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ABA 636 Signature Assignment

Baillie Stelly

Master of Science, Applied Behavior Analysis

National University

ABA 636: Application of ABA Skills

Professor Summer Larson

February 4th, 2024

Baseline

In week one of ABA 636: Applications of ABA Skills, the learners took our first attempt

at the BCBA Mock Exam on Central Reach Institute. I scored an overall percentage of 68%. The

exam is broken down into sections based off of the BACB 5th Edition Task List. All sections of

the task list are as follows: A. Philosophical Underpinnings, B. Concepts and Principles, C.

Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation, D. Experimental Design, E. Ethics, F. Behavior

Assessment, G. Behavior-Change Procedures, H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions, and

I. Personnel Supervision and Management.

The highest scoring sections for my first attempt at the Mock Exam were I. Personnel

Supervision and Management at 83.5%, F. Behavior Assessment at 76.5%, and A. Philosophical

Underpinnings at 75%. The lowest scoring sections for my first attempt at the Mock Exam were

H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions at 56%, C. Measurement, Data Display, and

Interpretation at 59%, and D. Experimental Design at 60.5%.

It is important to know my strengths and weaknesses for a variety of reasons. While I

don’t think it’s the most significant reason, I won’t be able to advance my ABA career and step

into a BCBA role until I pass the BACB Board Exam. For that reason, it is important to know

my strengths and weaknesses to prioritize which sections of the task list to study in order to pass

the board exam. Academically, a strength of mine is reading quickly. This will be an advantage

when taking the timed exam.

The most important reason to be aware of my own strengths and weaknesses is to ensure

my own competence. Ensuring competence is a core principle of the BACB Code of Ethics

(2014.) Ensuring competence as a practitioner means I am working within my scope of

competence, seeking mentorship and training when necessary, and attending seminars and
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conferences to meet CEU and furthering education requirements. This is a core principle of the

BACB Ethics Code because in ensuring competence, we protect our clients. We ensure accurate

and valid data, that treatment is backed by experience and derived using ABA principles, and

practices are current and up to date as ABA develops.

Fluency is a measure that refers to accuracy and speed (Cooper et al., 2020.) The idea is

that the consistent and repetitive exposure to concepts and topics will be retained by the learner

and generalize long term and into other settings. In the context of this program, we assessed and

practiced fluency by using the SAFMEDS tool on CentralReach Institute. SAFMEDS stands for

“Say All Fast a Minute Every Day Shuffled.” Ogden Lindsley developed SAFMEDS in the

1970’s (Eshleman, 2000). The target for each of the courses was to run the SAFMEDS timings

for a duration of 30 seconds at a time, for a frequency of five times per day, and five days per

week, for eight weeks total. The goal AIM throughout the program has been an accel of 14. The

learner’s accel is the number of cards that were correct during the 30 second timing. I maintained

a 14 or higher accel for the fluency deck every week, for every course. This indicates that I did

retain the concepts and topics learned week after week, course after course. Fluency is also

meant to be an indicator of how well the learner will do on the board exam. I look forward to

analyzing if there is a functional relation between my maintained level of fluency with

SAFMEDS and my score on the BACB Board Exam. Given the data from my first and second

mock exam attempt, I can predict that there will be a positive correlation.

Intervention/Study Approach

In preparation for the second attempt at the BACB mock exam, I followed the

requirements of the course. The ABA 636 course requirements were to identify the three highest

and three lowest scoring sections of the mock exam. As stated previously, the lowest scoring
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sections for my first attempt at the Mock Exam were: H. Selecting and Implementing

Interventions at 56%, C. Measurement, Data Display, and Interpretation at 59%, and D.

Experimental Design at 60.5%. Each week of the course we created a SAFMEDS deck including

either the weakest, second weakest, or third weakest area of the task list. The expectations for

running SAFMEDS were a duration of 30 seconds at a time, for a frequency of five times a day,

and five days per week, for eight weeks total. In weeks one and two I fell short of the five-day

requirement. On the days I did run the decks, I ran them five times that day, thirty seconds at a

time. In weeks three and four I met the required five days for the week. Each week there is a

clear increasing trend in the accel data paths indicating an increase in fluency, and therefore a

predicted increase in percentages for mock exam attempt two.

I chose to use the CentralReach BCBA test prep courses for C-10, D-5, and H-3. C-10

covered identifying different types of graphs and components of those graphs and choosing the

best graphs and measurement systems for certain interventions. I have a better understanding of

condition and phase change lines after completing this course. D-5 covered single case designs,

the different types, their characteristics, and when to use them. I better understand the difference

between multielement and multiple baseline design after completing this course. H-3 covered the

parameters of recommending and implementing intervention goals. Before taking this course, I

was struggling with the difference between social significance and social validity and I now

know that validity refers to the client’s family members and caregivers’ willingness and ability to

carry out the interventions at home.

