BCBA Exam: Know the Language. Understand the Field. Avoid Learning Misrules

If you are not learning the correct language and concepts of Applied Behavior Analysis, you will not be properly prepared either for the #BCBAExam or as a BCBA. And with so many different programs; so many different test prep and review systems also comes a myriad of presentations and perceptions.

Simply typing 'BCBA Test Prep' into Google is not unlike typing 'autism.' You'll get large amounts of return with both (far more with 'autism') but few of either with ways to evaluate or establish their respective relevance or accuracy. And there is a wide range of information and presentations available.

'Alone,' 'Sensory' & Tangible' are not research based functions of behavior. A child who prefers to play by him or herself is not doing so as a result of 'automatic reinforcement.' In fact, if your observation leaves you with this hypothesis, you are not doing the correct assessment or prioritizing properly in the first place.

DRO is not a strategy of omission but one of differential reinforcement with extinction. Behavior contrast is not when a target behavior increases for a more favorable reinforcer than that offered previously. This is basic to the Principles of Reinforcement. It is also very likely that the previous choice was not reinforcing but maybe just something preferred.

If your grad program required BDS modules and called it a 'test prep' course, it wasn't. And rote memorizing flash cards for speed is not how to pass. Content is key but such memorization is not learning.

If you haven't yet done a full FBAssessment to include developing and implementing a comprehensive BIP, there is an important gap in learning. And doing the FAST does not count.

If you think a particular mock exam is confusing, it's because you are very likely correct. That, along with those which have incorrect questions and/or explanations. It takes a lot of training and even more practice to know how to write exams and test questions. And scoring low...or high...on the range of mock exams out there does not presume #BCBAexam outcomes.

It's not you.

Relax a bit and reorganize. Contact me through my website. Passing the BCBA exam requires content AND non-content knowledge....and practice with both. Unlike others, my first conversation is without charge or obligation