BCBA 6th Edition Task List: All 104 Tasks and Exam Weights

The BCBA 6th edition task list is now officially called the BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), and it has been the basis of the BCBA exam since January 1, 2025. It has 104 tasks in nine domains; here's how the 175 scored questions divide, followed by a checklist of every task.

Open the official BACB outline (PDF, 3 pages)

The 9 domains and their exam weight

Scored questions set the exam's balance; task counts don't. The exam has 185 questions in 4 hours: 175 scored, plus 10 unscored pilot questions you can't pick out. The BACB rounds its percentages, so use the question counts when you need exact numbers. The last column shows each domain's scored questions under the 5th edition, which also had 175.

Sources: BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), p. 1; BACB Examination Information; 5th-edition column from the February 2022 BACB Newsletter, p. 4.

By the Castleport Test Prep Editorial Team · Exam-outline facts last verified September 16, 2026

Your 104-task checklist

The task codes are the BACB's. The short descriptions are ours, written so you can scan the list quickly. For the exact wording of any task, use the official outline. Check a box when you can explain the task and apply it to a scenario without notes. Tasks marked new are among the 13 the BACB added in this edition. These checks organize your review; they do not establish competence or predict an exam result.

A. Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations

8 scored questions · 5 tasks · outline page 1

The why behind the science: what behavior analysis tries to do, the assumptions it rests on, radical behaviorism, how the science connects to practice, and what makes work “applied.”

• A.1 Goals of behavior science
• A.2 Philosophical assumptions of the science
• A.3 Radical behaviorism
• A.4 Behaviorism vs. experimental analysis vs. ABA vs. practice
• A.5 Dimensions of applied behavior analysis

B. Concepts and Principles

24 scored questions · 24 tasks · outline page 1

The principles you have to spot in examples: consequences, schedules, extinction, stimulus control, generalization, maintenance, motivating operations, rules, verbal behavior, emergent relations, momentum, matching, and imitation.

• B.1 Behavior, response, and response class
• B.2 Stimulus vs. stimulus class
• B.3 Respondent vs. operant conditioning
• B.4 Positive vs. negative reinforcement
• B.5 Positive vs. negative punishment
• B.6 Automatic vs. socially mediated contingencies
• B.7 Types of reinforcers
• B.8 Types of punishers
• B.9 Simple schedules of reinforcement
• B.10 Compound schedules: concurrent, multiple, mixed, chained
• B.11 Operant vs. respondent extinction
• B.12 Stimulus control
• B.13 Stimulus discrimination
• B.14 Stimulus vs. response generalization
• B.15 Response maintenance
• B.16 Motivating operations
• B.17 Motivating operations vs. stimulus control
• B.18 Rule-governed vs. contingency-shaped behavior
• B.19 Verbal operants
• B.20 Multiple control in verbal behavior · new
• B.21 Emergent relations and generative performance
• B.22 Behavioral momentum and persistence · new
• B.23 Matching law and response allocation · new
• B.24 Imitation vs. observational learning · new

C. Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation

21 scored questions · 12 tasks · outline page 2

Defining behavior, choosing and running measurement systems, graphing, reading graphs, and measuring whether a procedure was carried out as written (procedural integrity).

• C.1 Operational definitions
• C.2 Direct, indirect, and product measures
• C.3 Measuring occurrence
• C.4 Duration, latency, and interresponse time
• C.5 Continuous vs. discontinuous measurement
• C.6 Interval recording and time sampling
• C.7 Efficiency measures
• C.8 Validity and reliability of measurement
• C.9 Choosing a representative measure
• C.10 Graphing data
• C.11 Interpreting graphs
• C.12 Measuring procedural integrity · new

D. Experimental Design

13 scored questions · 9 tasks · outline page 2

Single-case research logic: variables, validity and its threats, what defines single-case designs, the four core designs, and how to read and critique their data.

