You will be a board-certified behavior analyst as soon as you pass the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam. You can start working as a BCBA right away in a school, clinic, hospital, nonprofit, or community agency, among other places. After you have been certified, you must remember to keep up with recertification requirements and renew your certification every two years.
Let us know How difficult is the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam!
About Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam
The Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) credential is a graduate-level certificate in behavior analysis. BCBA-certified professionals are independent practitioners who provide behavior-analytic services. Board Certified Behavior Analysts (BCBAs) may oversee the work of Board Certified Assistant Behavior Analysts (BCaBAs), Registered Behavior Technicians (RBTs), and other professionals who provide behavior-analytic services.
How strenuous is the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam?
To sit for the exam, a significant amount of studying, preparation, and supervision hours are required. Clearing this exam also requires a certain amount of hard work and patience combined with consistency and the right resources. It is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea.
Practice exams are one of the most effective ways to study for exams. If you take practice exams, make sure to time yourself to ensure you finish each exam within the time limit.
Before you consider sitting for the exam let us look at the prerequisites –
Know Prerequisites
You must submit documentation proving that you have completed all of the prerequisites before you can apply to take the BCBA exam. The following are the four primary requirements for becoming a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA):
- Obtain a graduate-level degree (master’s or doctorate).
- Complete any required coursework.
- Completed supervised training (750 to 1,500 hours, depending on the placement).
- Take and pass the BCBA exam.
After completing the first three prerequisites, you can apply to the BACB to take the BCBA exam. An application consists of:
- I finished my online application.
- Transcripts from university.
- Forms for verifying your experience
- Additional documentation, such as degree equivalency documentation, coursework assessment documentation, or degree evaluation documentation.
The full application payment must be made at the same time as the above documents are submitted. Let us now jump on to the next step, which is knowing the exam details –
Gather BCBA Exam Details
Here is a table that will help you know about all the information you need to know about the exam –
| Exam Name | Board Certified Behaviour Analyst |
| Exam Code | BCBA |
| Exam Partner | Pearson VUE |
| Exam Format | Multiple Choice Questions |
| Mode of Exam | Computer-based |
| Exam Duration | 4 hours |
| Total Number of Questions | 160 |
| Languages | English Spanish Chinese Simplified Chinese Traditional Hebrew Italian Polish Portuguese-Brazilian Korean Russian |
Course Outline
The next important step would be to know the parameters on which the exam will be testing you. So, here in the course outline to help you know about the syllabus –
Section 1: Basic Behavior-Analytic Skills
A. Measurement
A-01 Measure frequency (i.e., count).
A-02 Measure rate (i.e., count per unit time).
A-03 Measure duration.
A-04 Measure latency.
A-05 Measure interresponse time (IRT).
A-06 Measure percent of occurrence.
A-07 Measure trials to criterion.
A-08 Assess and interpret interobserver agreement.
A-09 Evaluate the accuracy and reliability of measurement procedures.
A-10 Design, plot, and interpret data using equal-interval graphs.
A-11 Design, plot, and interpret data using a cumulative record to display data.
A-12 Design and implement continuous measurement procedures (e.g., event recording).
A-13 Design and implement discontinuous measurement procedures (e.g., partial & whole interval, momentary time sampling).
A-14 Design and implement choice measures.
B. Experimental Design
B-01 Use the dimensions of applied behavior analysis (Baer, Wolf, & Risley, 1968) to evaluate whether interventions are behavior analytic in nature.
B-02 Review and interpret articles from the behavior-analytic literature.
B-03 Systematically arrange independent variables to demonstrate their effects on dependent variables.
B-04 Use withdrawal/reversal designs.
B-05 Use alternating treatments (i.e., multielement) designs.
B-06 moreover, Use changing criterion designs.
B-07 Use multiple baseline designs.
B-08 moreover, Use multiple probe designs.
B-09 Use combinations of design elements.
B-10 moreover, Conduct a component analysis to determine the effective components of an intervention package.
B-11 Conduct a parametric analysis to determine the effective values of an independent variable.
C. Behavior-Change Considerations
C-01 State and plan for the possible unwanted effects of reinforcement.
C-02 moreover, State and plan for the possible unwanted effects of punishment.
C-03 lastly, State and plan for the possible unwanted effects of extinction.
D. Fundamental Elements of Behavior Change
D-01 Use positive and negative reinforcement.
D-02 moreover, Use appropriate parameters and schedules of reinforcement.
D-03 Use prompts and prompt fading.
D-04 moreover, Use modeling and imitation training.
D-05 Use shaping.
D-06 Use chaining.
D-07 Conduct task analyses.
D-08 Use discrete-trial and free-operant arrangements.
D-09 Use the verbal operants as a basis for language assessment.
D-10 Use echoic training.
D-11 Use mand training.
D-12 Use tact training.
