BCBA exam questions are four-option multiple-choice items, mostly short clinical scenarios, drawn from nine content areas in the BACB's 6th edition Test Content Outline. You get 185 of them in four hours, and only 175 count toward your score. Below is a free set of 21 original practice questions with answers and rationales, at least two per content area, plus a plan for using full-length mock exams and a look at why this one test is the narrowest point in the BCBA hiring pipeline.
What BCBA exam questions look like in 2026
Every BCBA exam question has one stem and four answer options, and exactly one option is correct. Most stems describe a client, a supervisee or a data set and ask you to name the principle, pick the procedure or spot the ethical problem. Pure definition recall is rarer than many candidates expect; the exam rewards applying a concept to a case you have not seen before.
The format, from the current BCBA Handbook:
| Exam feature | 2026 detail |
|---|---|
| Total questions | 185 multiple-choice questions: 175 scored and 10 unscored pilot questions |
| Answer options | 4 per question, exactly 1 correct |
| Time limit | 4 hours, which includes the terms and conditions, the navigation tutorial and load time |
| Where you test | Computer-based, at Pearson VUE test centers |
| What you can bring | No notes, reference materials, textbooks, scratch paper or calculators |
| Results | Pass or fail, given at the test center when you finish |
| Passing standard | Set by subject-matter experts using a modified Angoff method |
| Fees | $245 certification application, $125 per exam appointment, $140 per retake application |
| Retakes | Up to 8 attempts within 2 years of application approval, at least 30 days apart |
| Content | BCBA Test Content Outline, 6th ed.: 104 tasks in 9 content areas, in effect since January 1, 2025 |
The BACB has said there are no upcoming changes to the BCBA examination or its Test Content Outline, so the 2027 eligibility changes (fewer pathways, new fieldwork rules) do not change what you study. If you are still working out eligibility, start with our guide on how to become a BCBA in 2026.
How BCBA exam questions are split across the content areas
The 175 scored questions are not spread evenly. The four core clinical areas (concepts and principles, behavior assessment, behavior-change procedures, and selecting and implementing interventions) carry 92 questions between them, more than half the exam. Philosophy carries only 8.
| Content area | Scored questions | Share of exam | Tasks in outline |
|---|---|---|---|
| A. Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations | 8 | 5% | 5 |
| B. Concepts and Principles | 24 | 14% | 24 |
| C. Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation | 21 | 12% | 12 |
| D. Experimental Design | 13 | 7% | 9 |
| E. Ethical and Professional Issues | 22 | 13% | 12 |
| F. Behavior Assessment | 23 | 13% | 8 |
| G. Behavior-Change Procedures | 25 | 14% | 19 |
| H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions | 20 | 11% | 8 |
| I. Personnel Supervision and Management | 19 | 11% | 7 |
| Total | 175 | 100% | 104 |
Question counts and shares come from the BACB's 6th edition Test Content Outline. The task counts are tallied from the task codes in that outline. Notice that the ratio of questions to tasks varies a lot: assessment has only 8 tasks but 23 questions, so each assessment task is tested heavily, while measurement spreads 21 questions over 12 tasks.
21 free BCBA practice exam questions with answers
These questions were written for this article and are not taken from the BACB exam or any prep company. Each one is tagged to its content area. Answer before you open the rationale, and keep score; the rationales explain why the wrong options are wrong, which is where most of the learning happens.
Question 1 · Content area A: Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations
A parent says her son screams during homework "because he is frustrated." The behavior analyst notes that no environmental variable has been identified. Treating "frustration" as the cause of screaming is an example of:
- Parsimony
- Pragmatism
- Mentalism
- Selectionism
Show answer and rationale
Answer: C. Mentalism. Mentalism explains behavior by appealing to an inner state (here, frustration) instead of environmental variables, and the inner state is usually inferred from the very behavior it claims to explain. Parsimony, pragmatism and selectionism are all assumptions behaviorism endorses, not errors.