• D.1 Dependent vs. independent variables
• D.2 Internal vs. external validity
• D.3 Threats to internal validity · new
• D.4 Defining features of single-case designs
• D.5 Single-case vs. group designs
• D.6 Critiquing single-case data · new
• D.7 Reversal, multiple-baseline, multielement, changing-criterion
• D.8 Comparative, component, and parametric analyses
• D.9 Using single-case designs

E. Ethical and Professional Issues

22 scored questions · 12 tasks · outline page 2

The Ethics Code in action: core principles, confidentiality, public statements, ending or transferring services, multiple relationships, working relationships, cultural humility and responsiveness, bias, and legal and funding rules.

• E.1 Core ethical principles
• E.2 Risks of unethical behavior · new
• E.3 Maintaining competence
• E.4 Confidential information
• E.5 Public statements and social media
• E.6 Ending or transferring services and supervision
• E.7 Multiple relationships
• E.8 Interpersonal skills in professional relationships · new
• E.9 Cultural humility
• E.10 Culturally responsive, inclusive services and supervision
• E.11 Personal biases
• E.12 Legal, regulatory, and practice requirements

F. Behavior Assessment

23 scored questions · 8 tasks · outline page 2

From records to goals: record review, cultural variables, skill and preference assessments, descriptive assessment, functional analysis, referral decisions, and choosing which goals come first.

• F.1 Record review at intake
• F.2 Cultural variables in assessment · new
• F.3 Skill assessments
• F.4 Preference assessments
• F.5 Descriptive assessments
• F.6 Functional analyses
• F.7 Need for services or referral
• F.8 Prioritizing goals from assessment data

G. Behavior-Change Procedures

25 scored questions · 19 tasks · outline page 3

The procedures that build and change behavior, and how to design and evaluate each one.

• G.1 Reinforcement procedures
• G.2 Differential reinforcement
• G.3 Time-based reinforcement schedules
• G.4 Conditioned reinforcers and token economies
• G.5 Using motivating operations and discriminative stimuli in procedures
• G.6 Simple and conditional discrimination training
• G.7 Choosing prompting procedures
• G.8 Fading prompts
• G.9 Modeling
• G.10 Instructions and rules
• G.11 Shaping
• G.12 Chaining
• G.13 Trial-based vs. free-operant procedures
• G.14 Group contingencies
• G.15 Programming generalization
• G.16 Programming maintenance
• G.17 Punishment procedures
• G.18 Emotional and elicited effects of procedures · new
• G.19 Teaching for emergent relations and generative performance

H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions

20 scored questions · 8 tasks · outline page 3

Turning assessment into a plan: measurable goals, recommendations that fit the client, replacement behavior, planning for side effects and relapse, data-based decisions, and collaboration.

• H.1 Measurable intervention goals
• H.2 Recommending interventions that fit
• H.3 Replacement behavior
• H.4 Planning for unwanted effects
• H.5 Planning for relapse · new
• H.6 Decisions from procedural-integrity data
• H.7 Decisions about effectiveness and changes
• H.8 Collaborating with others

I. Personnel Supervision and Management

19 scored questions · 7 tasks · outline page 3

Supervising people: why supervision matters, building the relationship, equity, choosing goals, performance management, performance diagnostics, and checking whether your supervision works.

• I.1 Benefits of supervision
• I.2 Building supervisory relationships
• I.3 Equity in supervision · new
• I.4 Choosing supervision goals
• I.5 Performance management procedures
• I.6 Function-based performance diagnostics
• I.7 Evaluating supervision

Which domain should you study next?

Count the unchecked boxes in each domain. For each domain, multiply its scored questions by the share of its tasks you haven't checked. Start with the biggest result.

Say you've left 6 of the 8 Behavior Assessment (F) tasks unchecked: 23 × 6/8 is about 17. You've left 4 of the 24 Concepts and Principles (B) tasks unchecked: 24 × 4/24 = 4. F comes first, even though B has three times as many tasks.

This is our rule of thumb, not a BACB formula or a readiness score. It treats questions as spread evenly within a domain, which the BACB doesn't say. Use it to set your order, not to predict points.

