BLEPP cheat sheet

Three-term contingency: antecedent (A) → behavior (B) → consequence (C); a functional analysis (FA) systematically manipulates A and C to isolate the function.

Indirect methods (interviews, rating scales, e.g., FAST, MAS, QABF) are fast and low-risk but have low correspondence with experimental findings; use them to generate hypotheses, not to confirm function.

Descriptive methods (ABC narrative/structured recording, scatterplot, conditional probability analysis) show correlation between events and behavior but cannot demonstrate causation.

FA conditions typically include alone, attention, demand/escape, tangible, and a control (play) condition; elevated responding in a condition identifies the maintaining reinforcer.

A brief FA uses fewer sessions and shorter phases; a trial-based FA embeds test trials in ongoing classroom routines; both trade some precision for feasibility.

Preference assessments: paired-stimulus (forced choice) gives the clearest rank order; MSW and free-operant formats are faster but more prone to bias from position and duration of exposure.

Reinforcer assessment must follow preference assessment: a preferred item is only a reinforcer if its contingent delivery increases behavior.

Ecological/indirect records to gather: medical history, sleep, medications, setting events (e.g., sleep deprivation, illness) that alter MOs and response to consequences.

Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases it. Positive = stimulus added; negative = stimulus removed. Escape/avoidance behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement.

Differential reinforcement hierarchy: DRL (lower rates), DRD (diminishing rates), DRO (zero responding in interval), DRA (alternative behavior reinforced), DRI (incompatible behavior reinforced).

Extinction burst, spontaneous recovery, and resurgence are predictable side effects of extinction; plan for temporary increases in response rate, magnitude, or variability.

Token economies: backup reinforcers must be potent, exchange rate and schedule explicit, and response cost (token fines) must be defined in advance to avoid ratio strain.

FCT (functional communication training) teaches a socially acceptable communicative response that produces the same reinforcer maintaining problem behavior; it is a DRA procedure.

Shaping reinforces successive approximations; chaining (forward, backward, total task) teaches response sequences; backward chaining is often used when the terminal step is the most reinforcing.

Prompt hierarchy from least to most intrusive: independent → verbal → gesture → model → partial physical → full physical; prompt fading and time delay reduce prompt dependence.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) delivers the maintaining reinforcer on a time-based schedule independent of behavior; it reduces motivation (abolishing operation) rather than teaching a skill.

Core principles: benefit others, treat others with compassion/dignity, behave with integrity, ensure competence, and safeguard client welfare; these anchor all decisions.

Least restrictive, least intrusive effective procedure must be selected; more restrictive interventions (e.g., restraint, punishment) require justification, data, oversight, and often peer review.

Informed consent requires capacity, voluntariness, disclosure of risks/benefits/alternatives, and documentation; assent should be sought from minors and individuals with limited capacity.

Confidentiality has limits: mandated reporting of suspected abuse/neglect, imminent risk of harm, and legal orders; disclose only the minimum necessary information.

Multiple relationships are avoided when they could impair objectivity or exploit; gift-giving, bartering, and social media contact require documented decision-making.

Data-based decision making is an ethical obligation: interventions must be monitored and modified or discontinued when data show they are ineffective or harmful.

Supervision ethics: supervisees must be trained only within the supervisor's competence, with defined roles, documented hours, and regular feedback.

Scope of competence: practice within training and experience; obtain consultation or refer when a case exceeds competence, and pursue continuing education to expand it.

Single-case designs: withdrawal/reversal (ABAB), multiple baseline across behaviors/settings/participants, alternating treatments (multielement), changing criterion, and multiple probe.

Multiple baseline logic requires that behavior change occurs only after the intervention is introduced in each tier, while untreated tiers remain stable.

Internal validity threats: maturation, history, testing, instrumentation, regression to the mean, attrition, and sequence effects; reversal designs control for maturation and history.

External validity concerns generality across settings, people, and behaviors; multiple baseline across participants strengthens generality claims.

Visual analysis criteria: level (mean), trend (slope), variability (range), immediacy of effect, overlap between phases, and consistency across similar phases.

Effect size metrics for single-case data include Tau-U, NAP, PND, and PEM; report the metric used and its limitations rather than a single number.

