BCBA domain B · 14% of the exam

Concepts and Principles

The core vocabulary: reinforcement, punishment, schedules, extinction, stimulus control, MOs, verbal behavior, and more. A study guide for each of the 24 topics, about 186 minutes of reading.

Start with B.1 Try 8 free questions

scored exam questions: 24
of the BCBA exam: 14%
topics to know: 24
practice questions: 192

Topics in this domain

In outline order. Each guide ends with a quick check and a link to practice.

B.1Behavior, response, and response classTell behavior, a single response, and a response class apart, and see why grouping responses by function drives assessment and treatment.7 min read8 practice questions
B.2Stimulus vs. stimulus classWhat counts as a stimulus, how stimuli are grouped into classes by form, timing, and function, and how feature and arbitrary classes differ.7 min read8 practice questions
B.3Respondent vs. operant conditioningSeparate behavior elicited by stimuli from behavior selected by consequences, with US, CS, SD, higher-order conditioning, and the common exam traps.8 min read8 practice questions
B.4Positive vs. negative reinforcementTell positive from negative reinforcement by the stimulus change and the effect on future behavior, with escape, avoidance, and the classic exam traps.8 min read8 practice questions
B.5Positive vs. negative punishmentTell positive from negative punishment by the stimulus change and the decrease in future behavior, and don't mix them up with reinforcement or extinction.8 min read8 practice questions
B.6Automatic vs. socially mediated contingenciesTell automatic from socially mediated contingencies by who produces the consequence, and see why the difference drives assessment and treatment.8 min read8 practice questions
B.7Kinds of reinforcers: unconditioned, conditioned, and generalizedClassify reinforcers by learning history: unconditioned, conditioned through pairing, and generalized conditioned reinforcers like tokens and money.8 min read8 practice questions
B.8Kinds of punishers: unconditioned, conditioned, and generalizedClassify punishers by where their function comes from: unlearned, learned through pairing, or paired with many punishers, plus the exam traps.7 min read8 practice questions
B.9Simple schedules of reinforcement: FR, VR, FI, and VIIdentify fixed and variable ratio and interval schedules, predict the response pattern each produces, and avoid the common schedule mix-ups.8 min read8 practice questions
B.10Compound schedules: concurrent, multiple, mixed, and chainedTell concurrent, multiple, mixed, and chained schedules apart by timing, signals, and order, with applied examples and common exam traps.8 min read8 practice questions
B.11Operant vs. respondent extinction, as procedure and as processSeparate operant from respondent extinction, and the procedure (what you do) from the process (what behavior does), plus bursts and spontaneous recovery.8 min read8 practice questions
B.12Recognizing stimulus controlSpot stimulus control by differential responding: how SDs and S-deltas form through differential reinforcement, and how faulty control sneaks in.8 min read8 practice questions
B.13Recognizing stimulus discriminationSpot stimulus discrimination in real data: differential responding to SDs and S-deltas, how differential reinforcement builds it, and its look-alikes.8 min read8 practice questions
B.14Stimulus vs. response generalizationTell stimulus generalization (new stimuli, same response) from response generalization (new responses, same function), plus gradients and exam traps.7 min read8 practice questions
B.15Recognizing response maintenanceRecognize response maintenance, behavior that persists after some or all of an intervention ends, and tell it apart from generalization.7 min read8 practice questions
B.16Motivating operations in actionSpot establishing and abolishing operations, separate value- from behavior-altering effects, and tell UMOs from surrogate, reflexive, and transitive CMOs.8 min read8 practice questions
B.17Motivating operations vs. stimulus controlTell a motivating operation from a discriminative stimulus: one changes how much a reinforcer is worth, the other signals whether it is available.8 min read8 practice questions
B.18Rule-governed vs. contingency-shaped behaviorTell behavior controlled by verbal descriptions of contingencies from behavior shaped by consequences, and know why rules help and where they mislead.7 min read8 practice questions
B.19The verbal operants: mand, tact, echoic, intraverbal, and moreClassify mands, tacts, echoics, intraverbals, textual and transcription responses, and autoclitics by their controlling variables, not by the words used.9 min read8 practice questions
B.20Multiple control in verbal behaviorMost verbal responses have more than one cause. Learn convergent vs. divergent multiple control and how it shapes prompting, probing, and teaching.8 min read8 practice questions
B.21Emergent relations and generative performanceRecognize reflexivity, symmetry, transitivity, and equivalence, and see how a few taught relations can produce many untaught ones.8 min read8 practice questions
B.22Behavioral momentum and why responding persistsSeparate response rate from resistance to change, use the high-p request sequence, and see why added reinforcement can make behavior more persistent.8 min read8 practice questions
B.23The matching law and how responding is allocatedHow learners divide their behavior among concurrent options in proportion to reinforcement, plus undermatching, bias, and what it means for treatment.8 min read8 practice questions
B.24Imitation vs. observational learningTell imitation apart from observational learning: the four defining features of imitation, generalized imitation, and why consequences to the model matter.7 min read8 practice questions

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