What changed from the 5th edition

The nine domains and the 175 scored questions stayed. What changed is the name, the tasks inside each domain, and where the questions sit.

Source: February 2022 BACB Newsletter, content domain crosswalk (p. 3) and examination blueprint crosswalk (p. 4).

Read the question column first:

• Concepts and Principles (B) and Behavior-Change Procedures (G) dropped from 67 questions combined to 49. That's 38% of the scored exam down to 28%.
• Ethics, assessment, interventions, and supervision (E, F, H, I) rose from 69 questions to 84, or 39% to 48%.
• Philosophical foundations and experimental design (A, D) gained 3 between them. Measurement (C) didn't move.

Those combined figures are our arithmetic from the BACB's counts. If your study plan was weighted to the 5th edition, rebalance it to the current counts rather than assuming your materials' chapter lengths match the exam.

A few other official changes, from the same newsletter (p. 3):

• The net gain was 12 tasks. The BACB describes it this way: 9 tasks were removed, 10 were combined into 5, 9 were split into 19, and 13 were added. The Ethics section was also restructured.
• Ethics became 12 specific tasks instead of references to the whole Ethics Code.
• Content on diversity, equity, and inclusion was built into 8 tasks across 4 domains.
• Two domain titles changed (A and E, shown in the table).

Two smaller differences show up when you compare the documents side by side. The 5th edition grouped A–D under “Foundations” and E–I under “Applications”; the 6th-edition outline simply lists nine domains. And “single-subject” designs became “single-case” designs (5th edition, pp. 1–3; 6th edition, pp. 1–2).

The 13 tasks the BACB added

• B.20 Multiple control in verbal behavior
• B.22 Behavioral momentum and persistence
• B.23 Matching law and response allocation
• B.24 Imitation vs. observational learning
• C.12 Measuring procedural integrity
• D.3 Threats to internal validity
• D.6 Critiquing single-case data
• E.2 Risks of unethical behavior
• E.8 Interpersonal skills in professional relationships
• F.2 Cultural variables in assessment
• G.18 Emotional and elicited effects of procedures
• H.5 Planning for relapse
• I.3 Equity in supervision

The BACB notes that some pieces of these appeared inside older tasks (February 2022 BACB Newsletter, p. 3). If you're working from older materials, these are the first gaps to check.

Where some older task codes landed

These are selected examples from our comparison of the two documents, not a complete crosswalk. The BACB's change report gives the counts and the 13 additions, not a task-by-task map.

Sources: BCBA Task List (5th ed.), pp. 2–4; BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), pp. 1–3.

Using 5th-edition notes or books

Older materials can still teach the concepts. Their edition label just can't tell you whether they cover the current tasks. Work through them like this:

1. Reweight. The old exam allocated 35 questions to Behavior-Change Procedures and 32 to Concepts and Principles. Plan from the current counts in the first table instead.
2. Add the 13 new tasks. They're marked new in the checklist. Find a source for each one.
3. Check split and widened tasks for partial coverage. Example: notes on trials to criterion (old C-6) cover only part of C.7, which also names cost-benefit analysis and training duration. Leave C.7 unchecked until you've covered those too.
4. Don't throw out topics that lost their own task. These 5th-edition topics aren't named anywhere in the 6th-edition statements:

• measuring topography and magnitude (old C-5)
• Skinner's analysis as a procedure for teaching verbal behavior (old G-11)
• the high-probability instructional sequence (old G-13)
• contingency contracting (old G-19)
• self-management (old G-20)
• functional communication training (an example in old G-14)

The February 2022 change report doesn't identify the 9 removed task codes, and “not named” isn't the same as “never tested.” Check these topics against the current wording rather than dropping or deprioritizing them solely because a label disappeared. C.9 still asks you to choose a measure that fits the behavior's critical dimension, and functional communication training (FCT) is one way to teach the replacement behavior covered by H.3 (Beavers, Iwata & Lerman, 2013, p. 16).

5. Write down one specific gap and the next step. “Review everything” isn't a plan. “Find a source on the matching law (B.23) and work five examples” is.

