BxLog is PTB’s exam prep blog, edited and curated by veteran ABA professionals with a mission to provide candidates helpful tools and guidance along their BCBA® exam prep journey. Explore short videos and articles containing valuable information including explanations of Task List concepts and ABA terminology, study tips, mock exam questions with answer breakdowns, and lifestyle advice to maintain a healthy exam prep regimen.
Test your concepts and principles skills with PTB co-founder Dana Meller as she reviews a BCBA® mock exam question about respondent conditioning, breaking down the process.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Section B-3: Define and provide examples of respondent and operant conditioning.
Breaking Down a BCBA® Mock Exam Question: Understanding Respondent Conditioning Read More
Test your knowledge of behavior-change procedures as PTB co-founder Dana Meller discusses generative learning and programming for generalization. Dana explains one of the nine procedures for achieving generalization that emphasizes the need to generalize the response across similar stimuli, while recognizing that different stimuli may require different responses.
NOTE: Here, Dana mentions there are seven methods for programming for generalization, which is consistent with the literature for the 4th Edition Task List. But, for the 5th Edition Task List, there are additional methods.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Sections G-12: Use equivalence-based instruction and G-21 Use procedures to promote stimulus and response generalization.
Test your ABA Terminology ➠ Programming for Generalization Read More
Test your knowledge of Concepts & Principles and Behavior-Change Procedures with PTB co-founder Dana Meller as she reviews the different types of operant extinction procedures.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Sections B-9: Define and provide examples of operant extinction, G-15: Use extinction.
Test Your ABA Terminology ➠ What Are The 3 Types of Extinction? Read More
Enhance your understanding of ABA concepts and principles with PTB co-founder Dana Meller’s explanation of a BCBA® mock exam question based on basic schedules of intermittent reinforcement, including fixed interval, fixed ratio, variable interval, and variable ratio schedules. Explore the unique patterns of responding associated with each schedule, and learn more about the schedule that produces a postreinforcement pause.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Section B-5: Define and provide examples of schedules of reinforcement.
Breaking Down a BCBA® Mock Exam Question: Basic Schedules of Intermittent Reinforcement Read More
Test your ABA Ethics Knowledge with PTB co-founder Dana Meller reviewing the ethics behind practicing within one’s scope of competence.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Section E-1: Responsible conduct of behavior analysts BACB® Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts: Section 1.05: Practicing Within Scope of Competence
Test your ABA Ethics ➠ Practicing Within Scope of Competence Read More
Test your behavior-change procedures skills with PTB co-founder Dana Meller as she breaks down a BCBA® mock exam question about the differences between contingent and non-contingent schedules, focusing on an antecedent-based, response-independent schedule of reinforcement.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Sections G-2: Use interventions based on motivating operations and discriminative stimuli and G-14: Use reinforcement procedures to weaken behavior (e.g., DRA, FCT, DRO, DRL, NCR).
Test your understanding of the ABCs of Behavior with PTB co-founder Dana Meller as she analyzes a tasty scenario to identify the MO, SD, prompt, behavior, and consequence using PTB’s special ABC breakdown method. Discover how ordering extra sauce serves as a perfect example to unravel the intricate relationship between MOs, deprivation, SDs, and reinforcement.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Sections B-1: Define and provide examples of behavior, response, and response class, B-10: Define and provide examples of stimulus control, B-12: Define and provide examples of motivating operations and G-4: Use stimulus and response prompts and fading (e.g., errorless, most-to-least, least-to-most, prompt delay, stimulus fading).
PTB’s Special ABA Sauce: Mastering the ABCs of Behavior Read More
Test your knowledge of measurement procedures with PTB co-founder Dana Meller as she explains, in detail, one of the threats to validity with several corresponding examples. Dana also shares a clever memorization study tip that will help you on the Big exam.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Section C-8: Evaluate the validity and reliability of measurement procedures.
Threats to Validity Exposed: When Misleading Data Plays Tricks on Your Perception Read More
Test your Behavior-Change Procedures skills with PTB co-founder Dana Meller as she reviews a BCBA® mock exam question about the chained schedule, compound schedule of reinforcement. Included is a description of the alternative schedule, concurrent schedule, and conjunctive schedule.
Refer to BCBA® Task List (5th ed.) Section B-5: Define and provide examples of schedules of reinforcement.
Breaking Down a BCBA® Mock Exam Question: Compound Schedules of Reinforcement Read More