IOA (interobserver agreement) is typically computed as agreements ÷ (agreements + disagreements) × 100; 80–90% is a common minimum, with 90%+ preferred for high-stakes decisions.

Treatment integrity (procedural fidelity) data document that the independent variable was delivered as planned; low integrity weakens conclusions about function.

Continuous measures: frequency/rate (count ÷ time), duration (total, per occurrence), latency (time to onset), and IRT (time between responses).

Discontinuous measures: partial interval (overestimates), whole interval (underestimates), and momentary time sampling (best estimate of duration for continuous behaviors).

Rate is expressed per unit time (e.g., responses per minute); frequency alone is not comparable across sessions of unequal length.

Permanent products (worksheets completed, items assembled) allow measurement after the fact without direct observation.

Measurement accuracy depends on the operational definition: observable, measurable, and unambiguous, with examples and non-examples specified.

Interobserver agreement should be collected on at least 20–33% of sessions, distributed across conditions and observers, not only on easy sessions.

Graphing conventions: equal interval axes, labeled x (time/sessions) and y (behavior), phase change lines, condition labels, and no breaks in the y-axis.

Reliability of measurement is threatened by observer drift, bias, reactivity, and poorly defined target behaviors; recalibrate observers periodically.

A behavior is defined by its function (effect on the environment), not by its topography (form); the same function can be served by many topographies.

Operant conditioning: behavior is selected by consequences; respondent conditioning: reflexive responses come under control of new antecedent stimuli (e.g., pairing).

Reinforcement schedules: continuous (CRF) for acquisition; intermittent (FR, VR, FI, VI) for maintenance and resistance to extinction; VR produces high, steady rates.

Motivating operations: establishing operations (EO) increase the value of a reinforcer and evoke behavior; abolishing operations (AO) decrease value and abate behavior.

Stimulus control: a discriminative stimulus (S-D) signals reinforcement availability; S-delta signals extinction. Discrimination and generalization are complementary outcomes.

Punishment (positive/negative) suppresses behavior but does not teach alternatives; it can produce emotional side effects, aggression, and escape/avoidance.

Behavioral momentum: high-probability response sequences followed by a low-probability request increase compliance with the low-probability request.

Establishing operations and setting events differ: MOs are motivating variables; setting events are broader contextual conditions (e.g., sleep, illness) that alter stimulus–response relations.

Behavioral skills training (BST) sequence: instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, repeated until performance criterion is met.

Supervision should include direct observation of the supervisee's work, not only self-report; video review, live observation, and permanent-product checks are alternatives.

Performance feedback is most effective when specific, immediate, and contingent on observed behavior, with a positive-to-corrective ratio.

Supervisory relationship variables: clear expectations, scheduled meetings, documented feedback, and a supervision contract specifying roles and evaluation criteria.

Competency benchmarks for supervisees include conducting assessment, writing operational definitions, graphing, and implementing interventions with treatment integrity.

Ethical supervision requires monitoring client welfare, intervening when supervisee behavior is harmful, and not delegating tasks beyond the supervisee's competence.

Training transfer is supported by in-vivo practice, self-monitoring, and follow-up probes in the natural environment after training ends.

Supervisor competence: know the current BACB Ethics Code and supervision requirements, and document supervision hours accurately.

Consultation models: behavioral consultation (problem identification → problem analysis → plan implementation → plan evaluation), mental health, and organizational/instructional consultation.

Consent and role clarity come first: define who the client is, who consents, and what data will be shared among team members.

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plan (BIP) are required under IDEA when behavior impedes learning; the BIP must be based on FBA data.

Team-based interventions work best when goals, definitions, and data-collection procedures are shared across all implementers (teachers, paraprofessionals, caregivers).

Systems-level change targets policies, routines, and reinforcement contingencies in the environment (e.g., school-wide PBIS tiers) rather than individual behavior alone.

Treatment integrity in consultation is threatened when consultees lack time, training, or administrative support; assess and address barriers before blaming the plan.

Cultural responsiveness: assess the social validity of goals, procedures, and outcomes with the family and adapt to language, values, and routines.

Data-based consultation ends with plan evaluation: compare baseline to intervention data, decide to continue, modify, or fade, and plan for maintenance and generalization.

