ABA Assist

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.

  1. 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. Functional Relation
    • A.2 Explain the assumptions a behavior analyst works from — determinism, empiricism, experimentation, replication, parsimony and philosophic doubt — and apply them. DeterminismEmpiricismParsimonyPhilosophic DoubtReplication
    • A.3 Describe radical behaviorism, including its treatment of private events as behavior, and contrast it with mentalistic and methodological positions. 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. 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. Seven Dimensions of ABAApplied Behavior Analysis
    15 glossary terms in this area

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  2. 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. BehaviorResponse Class
    • B.2 Define stimulus and stimulus class, including classes formed by physical similarity, by temporal relation, and by function. StimulusStimulus Class
    • B.3 Distinguish respondent from operant conditioning by what is learned and what controls it, and identify each in an example. Respondent ConditioningOperant Conditioning
    • B.4 Define positive and negative reinforcement by their operations and effects, and identify each in an example. Positive ReinforcementNegative Reinforcement
    • B.5 Define positive and negative punishment by their operations and effects, and identify each in an example. PunishmentPositive PunishmentNegative Punishment
    • B.6 Distinguish automatic from socially mediated consequences, for both reinforcement and punishment. Automatic ReinforcementSocially Mediated Reinforcement
    • B.7 Distinguish unconditioned, conditioned and generalized reinforcers, and unconditioned and conditioned punishers, by how they acquired their function. 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. 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. Compound ScheduleConcurrent Schedule
    • B.10 Distinguish operant extinction from respondent extinction, and describe the effects that accompany each. ExtinctionExtinction BurstSpontaneous Recovery
    • B.11 Describe stimulus control and the conditions under which a stimulus acquires it. Stimulus ControlDiscriminative StimulusS-Delta
    • B.12 Describe stimulus discrimination and the training that produces it. Stimulus DiscriminationDiscrimination Training
    • B.13 Distinguish stimulus generalization from response generalization and identify each in an example. Stimulus GeneralizationResponse GeneralizationGeneralization
    • B.14 Describe maintenance of behavior change over time after intervention has ended. Maintenance
    • B.15 Define motivating operations, including establishing and abolishing operations and their value-altering and behavior-altering effects. 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. Motivating OperationDiscriminative Stimulus
    • B.17 Distinguish rule-governed from contingency-shaped behavior and describe how each is acquired and maintained. 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. Verbal BehaviorMandTactEchoicIntraverbalTextualTranscription
    • B.19 Describe multiple control of verbal behavior, including convergent and divergent control, and identify it in an example. Multiple Control
    • B.20 Describe emergent relations and generative performance, including stimulus equivalence, and identify untrained relations that follow from trained ones. Stimulus Equivalence
    • B.21 Describe behavioral momentum — persistence of responding under changed conditions — and the variables that strengthen it. Behavioral Momentum
    • B.22 Describe the matching law — response allocation tracking relative reinforcement — and apply it to choice between concurrently available alternatives. Matching LawConcurrent Schedule
    • B.23 Distinguish imitation from observational learning and describe the conditions under which each occurs. ImitationObservational Learning
    • B.24 Describe how derived relational responding — relating stimuli by trained frames such as sameness, comparison and opposition — accounts for generative language. Stimulus Equivalence
    66 glossary terms in this area

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  3. 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. Operational DefinitionTopography
    • C.2 Distinguish direct, indirect and product measures of behavior and choose among them. Permanent ProductIndirect Assessment
    • C.3 Measure occurrence of behavior — count, frequency, rate, percentage, trials to criterion — and select the right one for the question. 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. DurationLatencyInterresponse Time
    • C.5 Distinguish continuous from discontinuous measurement procedures and describe the trade-offs between them. 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. 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. 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. Interobserver AgreementObserver DriftReactivity
    • C.9 Select a measurement system that fits the behavior's dimensions, the question being asked and the setting's constraints. Frequency and RateDuration
    • C.10 Construct graphs — line, bar, cumulative and others — that display data accurately with correctly labeled axes, phases and condition changes. Line GraphCumulative RecordBar Graph
    • C.11 Interpret graphed data by visual analysis — level, trend, variability and immediacy of change within and across conditions. Visual AnalysisBaseline
    • C.12 Measure procedural integrity — the degree to which an intervention was delivered as designed — and interpret the result alongside outcome data. Treatment Integrity
    31 glossary terms in this area

