BCBA Plan

Concepts and Principles: practice questions

3 original questions · 3 editor-approved · every choice explained.

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Blueprint-mapped questions with full rationales for every choice.

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Concepts and PrinciplesDifficulty 3/5

A learner has had unrestricted access to a tablet all morning and no longer works to earn tablet time. What has occurred?

  1. AThe tablet has become an S-delta signalling that responding will not be reinforced
  2. BExtinction has weakened the mand because the reinforcer no longer follows it
  3. CAn abolishing operation has reduced the reinforcing value of the tablet
  4. DSatiation has turned the tablet into a punisher that now suppresses responding
Show answer and rationale

Correct: C. Free access is an abolishing operation: it decreases the momentary value of the tablet as a reinforcer and abates behavior previously reinforced by it. The tablet has not become aversive, and no discriminative or extinction contingency has been described.

  • D — Reduced value is not the same as becoming a punisher.
  • A — An S-delta signals that reinforcement is unavailable for a response; nothing about availability changed.
  • B — Extinction means the reinforcer no longer follows the response, which is not what happened.
Concepts and PrinciplesDifficulty 2/5

A child who is thirsty says 'water' and is given water. Which verbal operant is this?

  1. AIntraverbal
  2. BEchoic
  3. CTact
  4. DMand
Show answer and rationale

Correct: D. A mand is evoked by a motivating operation and specifies its own reinforcer. Thirst is the EO and water is the specified reinforcer.

  • C — A tact is evoked by a nonverbal stimulus and reinforced by generalized reinforcement.
  • A — An intraverbal is evoked by verbal behavior without point-to-point correspondence.
  • B — An echoic has point-to-point correspondence and formal similarity with a verbal model.
Concepts and PrinciplesDifficulty 3/5

Which schedule of reinforcement typically produces a high, steady rate of responding with little post-reinforcement pausing?

  1. AVariable ratio
  2. BVariable interval
  3. CFixed ratio
  4. DFixed interval
Show answer and rationale

Correct: A. Variable-ratio schedules reinforce after an unpredictable number of responses, producing high steady rates with minimal pausing. Fixed ratio and fixed interval both produce post-reinforcement pauses, and variable interval produces a moderate steady rate.

  • C — Fixed ratio produces a high rate but with a post-reinforcement pause.
  • D — Fixed interval produces a scalloped pattern.
  • B — Variable interval produces a moderate, steady rate.

Primary references

  1. BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), in effect since 2025 — Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) · primary · retrieved 2026-09-22, verified 2026-09-22