Check one task against your notes

Use this log to record what your materials cover, what is missing, and what you will do next. Match the current task wording, not just an old task number.

Coverage status: Not checked / Relevant coverage found / Partial coverage / Source needed. These labels describe your materials, not your competence or exam readiness.

Worked example — fictional notes:

Your reusable row:

C.7's scope comes from the current outline, p. 2, compared with C-6 in the 5th-edition task list, p. 3. The example and log are our study tools.

How to study from the outline

Start with question counts, then your weak spots

The checklist rule above does most of the work. One more pattern is worth seeing: some domains pack many questions into very few tasks.

The BACB's exam specifications set a number of questions for each task, but those numbers aren't published (February 2022 BACB Newsletter, p. 2). So treat this ratio as an arithmetic average across a domain, not points per task. Behavior Assessment (F) has 23 scored questions and only 8 tasks, but this does not mean each task gets 2.88 questions or deserves the same study time. The ratios are our arithmetic.

Match your practice to the verbs

The verbs in each task tell you what kind of thinking the exam expects. The counts below come from the two outlines; the practice suggestions are ours.

Sources: BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), pp. 1–3; BCBA Task List (5th ed.), pp. 2–5.

Worked example: turning F.6 into study moves

This is an exam-study example, not instructions for conducting an assessment. Actual assessments require appropriate competence, informed consent, and safeguards against harm (BACB Ethics Code, Standards 1.05, 2.11, and 2.13).

Task F.6 covers functional analyses, and its verbs are design and evaluate. Here's what each half asks of you.

The design side. Know what each condition tests:

• Test conditions deliver a possible reinforcer after the target behavior: attention, access to tangible items, or escape from demands.
• Alone or no-interaction sessions check whether the behavior keeps going with no social consequences at all.
• A control condition, often play, removes the variables being tested.

In the studies reviewed by Beavers, Iwata, and Lerman through May 2012, multielement designs were the most common arrangement.

The evaluate side. Read the graph. A social function shows up as responding that is clearly higher in a test condition than in the control. High responding in every condition is undifferentiated. One documented follow-up is an extended run of alone or no-interaction sessions. Persistence without social consequences supports an automatic-reinforcement hypothesis; undifferentiated results alone do not establish it.

The drill. Sketch two cases: one with differentiated results and one with undifferentiated results. For each, write what the data support and what remains uncertain. Don't assign a social function from an undifferentiated graph alone. Then try Question 6 below.

Source: Beavers, Iwata & Lerman (2013), pp. 5–8.

Check yourself: one question per domain

These 9 questions are original Castleport practice items, not BACB exam questions. Like the real exam, each has four options and one correct answer. Nine items give you one example from each domain, not full coverage of all 104 tasks or every level of thinking those tasks require. They can't estimate your score or tell you whether you're ready.

Question 1 · A. Behaviorism and Philosophical Foundations · Task A.5

A published procedure spells out the exact praise statements staff use, when they deliver them, the reinforcement schedule, and what staff do if the learner leaves the table, cries, or throws materials. A trained reader could carry it out from the write-up alone. The report never names the behavioral principles involved. Which dimension of applied behavior analysis does this description most clearly meet?

• A. Conceptually systematic
• B. Technological
• C. Generality
• D. Effective

Answer: B. Technological

Technological means every part of the procedure is identified and described well enough that a trained reader could replicate it, including what to do when the learner responds in other ways. Conceptually systematic would require tying the procedure to basic principles, and this report never does. Generality (change that lasts or spreads) and effective (change big enough to matter) are claims about results, and the stem gives no results.

Source: Baer, Wolf & Risley (1968), pp. 95–96.

Question 2 · B. Concepts and Principles · Task B.17

Maya has learned that asking an aide for “water” gets her a drink. After outdoor recess with no water breaks, she asks for water far more often than usual, but she still asks only when the aide is nearby. Which variable is working as the motivating operation for asking?