Question 2 · Content area A: Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations
A journal article describes an intervention in enough detail that another trained practitioner could carry it out exactly as written. This meets which dimension of applied behavior analysis described by Baer, Wolf and Risley (1968)?
- Technological
- Conceptually systematic
- Analytic
- Generality
Show answer and rationale
Answer: A. Technological. Technological means procedures are identified and described completely enough to be replicated. Conceptually systematic means procedures are tied to basic principles; analytic means a functional relation was demonstrated; generality means the change lasts or spreads to other settings and behaviors.
Question 3 · Content area B: Concepts and Principles
Each time a third grader hits a classmate, he loses five minutes of recess. Over two weeks, hitting decreases. Which principle is operating?
- Positive punishment
- Negative reinforcement
- Extinction
- Negative punishment
Show answer and rationale
Answer: D. Negative punishment. A stimulus (recess time) is removed contingent on the behavior, and the behavior decreases: negative punishment. Positive punishment adds a stimulus; negative reinforcement increases behavior; extinction withholds the reinforcer that previously maintained the behavior rather than removing a separate one.
Question 4 · Content area B: Concepts and Principles
Which response pattern is most typical of a well-established fixed-interval schedule of reinforcement?
- A high, steady rate with little pausing
- A pause after reinforcement, then a gradually accelerating rate as the interval ends
- A pause after reinforcement, then an abrupt shift to a high, steady rate
- A low rate that does not change across the interval
Show answer and rationale
Answer: B. A pause after reinforcement, then a gradually accelerating rate as the interval ends. Fixed-interval schedules produce the "scallop": a post-reinforcement pause followed by responding that accelerates as the end of the interval approaches. A high steady rate is typical of variable-ratio schedules, and break-and-run (pause then abrupt high rate) is typical of fixed-ratio schedules.
Question 5 · Content area B: Concepts and Principles
Before a session, a learner eats a full bag of pretzels. During the session, pretzels no longer function as an effective reinforcer, and requests for them drop. The pre-session snack functioned as:
- An establishing operation
- A discriminative stimulus
- An abolishing operation
- A conditioned reinforcer
Show answer and rationale
Answer: C. An abolishing operation. Satiation is an abolishing operation: it decreases the reinforcing effectiveness of a stimulus (value-altering effect) and decreases behavior that has produced it (behavior-altering effect). An establishing operation would increase the value, as deprivation does. A discriminative stimulus signals that reinforcement is available; it does not change how much the reinforcer is worth.
Question 6 · Content area C: Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation
Two observers record a learner's hand flapping during the same 20-minute session. Observer A counts 18 responses and Observer B counts 20. What is total count interobserver agreement?
- 80%
- 90%
- 95%
- 111%
Show answer and rationale
Answer: B. 90%. Total count IOA divides the smaller count by the larger and multiplies by 100: 18 / 20 x 100 = 90%. It cannot exceed 100%, and it does not show that the observers scored the same individual responses, which is why mean count-per-interval and exact count-per-interval IOA are stricter.
Question 7 · Content area C: Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation
A behavior analyst uses partial-interval recording to measure a high-rate, brief behavior. Compared with the behavior's true occurrence, partial-interval recording tends to:
- Overestimate the proportion of time the behavior occurs
- Underestimate the proportion of time the behavior occurs
- Measure duration exactly
- Measure latency
Show answer and rationale
Answer: A. Overestimate the proportion of time the behavior occurs. An interval is scored if the behavior occurs at any point in it, so a single brief response counts the whole interval: partial-interval recording tends to overestimate. Whole-interval recording, which scores an interval only if the behavior lasts the entire interval, tends to underestimate.
Question 8 · Content area C: Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation
A teacher wants to measure how long a student takes to begin working after she says "Start your worksheet." Which measure fits?
- Duration
- Interresponse time
- Rate
- Latency
Show answer and rationale
Answer: D. Latency. Latency is the time from the onset of a stimulus (the instruction) to the start of the response. Duration is how long the response lasts; interresponse time is the time between two responses; rate is count per unit of time.