Three-term contingency: antecedent (A) → behavior (B) → consequence (C); a functional analysis (FA) systematically manipulates A and C to isolate the function.

Indirect methods (interviews, rating scales, e.g., FAST, MAS, QABF) are fast and low-risk but have low correspondence with experimental findings; use them to generate hypotheses, not to confirm function.

Descriptive methods (ABC narrative/structured recording, scatterplot, conditional probability analysis) show correlation between events and behavior but cannot demonstrate causation.

FA conditions typically include alone, attention, demand/escape, tangible, and a control (play) condition; elevated responding in a condition identifies the maintaining reinforcer.

A brief FA uses fewer sessions and shorter phases; a trial-based FA embeds test trials in ongoing classroom routines; both trade some precision for feasibility.

Preference assessments: paired-stimulus (forced choice) gives the clearest rank order; MSW and free-operant formats are faster but more prone to bias from position and duration of exposure.

Reinforcer assessment must follow preference assessment: a preferred item is only a reinforcer if its contingent delivery increases behavior.

Ecological/indirect records to gather: medical history, sleep, medications, setting events (e.g., sleep deprivation, illness) that alter MOs and response to consequences.

Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases it. Positive = stimulus added; negative = stimulus removed. Escape/avoidance behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement.

Differential reinforcement hierarchy: DRL (lower rates), DRD (diminishing rates), DRO (zero responding in interval), DRA (alternative behavior reinforced), DRI (incompatible behavior reinforced).

Extinction burst, spontaneous recovery, and resurgence are predictable side effects of extinction; plan for temporary increases in response rate, magnitude, or variability.

Token economies: backup reinforcers must be potent, exchange rate and schedule explicit, and response cost (token fines) must be defined in advance to avoid ratio strain.

FCT (functional communication training) teaches a socially acceptable communicative response that produces the same reinforcer maintaining problem behavior; it is a DRA procedure.

Shaping reinforces successive approximations; chaining (forward, backward, total task) teaches response sequences; backward chaining is often used when the terminal step is the most reinforcing.

Prompt hierarchy from least to most intrusive: independent → verbal → gesture → model → partial physical → full physical; prompt fading and time delay reduce prompt dependence.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) delivers the maintaining reinforcer on a time-based schedule independent of behavior; it reduces motivation (abolishing operation) rather than teaching a skill.

Core principles: benefit others, treat others with compassion/dignity, behave with integrity, ensure competence, and safeguard client welfare; these anchor all decisions.

Least restrictive, least intrusive effective procedure must be selected; more restrictive interventions (e.g., restraint, punishment) require justification, data, oversight, and often peer review.

Informed consent requires capacity, voluntariness, disclosure of risks/benefits/alternatives, and documentation; assent should be sought from minors and individuals with limited capacity.

Confidentiality has limits: mandated reporting of suspected abuse/neglect, imminent risk of harm, and legal orders; disclose only the minimum necessary information.

Multiple relationships are avoided when they could impair objectivity or exploit; gift-giving, bartering, and social media contact require documented decision-making.

Data-based decision making is an ethical obligation: interventions must be monitored and modified or discontinued when data show they are ineffective or harmful.

Supervision ethics: supervisees must be trained only within the supervisor's competence, with defined roles, documented hours, and regular feedback.

Scope of competence: practice within training and experience; obtain consultation or refer when a case exceeds competence, and pursue continuing education to expand it.

Single-case designs: withdrawal/reversal (ABAB), multiple baseline across behaviors/settings/participants, alternating treatments (multielement), changing criterion, and multiple probe.

Multiple baseline logic requires that behavior change occurs only after the intervention is introduced in each tier, while untreated tiers remain stable.

Internal validity threats: maturation, history, testing, instrumentation, regression to the mean, attrition, and sequence effects; reversal designs control for maturation and history.

External validity concerns generality across settings, people, and behaviors; multiple baseline across participants strengthens generality claims.

Visual analysis criteria: level (mean), trend (slope), variability (range), immediacy of effect, overlap between phases, and consistency across similar phases.

Effect size metrics for single-case data include Tau-U, NAP, PND, and PEM; report the metric used and its limitations rather than a single number.

