
- Free-Operant Preference Assessment
- Function of Behavior
- Functional Analysis
- Functional Behavior Assessment
- Indirect Assessment
- Multiple-Stimulus With Replacement
- Multiple-Stimulus Without Replacement
- Paired-Stimulus Preference Assessment
- Pivotal Behavior
- Preference Assessment
- Reinforcer Assessment
- Scatterplot
- Single-Stimulus Preference Assessment
- Skills Assessment
- Social Validity
G. Behavior-Change Procedures
14% of the exam · 25 questions · 19 tasks
The procedures themselves: reinforcement in all its forms, differential and time-based reinforcement, token economies, arranging motivating operations and discriminative stimuli, teaching discriminations, prompting and fading, modeling, shaping and chaining, group contingencies, programming for generalization and maintenance, and punishment and its side effects.
- G.1 Design and implement positive and negative reinforcement procedures, including selecting reinforcers and arranging schedules. Set up reinforcement so a target behavior actually gets stronger. Positive ReinforcementNegative Reinforcement
- G.2 Design and implement differential reinforcement procedures — DRA, DRI, DRO, DRL, DRH — and select among them for a given function and goal. Reinforce some behavior and not other behavior, on purpose, to change what the learner does. Differential Reinforcement of Alternative BehaviorDifferential Reinforcement of Other BehaviorDifferential Reinforcement of Incompatible BehaviorDifferential Reinforcement of Low RatesDifferential Reinforcement of High Rates
- G.3 Design and implement time-based (noncontingent) reinforcement schedules and describe their effects and risks. Deliver reinforcement on a timer rather than after behavior, and know what that does. Noncontingent Reinforcement
- G.4 Establish and use conditioned reinforcers, including token economies, and design the exchange system that keeps tokens effective. Make new things work as reinforcers, including tokens and points. Conditioned ReinforcerToken EconomyPairing
- G.5 Arrange motivating operations and discriminative stimuli deliberately within a procedure to make the target behavior more likely. Set up wanting and signals so the behavior you are teaching is likely to happen. Motivating OperationDiscriminative StimulusAntecedent Intervention
- G.6 Teach simple and conditional discriminations, including matching-to-sample and listener responding, and sequence them appropriately. Teach learners to respond to the right stimulus, including when it depends on a sample. Discrimination TrainingMatching-to-SampleListener Responding
- G.7 Use prompting procedures — errorless teaching, most-to-least, least-to-most — and select a prompt hierarchy suited to the learner and the skill. Help a learner respond correctly and choose the right kind of help. PromptPrompt HierarchyErrorless TeachingMost-to-Least PromptingLeast-to-Most Prompting
- G.8 Fade prompts and transfer stimulus control — time delay, stimulus fading, stimulus shaping — so the natural stimulus comes to control the response. Remove help gradually so the learner responds on their own. Prompt FadingTime DelayStimulus FadingTransfer of Stimulus Control
- G.9 Use modeling and imitation training, including video modeling, to teach new behavior. Teach by showing, and teach learners to copy a model. ModelingImitation
- G.10 Use instructions and rules to establish behavior, and describe when rule-governed behavior is and is not a good route to a target. Teach with instructions and rules, and know when that will not be enough. Rule-Governed Behavior
- G.11 Use shaping — differential reinforcement of successive approximations — to build a response that does not yet occur. Build a new behavior step by step by reinforcing closer and closer attempts. Shaping
- G.12 Use chaining — forward, backward and total-task — built on a task analysis, and select the format that fits the learner. Teach a multi-step skill by linking the steps together. ChainingForward ChainingBackward ChainingTotal-Task ChainingTask Analysis
- G.13 Distinguish trial-based from free-operant arrangements and select between discrete-trial, naturalistic and other teaching formats. Know when to teach in structured trials and when to teach in the flow of activity. Discrete Trial TrainingNaturalistic TeachingIncidental Teaching
- G.14 Design group contingencies — independent, dependent and interdependent — and weigh their benefits against their risks. Set up contingencies that apply to a group, and know the pitfalls. Group Contingency
- G.15 Program for generalization — training sufficient exemplars, common stimuli, loose training, natural contingencies — rather than expecting it to happen on its own. Plan for skills to carry over to new people, places and materials. GeneralizationMultiple Exemplar TrainingTeaching Loosely