D-13 Use intraverbal training.
D-14 Use listener training.
D-15 Identify punishers.
D-16 Use positive and negative punishment.
D-17 Use appropriate parameters and schedules of punishment.
D-18 Use extinction.
D-19 Use combinations of reinforcement with punishment and extinction.
D-20 Use response-independent (time-based) schedules of reinforcement (i.e., noncontingent reinforcement).
D-21 Use differential reinforcement (e.g., DRO, DRA, DRI, DRL, DRH).
E. Specific Behavior-Change Procedures
E-01 Use interventions based on manipulation of antecedents, such as motivating operations and discriminative stimuli.
E-02 Use discrimination training procedures.
E-03 Use instructions and rules.
E-04 Use contingency contracting (i.e., behavioral contracts).
E-05 Use independent, interdependent, and dependent group contingencies.
E-06 Use stimulus equivalence procedures.
E-07 Plan for behavioral contrast effects.
E-08 Use the matching law and recognize factors influencing choice.
E-09 Arrange high-probability request sequences.
E-10 Use the Premack principle.
E-11 Use pairing procedures to establish new conditioned reinforcers and punishers.
E-12 Use errorless learning procedures.
E-13 Use matching-to-sample procedures.
F. Behavior-Change Systems
F-01 Use self-management strategies.
F-02 Use token economies and other conditioned reinforcement systems.
F-03 Use Direct Instruction.
F-04 Use precision teaching.
F-05 Use personalized systems of instruction (PSI).
F-06 Use incidental teaching.
F-07 Use functional communication training.
F-08 Use augmentative communication systems.
Section 2: Client-centered Responsibilities
G. Identification of the Problem
G-01 Review records and available data at the outset of the case.
G-02 Consider biological/medical variables that may be affecting the client.
G-03 Conduct a preliminary assessment of the client in order to identify the referral problem.
G-04 also, Explain behavioral concepts using nontechnical language.
G-05 furthermore, Describe and explain behavior, including private events, in behavior-analytic (nonmentalistic) terms.
G-06 moreover, Provide behavior-analytic services in collaboration with others who support and/or provide services to one’s clients.
G-07 furthermore, Practice within one’s limits of professional competence in applied behavior analysis, and obtain consultation, supervision, and training, or make referrals as necessary.
G-08 moreover, Identify and make environmental changes that reduce the need for behavior analysis services.
H. Measurement
H-01 Select a measurement system to obtain representative data given the dimensions of the behavior and the logistics of observing and recording.
H-02 also, Select a schedule of observation and recording periods.
H-03 furthermore, Select a data display that effectively communicates relevant quantitative relations.
H-04 moreover, Evaluate changes in level, trend, and variability.
H-05 furthermore, Evaluate temporal relations between observed variables (within & between sessions, time series).
I. Assessment
I-01 Define behavior in observable and measurable terms.
I-02 Define environmental variables in observable and measurable terms.
I-03 Design and implement individualized behavioral assessment procedures.
I-04 Design and implement the full range of functional assessment procedures.
I-05 Organize, analyze, and interpret observed data.
I-06 Make recommendations regarding behaviors that must be established, maintained, increased, or decreased.
I-07 Design and conduct preference assessments to identify putative reinforcers.
J. Intervention
J-01 State intervention goals in observable and measurable terms.
J-02 Identify potential interventions based on assessment results and the best available scientific evidence.
J-03 Select intervention strategies based on task analysis.
J-04 Select intervention strategies based on client preferences.
J-05 Select intervention strategies based on the client’s current repertoires.
J-06 Select intervention strategies based on supporting environments.
J-07 Select intervention strategies based on environmental and resource constraints.
J-08 Select intervention strategies based on the social validity of the intervention.
J-09 Identify and address practical and ethical considerations when using experimental designs to demonstrate treatment effectiveness.
J-10 When a behavior is to be decreased, select an acceptable alternative behavior to be established or increased.
J-11 Program for stimulus and response generalization.
J-12 Program for maintenance.
J-13 Select behavioral cusps as goals for intervention when appropriate.
J-14 Arrange instructional procedures to promote generative learning (i.e., derived relations).
J-15 Base decision-making on data displayed in various formats.
K. Implementation, Management, and Supervision
K-01 Provide for ongoing documentation of behavioral services.
K-02 Identify the contingencies governing the behavior of those responsible for carrying out
behavior-change procedures and design interventions accordingly.
K-03 Design and use competency-based training for persons who are responsible for carrying out behavioral assessment and behavior-change procedures.
K-04 also, Design and use effective performance monitoring and reinforcement systems.
K-05 furthermore, Design and use systems for monitoring procedural integrity.
K-06 moreover, Provide supervision for behavior-change agents.
K-07 also, Evaluates the effectiveness of the behavioral program.
K-08 furthermore, Establishes support for behavior-analytic services from direct and indirect consumers.