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  4. 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. Dependent VariableIndependent Variable
    • D.2 Distinguish internal from external validity and explain what each tells you about a demonstration. 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. Confounding VariableInternal Validity
    • D.4 Describe the defining features of single-case experimental designs, including repeated measurement, baseline logic and within-subject replication. Single-Case Experimental DesignBaselineReplication
    • D.5 Distinguish single-case from group designs and explain the strengths and limits of each for applied questions. 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. Experimental ControlVisual Analysis
    • D.7 Describe reversal and withdrawal designs and identify the conditions under which they are and are not appropriate. Reversal Design
    • D.8 Describe multiple-baseline and multiple-probe designs across behaviors, settings or people, and the logic by which they demonstrate control. 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. Multielement DesignChanging Criterion Design
    16 glossary terms in this area

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  5. 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. Ethics CodeDignity
    • E.2 Identify the risks of unethical behavior to clients, the profession and the practitioner, and describe the accountability mechanisms that follow. 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. Scope of CompetenceScope of Practice
    • E.4 Protect confidentiality and privacy across records, conversations, technology and public settings, within applicable law. ConfidentialityHIPAA
    • E.5 Make truthful, non-misleading public statements, including on social media and in advertising, and avoid using client information in them. Public Statement
    • E.6 Discontinue or transition services responsibly, with planning, notice and continuity of care. Continuity of Care
    • E.7 Identify multiple relationships and conflicts of interest, and manage or avoid them. Dual RelationshipConflict of Interest
    • E.8 Use effective interpersonal and communication skills with clients, caregivers, colleagues and other professionals. Collaboration
    • E.9 Practice cultural humility — an ongoing, self-examining stance toward other people's identities and contexts. Cultural Humility
    • E.10 Deliver services in a culturally responsive way, adapting assessment, goals and procedures to the client's values and context. 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. Cultural Humility
    • E.12 Comply with the legal, regulatory, licensing and funder requirements that apply to behavior-analytic services, including mandated reporting. Mandated ReporterHIPAA
    18 glossary terms in this area

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  6. 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. Indirect Assessment
    • F.2 Identify and account for cultural and contextual variables that affect assessment and the goals chosen from it. Cultural Responsiveness
    • F.3 Conduct assessments of current skills and deficits using direct observation and criterion-referenced tools, and interpret them. Skills Assessment
    • F.4 Conduct preference assessments — single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, multiple-stimulus and free-operant formats — and interpret the results. 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. Descriptive AssessmentABC RecordingScatterplot
    • F.6 Conduct functional analyses, including variations such as brief, trial-based and synthesized formats, and interpret the results. Functional AnalysisFunctional Behavior Assessment
    • F.7 Interpret referral information and assessment results to determine whether behavior-analytic services are needed and what kind. 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. Social Validity
    20 glossary terms in this area

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  7. 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.

    57 glossary terms in this area

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  8. 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. 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. 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. 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. Least Restrictive Alternative
    • H.5 Identify the conditions that produce relapse — renewal, resurgence, reinstatement — and design against them. ResurgenceSpontaneous Recovery
    • H.6 Use procedural-integrity data to decide whether to retrain implementers, simplify the plan, or revise it. Treatment IntegrityTreatment Drift
    • H.7 Use outcome data to decide whether to continue, modify or discontinue an intervention. Visual AnalysisBaseline
    • H.8 Collaborate with caregivers, other professionals and the client in planning and delivering interventions. Collaboration
    11 glossary terms in this area

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  9. 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. Supervision
    • I.2 Establish and maintain effective supervisory relationships, including contracts, expectations and the delivery of feedback. SupervisionPerformance Feedback
    • I.3 Supervise equitably and with cultural responsiveness, recognizing how power and identity affect the supervisory relationship. Cultural HumilitySupervision
    • I.4 Set measurable, individualized goals for supervisees based on assessed skills and the requirements of their role. Competency AssessmentSupervision
    • I.5 Use performance-management procedures — behavioral skills training, feedback, performance monitoring, incentives — to train and maintain staff performance. Behavioral Skills TrainingPerformance Feedback
    • I.6 Diagnose staff performance problems by their function — skill deficit, missing antecedents, competing contingencies — before choosing a remedy. Performance Diagnostic
    • I.7 Evaluate supervision itself with data — supervisee performance, client outcomes, fidelity — and adjust supervisory practice accordingly. SupervisionTreatment Integrity
    7 glossary terms in this area

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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.

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