Question 9 · Content area D: Experimental Design
In a multiple baseline design across three behaviors, what pattern of data shows experimental control?
- All three behaviors change as soon as intervention starts on the first one
- The behaviors change in random order
- Each behavior changes only when the intervention is applied to it, while untreated behaviors stay at baseline
- The intervention is withdrawn and then reinstated for each behavior
Show answer and rationale
Answer: C. Each behavior changes only when the intervention is applied to it, while untreated behaviors stay at baseline. Control is shown when change follows the staggered introduction of the intervention to each tier and untreated tiers stay stable. If all three change together, you cannot rule out an outside variable. Withdrawing and reinstating the intervention is a reversal design, not a multiple baseline.
Question 10 · Content area D: Experimental Design
For which target is an A-B-A-B reversal design least appropriate?
- Reading sight words taught with flashcards
- Calling out in class, maintained by teacher attention
- Rate of on-task behavior during independent work
- Requests for breaks during chores
Show answer and rationale
Answer: A. Reading sight words taught with flashcards. A reversal design needs the behavior to return toward baseline when the intervention is withdrawn. A newly learned academic skill, such as reading sight words, is unlikely to reverse, so a multiple baseline or multiple probe design across word sets is the better choice.
Question 11 · Content area E: Ethical and Professional Issues
At the end of a successful year of services, a client's parent hands the BCBA a $50 restaurant gift card as a thank-you. Under the BACB Ethics Code, the most appropriate response is to:
- Accept it, because it is a one-time expression of gratitude
- Accept it and give it to the clinic instead
- Thank the parent, decline the card, and restate the gift limit the family was told about when services began
- Accept it and self-report the gift to the BACB
Show answer and rationale
Answer: C. Thank the parent, decline the card, and restate the gift limit the family was told about when services began. Standard 1.12 bars giving or accepting gifts worth more than $10 from clients and stakeholders, and asks behavior analysts to tell families about this at the start of services. The infrequent-gratitude exception applies only within that limit, so a $50 card has to be declined, kindly. Passing it to the clinic still means accepting it.
Question 12 · Content area E: Ethical and Professional Issues
A BCBA's close friend asks her to provide ABA services for the friend's son, who was recently diagnosed. The most appropriate response is to:
- Accept and offer a reduced rate because of the friendship
- Accept, since the friendship will help build rapport with the family
- Accept only if her supervisor agrees
- Decline because of the multiple relationship and help the family find another qualified provider
Show answer and rationale
Answer: D. Decline because of the multiple relationship and help the family find another qualified provider. Standard 1.11 directs behavior analysts to avoid entering into multiple relationships, and the Code defines these to include a personal role with a stakeholder or someone closely related to the client, such as a friend who is the client's parent. Such relationships can create conflicts of interest that harm the client or the professional relationship. Declining and supporting a referral protects both the child's services and the friendship. A supervisor's approval or a discount does not remove the conflict.
Question 13 · Content area F: Behavior Assessment
In a functional analysis, a client's self-injury is high in the attention condition and near zero in the alone, play and demand conditions. The most likely function is:
- Automatic reinforcement
- Social positive reinforcement (attention)
- Social negative reinforcement (escape)
- Access to tangibles
Show answer and rationale
Answer: B. Social positive reinforcement (attention). Responding that is elevated only when attention is delivered contingent on the behavior points to social positive reinforcement in the form of attention. Automatic reinforcement would show responding in the alone condition; escape would show elevated responding in the demand condition.
Question 14 · Content area F: Behavior Assessment
A behavior analyst places five items in front of a learner, lets the learner pick one, and does not return the chosen item to the array for the next trial. This preference assessment is:
- Multiple-stimulus without replacement (MSWO)
- Paired-stimulus (forced choice)
- Multiple-stimulus with replacement (MSW)
- Free-operant observation
Show answer and rationale
Answer: A. Multiple-stimulus without replacement (MSWO). Presenting several items at once and removing each selected item from later trials is the multiple-stimulus without replacement format. In MSW the chosen item stays in the array; paired-stimulus presents two items at a time; free-operant observation records engagement with freely available items.