• A. The aide being nearby
• B. The drink she gets after asking
• C. The time without water during recess
• D. Her request, “water”

Answer: C. The time without water during recess

Going without water makes water a more effective reinforcer right now, and it raises the rate of the behavior that has produced water. That is the motivating function. The aide's presence signals that asking can pay off, which is a discriminative function: it's about whether the reinforcer is available, not how valuable it is. The drink is the reinforcer, and the request is the response.

Source: Edwards, Lotfizadeh & Poling, p. 4, quoting Michael (1993).

Question 3 · C. Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation · Task C.8

A team measures a learner's vocal stereotypy two ways in the same sessions: 10-second partial-interval recording, and continuous duration recording. Session after session, the partial-interval percentage is higher than the percentage of session time from the duration data. What is the best explanation?

• A. Partial-interval recording can overestimate the percentage of time occupied by behavior
• B. Duration recording misses the start and end of each bout
• C. Partial-interval recording tends to underestimate behavior
• D. The team used momentary time sampling by mistake

Answer: A. Partial-interval recording can overestimate the percentage of time occupied by behavior

Partial-interval recording marks an interval if the behavior happens at any point in it. The percentage of marked intervals is not the percentage of session time: a brief event can mark an entire interval. For example, 1 second of behavior in each of six 10-second intervals produces 100% marked intervals but only 10% of the 60-second session occupied by behavior. The percentages can also be equal; overestimation is not inevitable in every session. Duration recording doesn't skip the start and end of bouts; it times each instance from onset to offset. Underestimation does not explain the higher partial-interval percentages in the stem. A momentary time sampling error is not established by this pattern; the stem specifies partial-interval recording, and the difference follows from the two measurement rules.

Source: LeBlanc, Lund, Kooken, Lund & Fisher (2020), abstract: interval recording versus momentary time sampling. The six-interval example is our calculation from the stated recording rules.

Question 4 · D. Experimental Design · Task D.7

A behavior analyst will teach three independent sets of sight words, one set at a time, and wants to show that the teaching procedure, not coincidence, produced the gains. Learning one set is not expected to improve the untaught sets. Once a word is learned, it is unlikely to be “unlearned” when teaching stops. Which approach fits best?

• A. A reversal (ABAB) design with one word set
• B. An AB design (baseline, then teaching) with one word set
• C. A pretest before teaching and a posttest after, with no ongoing measurement
• D. A multiple-baseline design across the three word sets

Answer: D. A multiple-baseline design across the three word sets

A multiple baseline is especially useful when a behavior looks irreversible or reversing it would be undesirable. You measure all three sets, start teaching one at a time, and look for each set to change only when teaching reaches it. A reversal design depends on behavior dropping back when the procedure is removed, which learned words are unlikely to do. An AB design shows one change with no replication, and replication is what makes a demonstration believable. A pre/post check skips the repeated measurement these designs rely on.

Source: Baer, Wolf & Risley (1968), pp. 94–95.

Question 5 · E. Ethical and Professional Issues · Task E.5

Your clinic director asks you, a BCBA, to request a written review praising your services from a family you currently serve, so the clinic can use it in online ads for new clients. What should you do?

• A. Ask the family anyway, since they are free to say no
• B. Decline, explain the Code's rule to the director, and document it
• C. Ask the family, but remove identifying details before publishing
• D. Suggest a public online review the clinic can then share in ads

Answer: B. Decline, explain the Code's rule to the director, and document it

Standard 5.07 says behavior analysts don't solicit testimonials from current clients or stakeholders for ads meant to bring in new clients, because of the risk of undue influence and implied pressure. The Code also asks behavior analysts to document the steps they take when addressing a possible violation, and to make reasonable efforts to fix things if their employer violates this standard. Asking anyway because the family can say no, or removing names first, still solicits a testimonial from a current family. Suggesting a public review is still soliciting: under the Code's definition, a recommendation counts as solicited once you ask for it. And even a truly unsolicited review from a current client or stakeholder on a site you don't control shouldn't be used or shared by the behavior analyst. (Standard 5.08 covers former clients, with its own conditions.)

Source: BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, Standards 5.07–5.08, Glossary (“Testimonial”), and “Application of the Code” (p. 5).

