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Free BCAT Practice Questions

10 free, exam-style Board Certified Autism Technician (BCAT) practice questions with answers and explanations. No signup required. Work through them below, then take the full free BCAT practice test to study every exam domain.

The BCAT exam has 175 questions and runs 3 hours 0 minutes.

These 10 free BCAT questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Board Certified Autism Technician blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.

Domain 1: Autism Spectrum Disorder 8.67% of exam

Question 1

A 4-year-old lines up toy cars in the exact same order every session and cries intensely if a car is moved out of place. Under DSM-5 criteria for autism spectrum disorder, this behavior is BEST classified as:

  1. Insistence on sameness and restricted, repetitive behavior
  2. A deficit in nonverbal communicative behavior such as eye contact
  3. A deficit in social-emotional reciprocity during interactions
  4. A deficit in developing and maintaining age-appropriate relationships
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Insistence on sameness and restricted, repetitive behavior

Question 2

A parent tells a technician they want to try a supplement they saw online that 'cures' autism, and asks whether it will work. Which response is MOST appropriate and within the technician's role?

  1. Reassure the parent it is worth trying since a supplement could not cause harm
  2. Recommend instead a different supplement the technician has read good things about
  3. Note it is not an evidence-based intervention and refer the parent to the supervisor
  4. Explain that only the technician's own teaching program can produce real results
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Note it is not an evidence-based intervention and refer the parent to the supervisor

Domain 2: Principles of ABA 19.33% of exam

Question 3

During a lesson, a student begins to scream. Each time she screams, the technician removes the difficult worksheet. Over the following weeks, screaming when hard work is presented becomes more frequent. The removal of the worksheet is functioning as:

  1. Positive punishment
  2. Negative reinforcement
  3. Negative punishment
  4. Positive reinforcement
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Negative reinforcement

Question 4

A behavior consequence should be classified as a reinforcer based on:

  1. Whether the learner outwardly appears to enjoy or like receiving it
  2. Whether the technician delivering it intended for it to be rewarding
  3. Whether it is a commonly preferred item such as a food or a toy
  4. Whether it increases the future frequency of the behavior it follows
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Whether it increases the future frequency of the behavior it follows

Question 5

A technician withholds a child's access to juice for two hours before a session so that juice will function more powerfully as a reinforcer during teaching. Withholding the juice beforehand is an example of:

  1. Deprivation, which raises the momentary value of the reinforcer
  2. Satiation, which lowers the momentary value of the reinforcer
  3. Extinction, which withholds reinforcement for a target behavior
  4. Habituation, a reduced response to a repeated stimulus over time
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Deprivation, which raises the momentary value of the reinforcer

Question 6

A green card is placed on the table only when a correct response will be reinforced; when it is absent, responses are not reinforced. Over time the child responds only when the green card is present. The green card is functioning as a:

  1. Conditioned reinforcer that gained its value through pairing
  2. Motivating operation that alters the current value of the reinforcer
  3. Discriminative stimulus that signals reinforcement is available
  4. Unconditioned stimulus that elicits a reflexive response
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Discriminative stimulus that signals reinforcement is available

Domain 3: Treatment: Skill Acquisition 27.33% of exam

Question 7

A technician teaches shoe-tying by completing every step except the final loop-tightening, which the child performs to finish the task and earn reinforcement. Once that step is mastered, the child is taught the next-to-last step, and so on. This teaching procedure is:

  1. Forward chaining, teaching the first step of the chain first
  2. Backward chaining, teaching the last step of the chain first
  3. Shaping, reinforcing successive approximations to the target
  4. Total task presentation, prompting every step on each attempt
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: B - Backward chaining, teaching the last step of the chain first

Question 8

A child says 'cookie' only when he is hungry and wants a cookie, and is then given one. Which verbal operant does this BEST illustrate?

  1. Tact, a label evoked by a nonverbal stimulus
  2. Echoic, a vocal response repeating what was heard
  3. Intraverbal, a response to another's verbal behavior
  4. Mand, a request evoked by the current motivation
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: D - Mand, a request evoked by the current motivation

Question 9

When teaching a brand-new, difficult skill, a technician begins with full physical guidance and then gradually reduces the level of assistance as the learner succeeds. This prompt-fading approach is:

  1. Least-to-most prompting, adding assistance only as it is needed
  2. Time delay, inserting a growing pause before any prompt
  3. Most-to-least prompting, starting with the fullest assistance
  4. Naturalistic teaching, following the learner's own lead
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: C - Most-to-least prompting, starting with the fullest assistance

Question 10

A learner has begun waiting for the technician's pointing gesture before selecting any item, even on tasks he previously completed independently. This pattern is BEST described as:

  1. Prompt dependency on the technician's added cue
  2. Stimulus generalization to new, untrained situations
  3. Spontaneous recovery of a previously reduced behavior
  4. Discrimination training across two differing stimuli
Show answer & explanation

Correct answer: A - Prompt dependency on the technician's added cue

The rest of the BCAT blueprint

The BCAT exam also covers these domains. Drill them in the full free practice test:

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