PREPARING FOR EXAMINATION

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The only autism specific behavioral technician certification accredited by the NCCA.

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How The Exam Was Developed

The BCAT examination was developed by a diverse group of practitioners in partnership with test development experts in a manner consistent with generally accepted psychometric principles and best practices for certification examination development using the process described below.

Job Analysis & Content

Outline

The job analysis study includes a survey developed by a group of subject matter experts and validated by a national survey. Results of the job analysis define the content and provide the foundation for the exam. Developed using the job analysis study data, the content outline lists the content domains for the exam, the relative weight of each domain, and the tasks associated with each content area.

Item Development & Test Assembly

Test “items,” or questions, are written and reviewed by a team of trained and qualified practitioners under the guidance of a test development expert. All test items undergo multiple levels of review and editing before being placed on the exam. Once test items are finalized, they are assembled into a test using the specifications in the content oultine. The test is reviewed by a team of subject matter experts before being finalized.

Setting the Passing Point & Analyzing Data

The passing score for the exam is established using a panel of experts who carefully review each item to determine the basic level of knowledge or skill that is expected. The passing score is based on the panel’s established difficulty ratings for each exam question. After the exam is administred, a statistical analysis is performed to identify quality improvement opportunities and any adjustments needed before the exam results are finalized.

Ongoing Development & Maintenance

Content of the exam is reviewed regularly to ensure that items remain accurate and relevant. New versions of the exam are developed to ensure security. Job analysis studies are conducted periodically to ensure the content outline remains upto-date.

Studying for the Exams

As a certification organization, BICC’s role is in developing and administering the certification examination to determine the qualifications of candidates for certification. BICC does not require, provide, or endorse any specific study guides, review products, and/or training courses.

Examination Outline

  1. Knowledge of deficits in social-emotional reciprocity.
  2. Knowledge of deficits in nonverbal communicative behaviors used for social interaction.
  3. Knowledge of deficits in developing, maintaining, and understanding relationships.
  4. Knowledge of stereotyped or repetitive motor movements, use of objects, or speech.
  5. Knowledge of insistence on sameness, inflexible adherence to routines, or ritualized patterns of verbal or nonverbal behavior.
  6. Knowledge of highly restricted, fixated interests that are abnormal in intensity or focus.
  7. Knowledge of hyper or hyporeactivity to sensory input or unusual interests in sensory aspects of environment.
  8. Knowledge of levels of severity across social communication and restricted, repetitive behaviors.
  9. Knowledge of research regarding treatment intensity.
  10. Knowledge of early intensive behavioral intervention research.
  11. Knowledge of foundational autism research.
  12. Distinguishing between evidence-based interventions vs. nonevidence-based interventions.
  1. Positive reinforcement
  2. Negative reinforcement
  3. Positive punishment
  4. Negative punishment
  5. Reinforcer
  6. Punisher
  7. Conditioned reinforcer
  8. Unconditioned reinforcer
  9. Extinction
  10. Deprivation
  11. Satiation
  12. Contingency
  13. Motivating operation
  14. Antecedent
  15. Behavior
  16. Consequence
  17. 3-term contingency
  18. Stimulus
  19. Discriminative stimulus
  20. Stimulus control
  21. Response
  22. Discrete trial
  1. Discrimination training
  2. Discrete trial training
  3. Natural environment training
  4. Fluency-based training
  5. Generalization
  6. Maintenance
  7. Caregiver training
  8. Premack principle
  9. Preference assessment
  10. Prompt
  11. Errorless learning
  12. Most-to-least prompting
  13. Least-to-most prompting
  14. Prompt fading
  15. Time delay prompt
  16. Chaining
  17. Shaping
  18. Pacing
  19. Alternative and augmentative communication
  20. Functional approaches to teaching language skills
  21. Mand training
  22. Tact training
  23. Training echoic behavior
  24. Training intraverbal behavior
  25. Teaching joint attention
  26. Teaching play skills
  27. Teaching motor skills
  28. Teaching adaptive and safety skills
  29. Teaching social skills
  30. Teaching cognition skills
  31. Teaching executive function skills
  32. Teaching academic skills
  33. Visual supports
  34. Curriculum modification
  1. Behavior intervention plan
  2. Target behavior
  3. Operational definition
  4. Functional behavior assessment
  5. Escape function
  6. Attention function
  7. Access to tangible function
  8. Automatic function
  9. Antecedent interventions
  10. Functional communication training
  11. Token economy
  12. High-p request sequence / behavioral momentum
  13. Noncontingent reinforcement
  14. Replacement behavior
  15. Escape extinction
  16. Attention extinction
  17. Access to tangible extinction
  18. Extinction burst
  19. Continuous reinforcement
  20. Intermittent reinforcement
  21. Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior
  22. Differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior
  23. Differential reinforcement of other behavior
  24. Response blocking
  25. Redirection
  26. Overcorrection
  27. Response cost
  28. Time-out from reinforcement
  29. Spontaneous recovery
  1. Measurement dimensions (e.g., rate, duration, percentage)
  2. Measurement procedures (e.g., event recording, timing, time sampling)
  3. Skill acquisition data
  4. Problem behavior data
  5. Graphing
  6. Interobserver agreement (IOA)
  1. Safety (including OSHA)
  2. Responding to emergencies
  3. Confidentiality (including HIPAA)
  4. Recognition of client abuse
  5. Reporting client abuse
  6. Dual relationships
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