Question 15 · Content area G: Behavior-Change Procedures
A child's aggression is maintained by escape from tasks. The team teaches the child to say "break, please," honors that request with a short break, and no longer ends the task after aggression. This intervention is best described as:
- Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)
- Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)
- Differential reinforcement of low rates (DRL)
- Functional communication training (FCT)
Show answer and rationale
Answer: D. Functional communication training (FCT). FCT teaches a communicative response that produces the same reinforcer (escape) as the problem behavior, usually paired with extinction of the problem behavior. DRO reinforces the absence of the behavior for an interval; NCR delivers the reinforcer on a time-based schedule; DRL reinforces lower rates of the same behavior.
Question 16 · Content area G: Behavior-Change Procedures
To teach handwashing, a therapist completes every step for the learner except the last (drying hands) and teaches that step first. Once it is mastered, she teaches the second-to-last step, and so on. This is:
- Forward chaining
- Total task presentation
- Backward chaining
- Shaping
Show answer and rationale
Answer: C. Backward chaining. Backward chaining teaches the final step first, so the learner contacts the natural end of the chain (and its reinforcer) from the first trial. Forward chaining starts with the first step; total task presentation trains every step on every trial; shaping reinforces successive approximations of a single response, not a sequence of steps.
Question 17 · Content area G: Behavior-Change Procedures
A clinic-based team brings the child's classroom worksheets, pencil box and desk-style seating into teaching sessions so the new skill will carry over to school. This generalization strategy is called:
- Training loosely
- Programming common stimuli
- Sequential modification
- Teaching sufficient examples
Show answer and rationale
Answer: B. Programming common stimuli. Programming common stimuli makes the training setting share salient stimuli with the generalization setting. Training loosely varies noncritical stimuli at random; sequential modification teaches the skill directly in each new setting; teaching sufficient examples uses many stimulus and response examples.
Question 18 · Content area H: Selecting and Implementing Interventions
When choosing a replacement behavior for problem behavior, which feature matters most?
- It produces the same reinforcer and is easier and more efficient than the problem behavior
- It is incompatible with the problem behavior in topography
- It is a skill the client already performs fluently
- It can be taught in a single session
Show answer and rationale
Answer: A. It produces the same reinforcer and is easier and more efficient than the problem behavior. A replacement behavior has to compete with the problem behavior, so it should serve the same function and be more efficient (less effort, faster and richer reinforcement). An incompatible topography that does not access the same reinforcer usually loses to the problem behavior.
Question 19 · Content area H: Selecting and Implementing Interventions
A team is about to place a child's attention-maintained whining on extinction. Which effect should the behavior analyst prepare caregivers for during the first days?
- An immediate, permanent decrease
- Spontaneous recovery
- An extinction burst
- Resurgence
Show answer and rationale
Answer: C. An extinction burst. An extinction burst is a temporary increase in the frequency, duration or intensity of a behavior at the start of extinction. Warning caregivers ahead of time makes it less likely they will reinforce the louder whining, which would teach the child that escalation works. Spontaneous recovery is a reappearance after the behavior has already decreased; resurgence is the return of a previously extinguished behavior when a more recent behavior is placed on extinction.
Question 20 · Content area I: Personnel Supervision and Management
An RBT is implementing discrete trial teaching with poor accuracy. Which supervisor response is most consistent with evidence-based staff training?