IOA (interobserver agreement) is typically computed as agreements ÷ (agreements + disagreements) × 100; 80–90% is a common minimum, with 90%+ preferred for high-stakes decisions.

Treatment integrity (procedural fidelity) data document that the independent variable was delivered as planned; low integrity weakens conclusions about function.

Continuous measures: frequency/rate (count ÷ time), duration (total, per occurrence), latency (time to onset), and IRT (time between responses).

Discontinuous measures: partial interval (overestimates), whole interval (underestimates), and momentary time sampling (best estimate of duration for continuous behaviors).

Rate is expressed per unit time (e.g., responses per minute); frequency alone is not comparable across sessions of unequal length.

Permanent products (worksheets completed, items assembled) allow measurement after the fact without direct observation.

Measurement accuracy depends on the operational definition: observable, measurable, and unambiguous, with examples and non-examples specified.

Interobserver agreement should be collected on at least 20–33% of sessions, distributed across conditions and observers, not only on easy sessions.

Graphing conventions: equal interval axes, labeled x (time/sessions) and y (behavior), phase change lines, condition labels, and no breaks in the y-axis.

Reliability of measurement is threatened by observer drift, bias, reactivity, and poorly defined target behaviors; recalibrate observers periodically.

A behavior is defined by its function (effect on the environment), not by its topography (form); the same function can be served by many topographies.

Operant conditioning: behavior is selected by consequences; respondent conditioning: reflexive responses come under control of new antecedent stimuli (e.g., pairing).

Reinforcement schedules: continuous (CRF) for acquisition; intermittent (FR, VR, FI, VI) for maintenance and resistance to extinction; VR produces high, steady rates.

Motivating operations: establishing operations (EO) increase the value of a reinforcer and evoke behavior; abolishing operations (AO) decrease value and abate behavior.

Stimulus control: a discriminative stimulus (S-D) signals reinforcement availability; S-delta signals extinction. Discrimination and generalization are complementary outcomes.

Punishment (positive/negative) suppresses behavior but does not teach alternatives; it can produce emotional side effects, aggression, and escape/avoidance.

Behavioral momentum: high-probability response sequences followed by a low-probability request increase compliance with the low-probability request.

Establishing operations and setting events differ: MOs are motivating variables; setting events are broader contextual conditions (e.g., sleep, illness) that alter stimulus–response relations.

Behavioral skills training (BST) sequence: instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, repeated until performance criterion is met.

Supervision should include direct observation of the supervisee's work, not only self-report; video review, live observation, and permanent-product checks are alternatives.

Performance feedback is most effective when specific, immediate, and contingent on observed behavior, with a positive-to-corrective ratio.

Supervisory relationship variables: clear expectations, scheduled meetings, documented feedback, and a supervision contract specifying roles and evaluation criteria.

Competency benchmarks for supervisees include conducting assessment, writing operational definitions, graphing, and implementing interventions with treatment integrity.

Ethical supervision requires monitoring client welfare, intervening when supervisee behavior is harmful, and not delegating tasks beyond the supervisee's competence.

Training transfer is supported by in-vivo practice, self-monitoring, and follow-up probes in the natural environment after training ends.

Supervisor competence: know the current BACB Ethics Code and supervision requirements, and document supervision hours accurately.

Consultation models: behavioral consultation (problem identification → problem analysis → plan implementation → plan evaluation), mental health, and organizational/instructional consultation.

Consent and role clarity come first: define who the client is, who consents, and what data will be shared among team members.

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plan (BIP) are required under IDEA when behavior impedes learning; the BIP must be based on FBA data.

Team-based interventions work best when goals, definitions, and data-collection procedures are shared across all implementers (teachers, paraprofessionals, caregivers).

Systems-level change targets policies, routines, and reinforcement contingencies in the environment (e.g., school-wide PBIS tiers) rather than individual behavior alone.

Treatment integrity in consultation is threatened when consultees lack time, training, or administrative support; assess and address barriers before blaming the plan.

Cultural responsiveness: assess the social validity of goals, procedures, and outcomes with the family and adapt to language, values, and routines.

Data-based consultation ends with plan evaluation: compare baseline to intervention data, decide to continue, modify, or fade, and plan for maintenance and generalization.