- G.16 Program for maintenance, including thinning reinforcement schedules and shifting to naturally occurring reinforcers. Make sure skills last by thinning reinforcement and handing over to natural rewards. MaintenanceSchedule Thinning
- G.17 Describe positive and negative punishment procedures — time-out, response cost, overcorrection — and the conditions and safeguards under which they may be used. Know the punishment procedures, when they are considered, and the safeguards required. Time-Out From Positive ReinforcementResponse CostOvercorrectionPositive PunishmentNegative Punishment
- G.18 Identify the emotional and elicited side effects of behavior-change procedures, including extinction and punishment, and plan to minimize them. Anticipate the emotional fallout of procedures and reduce it. Extinction BurstPunishment
- G.19 Use procedures that produce emergent and derived relations, such as equivalence-based instruction, to teach efficiently. Teach so that learners pick up relations you never directly trained. Stimulus Equivalence
57 glossary terms in this area
- Antecedent Intervention
- Backward Chaining
- Behavioral Contrast
- Chaining
- Conditioned Reinforcer
- Differential Reinforcement of Alternative Behavior
- Differential Reinforcement of High Rates
- Differential Reinforcement of Incompatible Behavior
- Differential Reinforcement of Low Rates
- Differential Reinforcement of Other Behavior
- Discrete Trial Training
- Discrimination Training
- Discriminative Stimulus
- Error Correction
- Errorless Teaching
- Extinction Burst
- Forward Chaining
- Generalization
- Generalized Conditioned Reinforcer
- Group Contingency
- High-Probability Request Sequence
- Imitation
- Incidental Teaching
- Least-to-Most Prompting
- Listener Responding
- Maintenance
- Matching-to-Sample
- Modeling
- Most-to-Least Prompting
- Motivating Operation
- Multiple Exemplar Training
- Naturalistic Teaching
- Negative Punishment
- Negative Reinforcement
- Noncontingent Reinforcement
- Overcorrection
- Pairing
- Positive Punishment
- Positive Reinforcement
- Premack Principle
- Prompt
- Prompt Fading
- Prompt Hierarchy
- Punishment
- Response Cost
- Rule-Governed Behavior
- Schedule Thinning
- Shaping
- Stimulus Equivalence
- Stimulus Fading
- Task Analysis
- Teaching Loosely
- Time Delay
- Time-Out From Positive Reinforcement
- Token Economy
- Total-Task Chaining
- Transfer of Stimulus Control
H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions
11% of the exam · 20 questions · 8 tasks
Putting a plan together and keeping it honest: measurable goals, choosing interventions on evidence and fit, preferring socially valid alternatives, limiting unwanted effects, guarding against relapse, and using integrity and outcome data to decide what to change.
- H.1 Write measurable, socially valid goals with clear criteria for mastery and conditions for performance. Write goals that say exactly what success looks like and how it will be measured. Operational DefinitionSocial Validity
- H.2 Select interventions based on assessment results, the evidence base, client preference, and contextual fit with the setting and the people implementing them. Pick treatments that the evidence supports, the client prefers, and the setting can deliver. Evidence-Based PracticeFunctional Behavior Assessment
- H.3 Prefer socially valid, function-based alternatives — such as functional communication — that serve the same purpose as the problem behavior. Replace a problem behavior with something that works just as well for the learner. Functional Communication TrainingReplacement Behavior
- H.4 Anticipate and mitigate the unwanted effects of interventions on the client and others, including the risks of restrictive procedures. Plan for what could go wrong with a treatment and reduce the harm. Least Restrictive Alternative
- H.5 Identify the conditions that produce relapse — renewal, resurgence, reinstatement — and design against them. Know why treated behavior comes back and how to make that less likely. ResurgenceSpontaneous Recovery
- H.6 Use procedural-integrity data to decide whether to retrain implementers, simplify the plan, or revise it. When a plan is not being followed, decide whether to fix the training or the plan. Treatment IntegrityTreatment Drift
- H.7 Use outcome data to decide whether to continue, modify or discontinue an intervention. Let the data decide whether a treatment keeps going, changes or stops. Visual AnalysisBaseline
- H.8 Collaborate with caregivers, other professionals and the client in planning and delivering interventions. Work with families and other professionals rather than around them. Collaboration
11 glossary terms in this area
I. Personnel Supervision and Management
11% of the exam · 19 questions · 7 tasks
Being responsible for other people's work: why supervision matters, building the supervisory relationship, equity in supervision, setting goals for supervisees, using performance-management procedures, diagnosing performance problems by function, and making supervisory decisions from data.