- Email the written protocol again and ask the RBT to reread it
- Behavioral skills training: instruction, modeling, rehearsal and feedback until the RBT performs to criterion
- Note the problem at the next annual performance review
- Increase the RBT's caseload so they get more practice
Show answer and rationale
Answer: B. Behavioral skills training: instruction, modeling, rehearsal and feedback until the RBT performs to criterion. Behavioral skills training is the best-supported approach to teaching staff a procedure: describe it, model it, have the trainee rehearse it, and give feedback until performance meets a mastery criterion. Written instructions alone rarely produce accurate implementation, and delayed feedback does little to change current performance.
Question 21 · Content area I: Personnel Supervision and Management
A clinic director wants to find out why technicians are not completing session notes on time before choosing an intervention. Which tool is designed for that purpose?
- Functional Analysis Screening Tool (FAST)
- Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF)
- Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales
- Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services (PDC-HS)
Show answer and rationale
Answer: D. Performance Diagnostic Checklist-Human Services (PDC-HS). The PDC-HS is an informant-based tool for identifying the variables behind a staff performance problem (training; task clarification and prompting; resources, materials and processes; and performance consequences, effort and competition), so the intervention can match the cause. The FAST and QABF assess the function of client problem behavior; the Vineland measures adaptive behavior.
How to use a BCBA mock exam
A BCBA mock exam is a full-length, timed simulation: 185 questions, four hours, no notes. Short practice sets like the one above tell you what you know. A full mock tells you something different, namely whether your accuracy holds up in hour three, how long you spend on long scenario stems, and which content areas fall apart under time pressure.
Why practice questions work better than rereading
Practice testing is one of the best-supported study methods in learning research. In a classic experiment, students who took practice tests remembered more on a delayed test than students who spent the same time restudying, even though the restudy group felt more confident (Roediger and Karpicke, Psychological Science, 2006). A major review of ten study techniques rated practice testing and spacing your study over time as the two highest-utility methods and rated rereading low (Dunlosky and colleagues, Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 2013). A 2017 meta-analysis in the Review of Educational Research found that practice tests beat restudying and every other comparison condition it examined (Adesope, Trevisan and Sundararajan). The practical takeaway: answer questions early and often, and do not save them for the final week.
A simple mock exam schedule
- Baseline mock, early. Take one full-length mock before you finish content review. A low score here is useful, not discouraging; it shows where to spend your time.
- Score it by content area, not just in total. Tag every missed question with its area letter. A 70% overall can hide a 45% in experimental design.
- Sort your misses by error type. Did you not know the concept, misread the stem, or narrow it to two options and pick the wrong one? Each error type needs a different fix.
- Drill weak areas with short sets. Use 10- to 20-question sets on your weakest areas between mocks, and space them across days.
- Final mock one to two weeks out, under real conditions. Four hours, one sitting, no phone, no notes, since the test center allows none.
Free and paid BCBA mock exam options
Free resources are mostly short samples. Full-length free mocks are rare. Here is what vendors listed on their own sites when we checked on October 5, 2026; prices change, so confirm before you buy.
| Resource | What you get | Cost listed |
|---|---|---|
| Behavior School free mock exam | 185 timed questions, 4-hour limit, says it is aligned to the 6th edition outline; requires a free account | Free |
| bcbamockexam.com | 20-question free sample | Free |
| ABA Technologies Petite Mock Exam | 10-question sample | Free |
| Pass the Big ABA Exam | 5 sample questions free; Big Mock Exam of 185 questions with 2 attempts over 6 months | Free sample; mock $129 |
| ABA Technologies BOOST | Mock A or Mock B, 175 questions each, one attempt, 60-day access | $75 each |
| StudyABA | 185-question mock exams, sold singly or in bundles | $50 each |
| ABA Exam Review (behavioranalyststudy.com) | 3 full-length 6th edition mocks plus 5 additional practice exams (185 questions each) | $115 |
| TrueLearn | Question bank of 2,000+ questions | From $109 for 30 days |
The BACB does not endorse any of these. Its handbook says it "cannot endorse specific study guides or other preparation materials," and it prints only a few retired sample questions. Two cautions apply to every prep source. First, we found no peer-reviewed study showing that a particular mock exam score predicts passing, so treat "score 80% and you are ready" as a rule of thumb, not a guarantee, and treat vendor pass-rate claims as marketing. Second, never use or share recalled questions from the real exam; the handbook permanently prohibits disclosing exam content, including through online study sites.