Question 6 · F. Behavior Assessment · Task F.6

In a multielement functional analysis, a client's hand mouthing stays high across attention, demand, play, and alone sessions. An extended series of alone sessions follows, and hand mouthing stays high. Which conclusion is best supported?

• A. Hand mouthing is maintained by attention, because it happened during attention sessions
• B. Hand mouthing is maintained by escape, because it happened during demand sessions
• C. Hand mouthing is likely maintained, at least in part, by automatic reinforcement
• D. The analysis is invalid, because alone sessions should not be repeated

Answer: C. Hand mouthing is likely maintained, at least in part, by automatic reinforcement

Persistence when there are no social consequences supports the automatic-reinforcement hypothesis. After undifferentiated results, extended alone or no-interaction sessions are one documented follow-up, and persistence there supports the answer’s “at least in part” qualification. The attention and escape answers don't hold up: a social function needs higher responding in that test condition than in the control condition. Here responding was high everywhere and stayed high with no one responding to it. Calling the analysis invalid is wrong because extended alone phases are a documented method.

Source: Beavers, Iwata & Lerman (2013), pp. 6, 8, and 14.

Question 7 · G. Behavior-Change Procedures · Task G.3

To reduce a student's attention-maintained calling out, a teacher sets a timer and gives the student brief attention every 2 minutes, whether or not the student called out during that time. Which procedure is the teacher using?

• A. Interval differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO)
• B. Functional communication training
• C. Noncontingent escape
• D. A fixed-time schedule of attention

Answer: D. A fixed-time schedule of attention

On a fixed-time schedule, the reinforcer arrives by the clock and isn't influenced by what the student does. Interval DRO would deliver attention only if calling out had not happened during the interval. Functional communication training would deliver the maintaining reinforcer after an appropriate way of asking for it, and no such response is required here. Noncontingent escape delivers breaks from tasks on a time schedule, but this teacher is delivering attention.

Sources: Borrero, Bartels-Meints, Sy & Francisco (2011), pp. 163–164: fixed-time schedules; Beavers, Iwata & Lerman (2013), p. 16: functional communication training; Ingvarsson & Fernandez (2022 preprint), section 3 and footnote 2: noncontingent breaks and DRO distinctions.

Question 8 · H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions · Task H.3

A functional analysis shows that a learner's aggression is maintained by escape from difficult tasks. The team wants aggression to decrease by teaching a low-effort way to request a break before completing all the tasks. The learner can easily hand over a card. Which replacement behavior best fits that goal?

• A. Handing over a break card, which earns a short break
• B. Raising a hand, which earns praise from the teacher
• C. Sitting quietly, which earns a snack at the end of the day
• D. Finishing every task, after which a break is available

Answer: A. Handing over a break card, which earns a short break

When a functional analysis identifies the reinforcer maintaining a problem behavior, treatments such as functional communication training give that same reinforcer for an appropriate response. The Ethics Code also asks for interventions based on assessment results. A break card (or a spoken request) produces escape, the same consequence aggression has been producing. Raising a hand for praise and sitting quietly for a snack produce different consequences, so the learner still has no appropriate way to get a break. Finishing every task first does provide a route to a break, but it requires completing the work rather than teaching the low-effort request specified in the question.

Source: Beavers, Iwata & Lerman (2013), p. 16; BACB Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, Standard 2.14.

Question 9 · I. Personnel Supervision and Management · Task I.6

A BCBA supervisor finds that an RBT rarely records data during sessions. The RBT was trained with instructions, modeling, and rehearsal; knows data recording is expected, can say when and why to do it, and has recorded accurately before. During a direct skill check, the supervisor observes accurate recording at the required pace. A simple, well-organized data sheet and a pen are at the table, and a reminder is given at the start of each session. Recording takes little effort. During routine sessions, no one monitors data recording or gives feedback about it. Using the Performance Diagnostic Checklist–Human Services (PDC-HS), which intervention best addresses the gap described?

