BCBA Behavior Assessment Practice Questions
Behavior Assessment covers everything from reviewing records to running a functional analysis. You'll need to interpret FA graphs, choose the right preference assessment, and decide what assessment data mean for treatment.
What Domain F covers
The 6th Edition Test Content Outline lists 8 tasks in this domain. Baseline has practice questions mapped to every one of them.
- F.1Reviewing records at the start of a case
- F.2Cultural variables in assessment
- F.3Skill assessments: strengths and needs
- F.4Preference assessments
- F.5Descriptive assessments
- F.6Functional analyses
- F.7Deciding on services or referral
- F.8Prioritizing goals and procedures from assessment data
What to master
- Indirect, descriptive, and experimental (functional analysis) assessments — and what each can and can't show.
- Reading functional analysis results to identify attention, escape, tangible, or automatic functions.
- Preference assessments: single-stimulus, paired-stimulus, MSWO, and free-operant — and the difference between preference and reinforcer effectiveness.
- Skill assessments and prioritizing socially significant goals.
Common traps
- Treating ABC data as proof of function — descriptive data are correlational.
- Reading high responding in the alone condition as attention-maintained.
- Assuming a preferred item will automatically function as a reinforcer.
Free Behavior Assessment practice questions
Try these original questions written to match the format of the BCBA exam.
1. In a functional analysis, problem behavior is consistently high in the demand condition and near zero in the attention, alone, and play (control) conditions. What is the most likely function?
- Social negative reinforcement (escape)
- Access to tangibles
- Social positive reinforcement (attention)
- Automatic reinforcement
Show answer and explanation
Answer: A. Social negative reinforcement (escape)
Elevated responding only when demands are present — and removed contingent on the behavior — indicates escape-maintained behavior (social negative reinforcement). Automatic reinforcement would typically show high responding in the alone condition.
2. Which assessment directly manipulates antecedents and consequences to demonstrate a functional relation between environmental variables and problem behavior?
- Structured caregiver interview
- Paired-stimulus preference assessment
- ABC narrative recording
- Functional analysis
Show answer and explanation
Answer: D. Functional analysis
Only a functional (experimental) analysis manipulates variables, so only it can demonstrate a functional relation. ABC recording is descriptive (correlational), and interviews are indirect assessments.
Practice all 64 Behavior Assessment questions
Full Prep includes every question in this domain with explanations, smart practice that targets your weakest tasks, unlimited timed mock exams, and an AI tutor. Start with the free diagnostic to see where you stand.