Three-term contingency: antecedent (A) → behavior (B) → consequence (C); a functional analysis (FA) systematically manipulates A and C to isolate the function.

Indirect methods (interviews, rating scales, e.g., FAST, MAS, QABF) are fast and low-risk but have low correspondence with experimental findings; use them to generate hypotheses, not to confirm function.

Descriptive methods (ABC narrative/structured recording, scatterplot, conditional probability analysis) show correlation between events and behavior but cannot demonstrate causation.

FA conditions typically include alone, attention, demand/escape, tangible, and a control (play) condition; elevated responding in a condition identifies the maintaining reinforcer.

A brief FA uses fewer sessions and shorter phases; a trial-based FA embeds test trials in ongoing classroom routines; both trade some precision for feasibility.

Preference assessments: paired-stimulus (forced choice) gives the clearest rank order; MSW and free-operant formats are faster but more prone to bias from position and duration of exposure.

Reinforcer assessment must follow preference assessment: a preferred item is only a reinforcer if its contingent delivery increases behavior.

Ecological/indirect records to gather: medical history, sleep, medications, setting events (e.g., sleep deprivation, illness) that alter MOs and response to consequences.

Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases it. Positive = stimulus added; negative = stimulus removed. Escape/avoidance behavior is maintained by negative reinforcement.

Differential reinforcement hierarchy: DRL (lower rates), DRD (diminishing rates), DRO (zero responding in interval), DRA (alternative behavior reinforced), DRI (incompatible behavior reinforced).

Extinction burst, spontaneous recovery, and resurgence are predictable side effects of extinction; plan for temporary increases in response rate, magnitude, or variability.

Token economies: backup reinforcers must be potent, exchange rate and schedule explicit, and response cost (token fines) must be defined in advance to avoid ratio strain.

FCT (functional communication training) teaches a socially acceptable communicative response that produces the same reinforcer maintaining problem behavior; it is a DRA procedure.

Shaping reinforces successive approximations; chaining (forward, backward, total task) teaches response sequences; backward chaining is often used when the terminal step is the most reinforcing.

Prompt hierarchy from least to most intrusive: independent → verbal → gesture → model → partial physical → full physical; prompt fading and time delay reduce prompt dependence.

Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) delivers the maintaining reinforcer on a time-based schedule independent of behavior; it reduces motivation (abolishing operation) rather than teaching a skill.

Core principles: benefit others, treat others with compassion/dignity, behave with integrity, ensure competence, and safeguard client welfare; these anchor all decisions.

Least restrictive, least intrusive effective procedure must be selected; more restrictive interventions (e.g., restraint, punishment) require justification, data, oversight, and often peer review.

Informed consent requires capacity, voluntariness, disclosure of risks/benefits/alternatives, and documentation; assent should be sought from minors and individuals with limited capacity.

Confidentiality has limits: mandated reporting of suspected abuse/neglect, imminent risk of harm, and legal orders; disclose only the minimum necessary information.

Multiple relationships are avoided when they could impair objectivity or exploit; gift-giving, bartering, and social media contact require documented decision-making.

Data-based decision making is an ethical obligation: interventions must be monitored and modified or discontinued when data show they are ineffective or harmful.

Supervision ethics: supervisees must be trained only within the supervisor's competence, with defined roles, documented hours, and regular feedback.

Scope of competence: practice within training and experience; obtain consultation or refer when a case exceeds competence, and pursue continuing education to expand it.

Single-case designs: withdrawal/reversal (ABAB), multiple baseline across behaviors/settings/participants, alternating treatments (multielement), changing criterion, and multiple probe.

Multiple baseline logic requires that behavior change occurs only after the intervention is introduced in each tier, while untreated tiers remain stable.

Internal validity threats: maturation, history, testing, instrumentation, regression to the mean, attrition, and sequence effects; reversal designs control for maturation and history.

External validity concerns generality across settings, people, and behaviors; multiple baseline across participants strengthens generality claims.

Visual analysis criteria: level (mean), trend (slope), variability (range), immediacy of effect, overlap between phases, and consistency across similar phases.

Effect size metrics for single-case data include Tau-U, NAP, PND, and PEM; report the metric used and its limitations rather than a single number.

IOA (interobserver agreement) is typically computed as agreements ÷ (agreements + disagreements) × 100; 80–90% is a common minimum, with 90%+ preferred for high-stakes decisions.