• A. Repeat behavioral skills training on data recording
• B. Post a data-recording checklist in the session room
• C. Monitor data recording and give feedback on it
• D. Replace the data sheets with better-organized versions

Answer: C. Monitor data recording and give feedback on it

On the PDC-HS, each “no” answer points to a possible intervention. The monitoring and feedback gaps described here match the planner’s increased supervisor presence and performance feedback. Retraining does not address the demonstrated gap: the RBT has shown the skill accurately and at the required pace. A posted checklist does not address the missing monitoring or feedback; the stem already provides a simple data sheet and reminders. New data sheets do not address that gap either, because the materials are available and well organized. This scenario does not supply answers to every PDC-HS item, so it is not a completed functional assessment.

Source: Carr & Wilder (2016), correction notice and corrected PDC-HS checklist and intervention planner, pp. 1–3.

Is the 6th edition still current?

Yes. When we checked on September 16, 2026, the BACB's 2027 transition guidance (updated January 2026, p. 4) says there are no upcoming changes to the BCBA exam or its outline. The BACB's list of recent and upcoming changes doesn't show any either. A few related points:

• The January 1, 2027 changes aren't about the exam. They cover eligibility and maintenance: degree, coursework, supervised fieldwork, continuing education, and ongoing supervision. For those, see our RBT vs. BCaBA vs. BCBA comparison, which covers the 2027 rules.
• Outline updates now run on their own schedule. The BACB says it will update the exam and outline independently of requirement changes, so updates can come more often if the profession needs them.
• The edition in effect when you test matters. The BCBA Handbook (p. 32) says that if a new edition begins during an active examination authorization, you must take the new version. Booking or authorization does not preserve an older outline. If a new edition is announced, compare its effective date with your planned test date.
• “Task list” is just the old name. In February 2026 the BACB said there is no longer any BACB document called a task list (February 2026 BACB Newsletter, p. 4). You'll still see the phrase on study materials. Check what's inside, not the label.

To check for yourself, the BACB's test content outlines page lists the current document for each credential.

How the exam is scored against the outline

The BACB sets the passing standard with a modified Angoff method. A panel of BACB-certified experts sets a criterion, and the BACB's board approves it, so you aren't graded against the other people testing that day. The BACB builds a new base exam form when content changes significantly, such as a new task list, and statistically equates the other forms to it.

Because the number of correct answers needed can vary by form, the BACB doesn't report your overall raw score or overall percentage correct, and its scoring page gives no single passing percentage. If you see a specific percentage or scaled cut score called the official BCBA passing score, check it against the BACB's scoring page. We didn't find one there.

If you pass, you get a pass notice and nothing else. If you don't, your report shows the percentage correct and the number of questions in each primary content area. The BACB cautions that few questions are asked about any single task. For a retake, it advises studying all the content, because focusing only on your weak areas can help there while other areas slip. Use the report to set the order of your checklist work, not to skip domains.

Source: BACB Examination Information, “Examination Scoring” and “FAQs About Scoring.”

Did pass rates change after the switch?

Source: BACB Examination Information, “Historical BCBA Examination Results.”

The first-time rate was 51% in 2025, down from 54% in 2024. The BACB doesn't attribute a cause, and the rate already moved from year to year before the switch. Don't read the dip as a measure of how hard the 6th edition is, and don't read any of these group rates as a forecast for you. In every year shown, the retake pass rate was less than half the first-time rate. These are different candidate groups, not a controlled comparison showing that taking an exam again causes a lower chance of passing.

Using the outline for coursework and fieldwork

The outline describes what the exam covers. It isn't a course syllabus or a fieldwork plan. When the BACB renamed task lists in 2022, it said they aren't university curricula or fieldwork curricula, though their content belongs in most programs (February 2022 BACB Newsletter, p. 1).

Its January 2026 fieldwork guidance adds more detail. Some outline tasks fit fieldwork and some don't, and many applied skills you should build during fieldwork aren't on the outline at all. The BACB suggests working out a plan with your supervisor based on your setting and your goals. So if you supervise trainees, use the checklist for exam review, not as the whole fieldwork agenda.