Results

On the second attempt at the CentralReach Institute BACB Mock Exam, I scored an overall

70%. This is an 2% increase from my first attempt. As mentioned before, there is a clear increase
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in the accel data paths for each target section during this course. This led me to predict an

increase in scores for each target section, as well as an increase in my overall score. In addition

to my overall score increasing, two of the three target weakest areas also increased. In section C.

Measurement, Data Display, & Interpretation, my score increased by 16% going from a 59% to

75%. In section D. Experimental Design, my score increased by 11.5% going from a 60.5% to a

72%. Unfortunately, in section H. Selecting and Implementing Interventions, my score decreased

by 5% going from a 56% to a 51%.

The results as far as the areas of strengths and weaknesses for both exams are similar.

However, there is one major outlier. The first time around, I scored an 88% in Section I.

Personnel Supervision and Management. This my strongest section of the task list. On my

second attempt, my percentage dropped by 38% and was the weakest area, at 50%. It is my

opinion that this is an anomaly. I have a deep understanding of this section. I took the second

attempt while being distracted and in a hurry. I, like many others in this program, am balancing

graduate school, a full-time job, earning fieldwork hours, being a wife, and most importantly

being a mother. When I do sit for the exam, I will not be lacking sleep, in a busy household, or

pressed for time other than the four-hour exam time limit. Control of these variables is vital, and

I will have strategies in place to ensure that they will have a positive impact on my score when

taking the BACB Board Exam.

Future Plans for Study

One resource I am currently utilizing to study for the BACB Board exam is the Pass the Big

ABA Exam Study Manual (Meller & Runyon, 2022.) The manual thoroughly covers each

section of the BACB 5th Edition Task List (2014.) It includes exam taking tips, an extensive list

of need-to-know acronyms and AKA’s, a breakdown and example of every topic and concept
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you could potentially need to know for the exam. It also incorporates a “little devil” graphic that

is displayed throughout the manual to emphasize the ethical concerns in that topic. There is a

section review for each section that is either open ended or true or false questions. This style of

questioning involved needing to know the content to an understanding that you can explain it off

hand. With this in mind, I have completed all of the section reviews. Any of the questions that I

got incorrect or felt unsure of, I am creating flash cards and taking a deeper dive into those topics

in the manual. I plan to complete these reviews again afterwards to assess progress.

In addition to that, I would like to purchase and complete the Behavior Analyst Supervisor

(BAS) Crunch, Crash, Crush it 30-day Course. It includes lecture videos and mini mock exams

for each section of the task list, as well as two full 175 question BACB mock exam. I will be

purchasing the course in the next week or two, as I plan to sit for the exam as soon as I complete

this course. My fieldwork hours are complete, and I will turn in my verification forms and ABA

Master’s Degree verification as soon as they are available to me.

I have already watched Jessica Leichtweisz’s six-hour YouTube video titled “Full BCBA

Mock Exam! 185 Mock Questions and Answers with Explanations.” It covers all 175 questions

in depth, and Jessica spends substantial time on each question, and each answer, including a brief

overview of them and why they were correct, or why they were not. I retained a lot of

information watching this and had a few lightbulb moments. I intend on watching the video to its

entirety again, a few days before I sit for the exam.

I currently spend a total of two hours a day, every day, either doing the homework for

this course or completing the Pass the Big ABA Exam Study Manual. I will increase the duration

of daily preparation from two hours to three hours per day. I will spend this time completing the

Pass the Big ABA Exam Study Manual, and upon completion of that, I will switch gears and
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focus solely on the BAS 30-Day Crash Course. I will complete the course and re-watch Jessica’s

video before sitting for the exam on the first available date.

References

BCBA® Exam Prep. Behavior Analyst Supervisor. (2024, January 14).

https://behavioranalystsupervisor.com/bcba-exam-prep/

Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2014). Professional and ethical compliance code for

behavior analysts. Littleton, CO: Author.

CentralReach. CentralReach Institute. https://institute.centralreach.com/

Cooper, J. O., Heron, T. E., & Heward, W. L. (2020). Applied Behavior Analysis. Langara

College.

Leichtweisz, Jessica. “Full BCBA Mock Exam! 185 Mock Questions and Answers with

Explanations.” YouTube, 2023,

www.youtube.com/channel/UCb7mTSz04XEOyUya9x2cgEg.

Meller, D., & Runyon, P. (2022). The Big ABA Exam Study Manual (Vol. 2).

Passthebigabaexam.