- I.1 State the benefits of effective supervision and the costs of poor supervision for clients, supervisees and organizations. Know why good supervision matters and what bad supervision costs. Supervision
- I.2 Establish and maintain effective supervisory relationships, including contracts, expectations and the delivery of feedback. Set up supervision with clear agreements and give useful feedback. SupervisionPerformance Feedback
- I.3 Supervise equitably and with cultural responsiveness, recognizing how power and identity affect the supervisory relationship. Treat supervisees fairly and take their backgrounds into account. Cultural HumilitySupervision
- I.4 Set measurable, individualized goals for supervisees based on assessed skills and the requirements of their role. Give each supervisee clear goals matched to what they still need to learn. Competency AssessmentSupervision
- I.5 Use performance-management procedures — behavioral skills training, feedback, performance monitoring, incentives — to train and maintain staff performance. Train staff with practice and feedback, and keep their performance up over time. Behavioral Skills TrainingPerformance Feedback
- I.6 Diagnose staff performance problems by their function — skill deficit, missing antecedents, competing contingencies — before choosing a remedy. Work out why a staff member is not performing before deciding how to fix it. Performance Diagnostic
- I.7 Evaluate supervision itself with data — supervisee performance, client outcomes, fidelity — and adjust supervisory practice accordingly. Check with data whether your supervision is working, and change it if not. SupervisionTreatment Integrity
7 glossary terms in this area
Certification requirements
Checked against the 06/2026 version of the handbook. Requirements change; the official handbook is the authority.
A graduate-level certification for independent practitioners of behavior analysis. It requires a qualifying degree and behavior-analytic content, a long period of supervised fieldwork, and a four-hour examination, and it is maintained with continuing education on a two-year cycle. Certified analysts may supervise technicians, assistant analysts and trainees.
Eligibility pathways
Every pathway needs a degree, behavior-analytic content, supervised fieldwork and the examination. Most candidates use pathway 1 or 2. Pathways 3 and 4 are not offered under the 2027 requirements.
- Pathway 1
- A degree from a program accredited or recognized by the field's accrediting bodies, which satisfies both the degree and the coursework requirement. (Pathway 1, p. 7)
- Pathway 2
- An acceptable graduate degree plus behavior-analytic graduate coursework — within 10 years of applying, passed with a C or better, at an institution with a designated program contact who attests to it. (Pathway 2; Behavior-Analytic Coursework, pp. 8–9)
- Pathway 3 (until 2027)
- An acceptable graduate degree plus a faculty record of teaching at least five sections of graduate behavior-analytic coursework and research. (Pathway 3, p. 10)
- Pathway 4 (until 2027)
- An acceptable doctoral degree plus ten years of postdoctoral experience, then 500 hours of supervised fieldwork. (Pathway 4, p. 12)
Supervised fieldwork
Hours can only start once you have a qualified supervisor, a signed contract, and (for pathways 1 and 2) have begun qualifying coursework. All hours must be finished within five continuous years.
