BCBA Foundations Common Mistakes
What trips up most candidates on the Philosophical Underpinnings, Concepts & Principles section.
Confusing negative reinforcement with punishment
Negative reinforcement increases behavior by removing an aversive stimulus. Punishment decreases behavior. The word "negative" refers to removal, not to something bad. If the behavior increases, it is reinforcement regardless of whether something was added or removed.
Classifying verbal behavior by form instead of function
A child saying "cookie" could be a mand (requesting), a tact (labeling), an echoic (repeating), or an intraverbal (answering a question). Always look at the antecedent and consequence to determine the function, not just the topography of the response.
Mixing up establishing and abolishing operations
An establishing operation increases the value of a reinforcer and the frequency of behavior that produces it. An abolishing operation decreases both. If a person just ate a full meal, food deprivation has been abolished, making food less reinforcing.
Ignoring the role of the discriminative stimulus
The SD signals that reinforcement is available for a particular response. It does not cause the behavior; it sets the occasion for it. Many exam questions test whether you understand the difference between an SD and an MO, or between an SD and a conditioned stimulus.
Oversimplifying schedules of reinforcement
Know the distinctive response patterns for each schedule. Do not just memorize definitions. VR produces the highest, steadiest rates. FI produces the scallop pattern. Understanding why these patterns occur (based on reinforcement contingencies) helps you answer application questions.