K-09 moreover, Secure the support of others to maintain the client’s behavioral repertoires in their
natural environments.
K-10 Arrange for the orderly termination of services when they are no longer required.
Section 3: Foundational Knowledge
Explain and Behave in accordance with the Philosophical Assumptions of Behavior Analysis
FK-01 Lawfulness of behavior
FK-02 Selectionism (phylogenic, ontogenic, cultural)
FK-03 Determinism
FK-04 also, Empiricism
FK-05 furthermore, Parsimony
FK-06 moreover, Pragmatism
FK-07 Environmental (as opposed to mentalistic) explanations of behavior
FK-08 Distinguish between radical and methodological behaviorism.
FK-09 Distinguish between the conceptual analysis of behavior, experimental analysis of behavior, applied behavior analysis, and behavioral service delivery.
Define and Provide Examples of:
FK-10 behavior, response, response class
FK-11 also, environment, stimulus, stimulus class
FK-12 furthermore, stimulus equivalence
FK-13 moreover, reflexive relations (US-UR)
FK-14 also, respondent conditioning (CS-CR)
FK-15 furthermore, operant conditioning
FK-16 moreover, respondent-operant interactions
FK-17 unconditioned reinforcement
FK-18 also conditioned reinforcement
FK-19 furthermore, unconditioned punishment
FK-20 moreover, conditioned punishment
FK-21 also, schedules of reinforcement and punishment
FK-22 furthermore, extinction
FK-23 moreover, automatic reinforcement and punishment
FK-24 also, stimulus control
FK-25 furthermore, multiple functions of a single stimulus
FK-26 moreover, unconditioned motivating operations
FK-27 also conditioned motivating operations
FK-28 furthermore, transitive, reflexive, surrogate motivating operations
FK-29 moreover, distinguish between the discriminative stimulus and the motivating operation
FK-30 also, distinguish between motivating operation and reinforcement effects
FK-31furthermore, behavioral contingencies
FK-32 moreover, contiguity
FK-33 also, functional relations
FK-34 furthermore, conditional discriminations
FK-35 moreover, stimulus discrimination
FK-36 also, response generalization
FK-37 furthermore, stimulus generalization
FK-38 moreover, behavioral contrast
FK-39 also, behavioral momentum
FK-40 furthermore, matching law
FK-41 moreover, contingency-shaped behavior
FK-42 also, rule-governed behavior
Distinguish between the Verbal Operants
FK-43 Echoics
FK-44 also, Mands
FK-45 furthermore, Tacts
FK-46 moreover, Intraverbals
Measurement Concepts
FK-47 Identify the measurable dimensions of behavior (e.g., rate, duration, latency, inter-response time).
FK-48 State the advantages and disadvantages of using continuous measurement procedures and discontinuous measurement procedures (e.g., partial- and whole-interval recording, momentary time sampling).
Let us now have a look at some additional resources that one can use for preparation.
Resources: BCBA Exam
Follow these resources as you prepare for the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam to ensure you perform well and pass on the first try –
Behavior-analytic Coursework
You may obtain your behavior-analytic coursework through one of two sources:
• ABAI-Accredited Graduate Program: Accredited behavior-analytic graduate programs have met ABAI’s accreditation standards, which include standards for the curriculum, faculty, and resources, among other things. Accredited programs can be found on the Accredited Programs page of the ABAI.
• Verified Course Sequence: A Verified Course Sequence is another option for completing behavior-analytic coursework. A Verified Course Sequence is a collection of courses that have been approved by ABAI as meeting the BACB’s behavior-analytic coursework requirements.
Involve & Engage with the Community
Participate in and engage with your behavior-analytics community! Joining or volunteering with local, regional, or national professional associations and groups focused on your area(s) of interest is one example. You will also most likely learn a lot and have the opportunity to contribute to behavior analysis and its consumers. As a result, having professional support is beneficial at all stages of your career, so start looking for trusted colleagues, mentors, and/or groups now.
Practice Tests
Practice tests are designed to keep track of how far the preparation has progressed. Not only that, but it is also important to familiarise students with the exam in a real-time setting. Preparation, as well as taking practice tests, is a critical step on your path to passing the exam. Attempting practice questions will also boost your confidence and help you perform better.
Expert Corner
As you prepare to take the Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) exam, follow these general study tips to ensure you perform best –
- Make a study schedule that works for you, allotting a specific amount of time to study each day.
- Additionally, Don’t try to cram. Include plenty of time in your study schedule to avoid feeling rushed.
- Discuss the materials with others. Verbalizing your responses can help you remember them.
- Moreover, Get lots of rest. A good night’s sleep is essential for memory and will keep you at your peak performance.
- Maintain a healthy diet. Before the exam, eat a well-balanced meal and stay hydrated. You will not perform well if you are hungry or thirsty.