Treatment integrity (procedural fidelity) data document that the independent variable was delivered as planned; low integrity weakens conclusions about function.

Continuous measures: frequency/rate (count ÷ time), duration (total, per occurrence), latency (time to onset), and IRT (time between responses).

Discontinuous measures: partial interval (overestimates), whole interval (underestimates), and momentary time sampling (best estimate of duration for continuous behaviors).

Rate is expressed per unit time (e.g., responses per minute); frequency alone is not comparable across sessions of unequal length.

Permanent products (worksheets completed, items assembled) allow measurement after the fact without direct observation.

Measurement accuracy depends on the operational definition: observable, measurable, and unambiguous, with examples and non-examples specified.

Interobserver agreement should be collected on at least 20–33% of sessions, distributed across conditions and observers, not only on easy sessions.

Graphing conventions: equal interval axes, labeled x (time/sessions) and y (behavior), phase change lines, condition labels, and no breaks in the y-axis.

Reliability of measurement is threatened by observer drift, bias, reactivity, and poorly defined target behaviors; recalibrate observers periodically.

A behavior is defined by its function (effect on the environment), not by its topography (form); the same function can be served by many topographies.

Operant conditioning: behavior is selected by consequences; respondent conditioning: reflexive responses come under control of new antecedent stimuli (e.g., pairing).

Reinforcement schedules: continuous (CRF) for acquisition; intermittent (FR, VR, FI, VI) for maintenance and resistance to extinction; VR produces high, steady rates.

Motivating operations: establishing operations (EO) increase the value of a reinforcer and evoke behavior; abolishing operations (AO) decrease value and abate behavior.

Stimulus control: a discriminative stimulus (S-D) signals reinforcement availability; S-delta signals extinction. Discrimination and generalization are complementary outcomes.

Punishment (positive/negative) suppresses behavior but does not teach alternatives; it can produce emotional side effects, aggression, and escape/avoidance.

Behavioral momentum: high-probability response sequences followed by a low-probability request increase compliance with the low-probability request.

Establishing operations and setting events differ: MOs are motivating variables; setting events are broader contextual conditions (e.g., sleep, illness) that alter stimulus–response relations.

Behavioral skills training (BST) sequence: instruction, modeling, rehearsal, and feedback, repeated until performance criterion is met.

Supervision should include direct observation of the supervisee's work, not only self-report; video review, live observation, and permanent-product checks are alternatives.

Performance feedback is most effective when specific, immediate, and contingent on observed behavior, with a positive-to-corrective ratio.

Supervisory relationship variables: clear expectations, scheduled meetings, documented feedback, and a supervision contract specifying roles and evaluation criteria.

Competency benchmarks for supervisees include conducting assessment, writing operational definitions, graphing, and implementing interventions with treatment integrity.

Ethical supervision requires monitoring client welfare, intervening when supervisee behavior is harmful, and not delegating tasks beyond the supervisee's competence.

Training transfer is supported by in-vivo practice, self-monitoring, and follow-up probes in the natural environment after training ends.

Supervisor competence: know the current BACB Ethics Code and supervision requirements, and document supervision hours accurately.

Consultation models: behavioral consultation (problem identification → problem analysis → plan implementation → plan evaluation), mental health, and organizational/instructional consultation.

Consent and role clarity come first: define who the client is, who consents, and what data will be shared among team members.

Functional behavioral assessment (FBA) and behavior intervention plan (BIP) are required under IDEA when behavior impedes learning; the BIP must be based on FBA data.

Team-based interventions work best when goals, definitions, and data-collection procedures are shared across all implementers (teachers, paraprofessionals, caregivers).

Systems-level change targets policies, routines, and reinforcement contingencies in the environment (e.g., school-wide PBIS tiers) rather than individual behavior alone.

Treatment integrity in consultation is threatened when consultees lack time, training, or administrative support; assess and address barriers before blaming the plan.

Cultural responsiveness: assess the social validity of goals, procedures, and outcomes with the family and adapt to language, values, and routines.

Data-based consultation ends with plan evaluation: compare baseline to intervention data, decide to continue, modify, or fade, and plan for maintenance and generalization.