Why the BCBA exam is the bottleneck in the job market
The BCBA hiring gap is usually blamed on training capacity: not enough graduate programs and not enough supervised fieldwork. The exam is a less discussed choke point, and the BACB's own numbers show how narrow it is.
In 2025 the BACB tested 23,151 BCBA candidates: 9,955 first-timers who passed at 51% and 13,196 retake candidates who passed at 23%. Applying those rates gives roughly 8,100 passes, which lines up with the 8,021 people newly certified that year. In other words, about two of every three BCBA exam sittings in 2025 ended without a pass. Newly certified BCBAs actually fell slightly from 8,164 in 2024.
Demand moved the other way. Job postings requiring or preferring a BCBA rose 28% in 2025, from 103,150 to 132,307 (BACB, US Employment Demand for Behavior Analysts, 2026). That is about 1.77 postings for every certified US BCBA at the end of 2025, a ratio we derive by dividing 2025 postings by the 74,927 BCBAs and BCBA-Ds certified in the US in December 2025. Postings are not the same as open jobs: Lightcast removes duplicate ads, but a role that is reposted or stays open for months can still be counted more than once over a year, and the count includes ads that only prefer the credential. Still, the direction is clear: employers add postings far faster than the exam adds BCBAs. For the full certificant numbers, see how many BCBAs there are in 2026.
For candidates, this cuts two ways. The exam is hard enough that a structured, question-heavy study plan is worth the effort. And once you pass, you join a small group that employers compete for, which gives you room to negotiate pay, caseload and schedule. Our BCBA salary negotiation guide covers how to use that leverage.
Frequently asked questions
How many questions are on the BCBA exam?
The BCBA exam has 185 multiple-choice questions: 175 scored and 10 unscored pilot questions. Each has four options and one correct answer, and you have four hours to finish, including the tutorial and load time.
What score do you need to pass the BCBA exam?
The BACB does not publish a fixed percentage. It sets the passing standard with a modified Angoff method, in which subject-matter experts judge how a minimally qualified candidate would perform on each question. Results are reported as pass or fail at the test center.
Are there free BCBA mock exams?
Yes, but most free options are short samples of 5 to 20 questions. Behavior School offers a free full-length 185-question timed mock that it says is aligned to the 6th edition outline; it requires a free account. Paid options listed in October 2026 ran from $50 for a single 185-question mock (StudyABA) to $129 (Pass the Big ABA Exam), and ABA Exam Review sold a bundle of eight 185-question exams for $115.
How hard is the BCBA exam?
In 2025, 51% of first-time candidates passed and 23% of retake candidates passed, according to BACB annual data. The first-time pass rate has fallen every year but one since 2020, when it was 66%.
How many times can you retake the BCBA exam?
You can take the exam up to 8 times within 2 years of your application approval, with at least 30 days between attempts. Each retake requires a $140 retake application plus a new $125 exam appointment fee.
Is the BCBA exam changing in 2027?
No. The BACB states that there are currently no upcoming changes to the BCBA examination or the Test Content Outline. The 2027 changes affect eligibility pathways, coursework and fieldwork, not the exam.
Does the BACB release real BCBA exam questions?
No. The BCBA Handbook includes only a few retired sample questions, and candidates are permanently prohibited from disclosing exam content, including on online study sites. Practice questions from prep companies, including the ones on this page, are written to resemble the exam, not copied from it.
The bottom line
Practice questions are the fastest way to find out which of the nine content areas you actually know, and a timed full-length mock exam is the only way to find out whether you can hold that knowledge for four hours. Weight your study by the question counts, review every rationale, and track your weakest area rather than your total score. For the full pass-rate history and study strategies, see our BCBA exam pass rate guide.
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