BLEPP study guide
BLEPP · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) credential is a professional certification for practitioners who design, oversee, and evaluate behavior-analytic services, most often in autism and developmental-disability settings but also in education, organizational behavior management, and clinical practice. Certification signals that the holder has met the BACB's graduate-level coursework, supervised fieldwork, and examination requirements. The BLEPP study guide has 8 sections and about 2,357 words.
01Behavior Assessment
Behavior assessment covers the methods used to identify the environmental variables that occasion and maintain behavior, and to link those findings to intervention. Questions ask you to choose the least intrusive assessment that answers the referral question, distinguish indirect, descriptive, and experimental methods, and interpret conditional probabilities rather than simple correlations.
316 words, about 2 min02Behavior-Change Procedures
Behavior-change procedures covers the selection, design, and evaluation of interventions based on the assessed function of behavior. The exam tests reinforcement schedules, differential reinforcement, antecedent manipulations, extinction, punishment, shaping, chaining, prompting and fading, token economies, and generalization.
319 words, about 2 min03Ethics and Professional Conduct
Ethics and professional conduct covers informed consent, competence, confidentiality, multiple relationships, conflicts of interest, cultural responsiveness, least restrictive procedures, documentation, and supervision. Questions present a dilemma and ask for the response that protects the client and follows the code, not the most convenient option.
303 words, about 2 min04Experimental Design and Data Analysis
Experimental design and data analysis tests single-subject methodology: reversal, multiple baseline, alternating treatments, changing criterion, and withdrawal designs; threats to internal validity; and visual analysis of level, trend, variability, immediacy, and overlap. Baseline logic requires a stable baseline before intervention; a trended baseline confounds interpretation.
286 words, about 1 min05Measurement and Data Collection
Measurement and data collection tests operational definitions, continuous and discontinuous recording, accuracy and reliability, and interobserver agreement (IOA). Expect questions on choosing a measure that matches the behavior's dimensions and on interpreting IOA.
294 words, about 1 min06Behavioral Definitions and Principles
Behavioral definitions and principles tests the concepts that underlie every procedure: operant and respondent conditioning, reinforcement and punishment, extinction, stimulus control, motivating operations, generalization, discrimination, and verbal operants. Reinforcement increases behavior; punishment decreases it.
308 words, about 2 min07Supervision and Training
Supervision and training tests how you build and monitor supervisee competence: supervision contracts, behavioral skills training (BST), feedback, delegation, documentation, and data-based supervision. Establish a written supervision contract covering goals, roles, hours, feedback, and evaluation.
256 words, about 1 min08Behavioral Consultation and Systems
Behavioral consultation and systems tests how you work through others-teachers, parents, staff, and organizations-to change behavior at the group or system level. It covers consultation models, social validity, treatment integrity, performance analysis, and systems-level contingencies.
275 words, about 1 min