BCBA vs. BCaBA vs. RBT outlines

Each BACB credential has its own outline. Don't study from the wrong one.

Watch the domain letters. The BCaBA outline also runs from A to I, but its H is “Intervention Development and Monitoring” and its I is “Supervisory Relationships.” Same letters, different content and weights.

Sources: BACB Examination Information; BACB test content outlines page; BCaBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), p. 1; February 2022 BACB Newsletter, p. 5.

Sources and how we checked

Official BACB sources

• BACB, BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), updated 09/2024, pp. 1–3
• BACB, BCBA Task List (5th ed.), version 08/2024, pp. 1–5
• BACB Newsletter, February 2022, pp. 1–4
• BACB Newsletter, February 2026, p. 4
• BACB, Examination Information, exam table; BCBA results; Examination Scoring
• BACB, BCBA Handbook, updated 06/2026, pp. ii, 32, 37–39
• BACB, Guidance for Meeting the BCBA Requirements During the 2027 Transition, updated 01/2026, p. 4
• BACB, Recent & Upcoming Changes to BACB Requirements, table
• BACB, Fieldwork: Getting It Right (Jan. 15, 2026), section on the TCO
• BACB, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts, updated 08/2024, pp. 5, 8, 12, 17
• BACB, BCaBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), p. 1
• BACB, Test Content Outlines for BACB Certifications

Research behind the practice questions

• Baer, Wolf & Risley (1968), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1(1), 91–97, pp. 94–96
• Edwards, Lotfizadeh & Poling, Motivating Operations and Stimulus Control (author manuscript, University of Waikato Research Commons), p. 4, quoting Michael (1993)
• LeBlanc, Lund, Kooken, Lund & Fisher (2020), Behavior Analysis in Practice, 13, 411–420, abstract; published online June 3, 2019
• Beavers, Iwata & Lerman (2013), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 46, 1–21, pp. 5–8, 14, 16
• Borrero, Bartels-Meints, Sy & Francisco (2011), Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 44, 163–167, pp. 163–164
• Ingvarsson & Fernandez (2022), Bridging the Gap Between Laboratory and Applied Research on Response-Independent Schedules, preprint, section 3 and footnote 2; this version is not peer-reviewed
• Carr & Wilder (2016), The Performance Diagnostic Checklist—Human Services: A correction, Behavior Analysis in Practice, 9, 63, with its corrected checklist and intervention planner, pp. 1–3

Last verified: September 16, 2026. On that date we checked:

• the domain names, task codes, task counts, and scored-question counts in the current BACB outline
• the 5th-edition task list
• the BACB's February 2022 domain and blueprint crosswalks and its list of 13 added tasks
• exam length, scoring, and the 2021–2025 BCBA results
• the 2027 transition guidance, the BACB's changes page, and the February 2026 terminology notice
• the Ethics Code standards behind Question 5
• the specific research passages and abstracts cited beside the practice questions, including the corrected PDC-HS instrument and the identified response-independent-schedules preprint

What we calculated or compiled ourselves:

• the combined domain shifts, such as B plus G falling from 67 to 49 questions
• questions per task
• the verb counts
• the study-order rule of thumb and the six-interval measurement example
• the older-to-newer code examples, which come from comparing the two documents
• the fictional materials-audit example and reusable log

This is a source check, not a professional or BACB review. AI-assisted tools were used in developing and checking this page; see our editorial methodology. Spot an error? Report a correction.

Castleport Test Prep is an independent exam prep publisher. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or approved by the Behavior Analyst Certification Board (BACB) or Pearson VUE. BCBA, BCaBA, RBT, and other exam and credential names are used to identify the subjects discussed, and trademarks belong to their respective owners. The task descriptions on this page are our summaries, not BACB wording. The practice questions are original and are not BACB exam questions. Nothing on this page guarantees an exam result or certification.

Related: Behavior analysis certification hub · RBT vs. BCaBA vs. BCBA · Official BCaBA outline · Official RBT outline