A clear, sourced breakdown of the BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.) — the 9 domains, the headline shifts, and what it means for students, supervisors, and practicing BCBAs.
The current framework is the BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.), in effect for exams beginning 2025.
It's still 9 domains, A through I, and 175 scored questions. But the content has been reorganized, ethics has been pulled forward into Section E, and the whole framework reads more like applied clinical reasoning than memorized vocabulary.
If you're studying with 5th-edition materials in 2025 or later, you're studying the wrong test.
Source: Behavior Analyst Certification Board. (2022). BCBA test content outline (6th ed.). Updated 09/2024.
The 6th edition keeps the A–I lettering but reshuffles the content. Here's the actual order, with question count and exam weight pulled directly from the BACB document.
Goals of the science, philosophical assumptions (selectionism, determinism, empiricism, parsimony, pragmatism), radical behaviorism, dimensions of ABA.
Reinforcement, punishment, extinction, schedules, motivating operations, stimulus control, verbal operants, matching law, behavioral momentum.
Operational definitions, continuous vs. discontinuous measurement, validity and reliability, graphing, visual analysis, procedural integrity data.
Single-case design logic, threats to internal validity, reversal, multiple baseline, multielement, changing criterion, comparative and parametric analyses.
Core ethics principles, confidentiality, public statements, multiple relationships, cultural humility, personal bias, licensure and jurisprudence.
Records review, cultural variables, skill assessments, preference assessments, descriptive assessments, functional analyses, prioritizing socially significant goals.
Reinforcement and punishment procedures, differential reinforcement, prompting and fading, modeling, chaining, shaping, group contingencies, generalization, maintenance.
Goal writing, evidence-based selection, contextual fit, mitigating unwanted effects, relapse planning, procedural integrity, data-based decision-making, collaboration.
Supervisor-supervisee contracts, equity in supervision, performance management, function-based approaches to supervisee behavior, evaluating supervisory efficacy.
175 scored questions plus 10 unscored pilot questions. Percentages may not sum to exactly 100 due to rounding by BACB.
The names look familiar, but the framework changed on five fronts:
| Shift | What it means in practice |
|---|---|
| Ethics moved up to Domain E | Ethics is no longer a back-of-the-book topic. It sits in the middle of the framework and is woven into assessment, intervention, and supervision domains. |
| Cultural responsiveness is explicit | Cultural humility, equity in supervision, and culturally responsive performance management appear as named tasks — not implications. |
| Supervision is its own domain | Section I covers supervisory contracts, performance management, and function-based approaches to supervisee behavior. Supervision is treated as a clinical skill, not a side duty. |
| Applied reasoning over recall | Tasks lean toward "design and evaluate" and "select and implement" rather than "identify" and "define." The exam asks what you would do, not just what a term means. |
| Procedural integrity is named | Two tasks specifically address measuring and making decisions about procedural integrity. Treatment fidelity is now a measurable BCBA competency, not an assumption. |
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If you're preparing for the BCBA exam in 2025 or later, the format you practice with matters. The E.M.O. Mock Exam is built against the 6th-edition framework, with applied scenarios and a rationale for every answer.
For the BCBA, yes. The current framework is the BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.). The RBT credential still has both a Task List and a Test Content Outline as separate documents.
If you're testing in 2025 or later, study the 6th edition.
175 scored questions plus 10 unscored pilot questions, per the BACB. Source linked below.
The supervised fieldwork structure is governed by separate BACB standards, not the TCO. Always confirm current requirements directly with the BACB before relying on a third-party summary.
It's a different shape, not necessarily a harder one. The reorganization rewards candidates who can reason from a scenario and apply procedures, rather than memorize term lists.
BCBA Test Content Outline (6th ed.) PDF:
bacb.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/BCBA-6th-Edition-Test-Content-Outline-240903-a.pdf
BACB Test Content Outlines page:
bacb.com/test-content-outlines-for-bacb-certifications/
BACB Ethics information:
bacb.com/ethics-information/
This explainer summarizes BACB material for educational purposes. For credentialing decisions, always reference the BACB directly. E.M.O. Behavior Lab is not affiliated with the BACB.