- Total hours
- 2,000 hours of Supervised Fieldwork, or 1,500 hours of Concentrated Supervised Fieldwork, or a mix (concentrated hours count 1.33 times toward the 2,000 total). (Hour Requirements, p. 15)
- Per month
- Between 20 and 130 hours in each calendar month (20 to 160 under the 2027 requirements). (Accrual of Fieldwork, p. 16; 2027 Eligibility Requirements, p. 28)
- Supervision amount
- At least 5% of hours each month for Supervised Fieldwork and 10% for Concentrated (7.5% concentrated under the 2027 requirements). (Overview of Fieldwork Requirements, p. 14)
- Contacts and observation
- At least 4 supervisor contacts per month (6 for concentrated) and at least one observation of you with a client. The 2027 rules set the observation at 60 minutes cumulative per month (90 for concentrated). (Overview of Fieldwork Requirements, pp. 14 and 28)
- Individual and unrestricted
- At least half of supervised hours must be individual, and at least 60% of all fieldwork must be unrestricted activity — the work an analyst does, not direct program delivery. (Overview of Fieldwork Requirements, p. 14)
- Who may supervise
- An active analyst in good standing, certified for at least a year and meeting the supervision continuing-education requirement — or certified for less than a year and receiving monthly consultation from a qualified consulting supervisor. (Supervisor qualifications, p. 13)
- What does not count
- Conferences, coursework and homework, meetings with little behavior-analytic content, non-behavioral interventions, administrative work, non-behavioral trainings such as crisis management or CPR, podcasts, and role play unrelated to a client. (Unacceptable Activities, p. 17)
- Documentation
- Monthly and final verification forms, with an audit log and supervision contract available if audited. (Documentation of Fieldwork, p. 15)
The examination
- Questions
- 185 in total — 175 scored and 10 unscored pilot questions. (Examination Outline, p. 32)
- Time
- 4 hours. (Examination Outline, p. 32)
- Format
- Multiple choice with four options and one correct answer, all equally weighted. (Examination Outline, p. 32)
- Content outline
- The 6th edition of the BCBA Test Content Outline — 104 tasks in nine content areas. The result is based on overall performance, not on each area. (Examination Outline, p. 32)
- Authorization
- Only one active examination authorization at a time; supplementary documents are due within 90 days of paying; allow about 45 days for a determination. (Applying for BCBA Certification, pp. 29–30)
Continuing education
Units must be earned within the cycle they are applied to, entered before the recertification date, and supported by documentation. Repeating an event does not count, and nothing carries forward.
- Requirement
- 32 continuing-education units per two-year cycle, including 4 in ethics — and 3 in supervision if you supervised technicians, assistant analysts or trainees at any point in the cycle. (Continuing Education, p. 43)
- How units are counted
- 50 minutes of learning or instruction is 1 unit (25 minutes is 0.5). (CEU Types, p. 44)
- Learning
- Events from authorized continuing-education providers, graduate behavior-analysis courses passed with a C or better, and certain board activities. (CEU Types, p. 44)
- Teaching
- Instructing an authorized learning event, or teaching university courses in behavior analysis at an accredited institution. (CEU Types, p. 44)
- Scholarship
- A peer-reviewed publication is 8 units; a review or decision letter for a journal is 1 unit. (CEU Types, p. 44)
- What counts as ethics
- Events on the board's ethics requirements or on cultural and contextual responsiveness, tied to practice or applied research, where that content is most of the event. (Ethics CEU, p. 44)
Recertification
- Cycle
- Every two years, with the application available within 45 days of the date. (Recertification, p. 49)
- Fees
- Application $215 (BCBA) or $290 (BCBA-D); late fee $50. (Fees, p. 50)
- Missed date
- If your units were complete, a 30-day reinstatement period with a late fee. Otherwise, or after 30 days, the certification lapses. (If you do not recertify, pp. 49–50)
- Requalifying after a lapse
- Within five years of expiry you may requalify by passing the current examination, having earned 16 units per year since expiry. You receive a new certification number and are treated as a new certificant for supervision training. (Qualification for Examination via Past Certification, p. 13)
Ethics and self-reporting
- Code
- The Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts: four core principles and six sections of standards. Supervisors must review it, and the technician code where relevant, with the people they supervise. (Ethics and Self-Reporting, p. 45)
- Self-reporting
- Investigations, certain legal and disciplinary events, health conditions that affect safe practice, and supervision lapses must be reported to the board within 30 days. (Self-Reporting, pp. 46–48)
- Keeping records current
- Name, address and email changes within 30 days; a replacement certificate after a name change costs $35. (Changes to Personal Information, p. 46)
About this page
Content-area names, task codes, counts and weights are facts taken from the official outline and handbook. The task summaries and descriptions are written by us and are not the document's wording; read the official outline for the exact task statements. This app is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by any certifying body.
The summaries on this page have not yet been through independent review.