Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
BCBA EXAM TERMS
PART 1
Chapter 1: Definition and Characteristics of Applied
Behavior Analysis
Task Basic Characteristic of Science / 3 levels of investigation of
List
science (DPC)
Number
/ Item
Description
Systematic observation enhances the understanding of a given
phenomenon by enabling scientists to describe it accurately.
Descriptive knowledge consists of a collection of facts about the
observed events that can be quantified, classified, and examined for
possible relations with other known facts—a necessary and important
activity for any scientific discipline. The knowledge obtained from
descriptive studies often suggests possible hypotheses or questions
for additional research.
Prediction
A second level of scientific understanding occurs when repeated
,Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
observations reveal that two events consistently covary with each
other. That is, in the presence of one event (e.g., approaching winter)
another event occurs (or fails to occur) with some specified probability
(e.g., certain birds fly south). When systematic covariation between
two events is found, this relationship— termed a correlation—can be
used to predict the relative probability that one event will occur,
based on the presence of the other event.
Control
The ability to predict with a certain degree of confidence is a valuable
and useful result of science; prediction enables preparation. However,
the greatest potential benefits from science are derived from the
third, and highest, level of scientific understanding—control. Evidence
of the kinds of control that can be derived from scientific findings in
the physical and biological sciences surrounds us in the everyday
technologies we take for granted: pasteurized milk and the
refrigerators we store it in; flu shots and the automobiles we drive to
go get them; pain relievers and the televisions that bombard us with
advertisements and news stories about the drugs.
A functional relation exists when a well-controlled experiment
demonstrates that a specific change in one event (the dependent
variable) is reliably produced by specific manipulations of another
event (the independent variable), and that the change in the
dependent variable was unlikely to be the result of other extraneous
factors (confounding variables).
,Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
Attitudes of Science (DEER PP) Assumptions and Attitudes
of Science
Determinism Science is predicated on the assumption of determinism. All
scientists presume that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in
which all phenomena occur as the result of other events. In other
words, events do not just happen willy-nilly; they are related in
systematic ways to other factors, which are themselves physical
phenomena amenable to scientific investigation.
Empiricism Scientific knowledge is built on, above all, empiricism—the practice
of objective observation and measurement of the phenomena of
interest. Objectivity in this sense means “independent of the individual
prejudices, tastes, and private opinions of the scientist. Results of
empirical methods are objective in that they are open to anyone’s
observation and do not depend on the subjective belief of the
individual scientist”
The scientist’s empirical attitude, however, demands objective
observation based on thorough description, systematic and repeated
measurement, and precise quantification of the phenomena of
interest.
, Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
Experimentation When events are observed to covary or occur in close temporal
sequence, a functional relation may exist, but other factors may be
responsible for the observed values of the dependent variable. To
investigate the possible existence of a functional relation, an
experiment (or better, a series of experiments) must be performed in
which the factor(s) suspected of having causal status are
systematically controlled and manipulated while the effects on the
event under study are carefully observed.
Replication Replication—repeating of experiments (as well as repeating
independent variable conditions within experiments)— “pervades
every nook and cranny of the experimental method” (Johnston &
Pennypacker, 1993a, p. 244). Replication is the primary method with
which scientists determine the reliability and usefulness of their
findings and discover their mistakes (Johnston & Pennypacker, 1980;
1993a; Sidman, 1960). Replication—not the infallibility or inherent
honesty of scientists—is the primary reason science is a self-correcting
enterprise that ultimately gets it right (Skinner, 1953).
Parsimony parsimony requires that all simple, logical explanations for the
phenomenon under investigation be ruled out, experimentally or
conceptually, before more complex or abstract explanations are
BCBA EXAM TERMS
PART 1
Chapter 1: Definition and Characteristics of Applied
Behavior Analysis
Task Basic Characteristic of Science / 3 levels of investigation of
List
science (DPC)
Number
/ Item
Description
Systematic observation enhances the understanding of a given
phenomenon by enabling scientists to describe it accurately.
Descriptive knowledge consists of a collection of facts about the
observed events that can be quantified, classified, and examined for
possible relations with other known facts—a necessary and important
activity for any scientific discipline. The knowledge obtained from
descriptive studies often suggests possible hypotheses or questions
for additional research.
Prediction
A second level of scientific understanding occurs when repeated
,Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
observations reveal that two events consistently covary with each
other. That is, in the presence of one event (e.g., approaching winter)
another event occurs (or fails to occur) with some specified probability
(e.g., certain birds fly south). When systematic covariation between
two events is found, this relationship— termed a correlation—can be
used to predict the relative probability that one event will occur,
based on the presence of the other event.
Control
The ability to predict with a certain degree of confidence is a valuable
and useful result of science; prediction enables preparation. However,
the greatest potential benefits from science are derived from the
third, and highest, level of scientific understanding—control. Evidence
of the kinds of control that can be derived from scientific findings in
the physical and biological sciences surrounds us in the everyday
technologies we take for granted: pasteurized milk and the
refrigerators we store it in; flu shots and the automobiles we drive to
go get them; pain relievers and the televisions that bombard us with
advertisements and news stories about the drugs.
A functional relation exists when a well-controlled experiment
demonstrates that a specific change in one event (the dependent
variable) is reliably produced by specific manipulations of another
event (the independent variable), and that the change in the
dependent variable was unlikely to be the result of other extraneous
factors (confounding variables).
,Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
Attitudes of Science (DEER PP) Assumptions and Attitudes
of Science
Determinism Science is predicated on the assumption of determinism. All
scientists presume that the universe is a lawful and orderly place in
which all phenomena occur as the result of other events. In other
words, events do not just happen willy-nilly; they are related in
systematic ways to other factors, which are themselves physical
phenomena amenable to scientific investigation.
Empiricism Scientific knowledge is built on, above all, empiricism—the practice
of objective observation and measurement of the phenomena of
interest. Objectivity in this sense means “independent of the individual
prejudices, tastes, and private opinions of the scientist. Results of
empirical methods are objective in that they are open to anyone’s
observation and do not depend on the subjective belief of the
individual scientist”
The scientist’s empirical attitude, however, demands objective
observation based on thorough description, systematic and repeated
measurement, and precise quantification of the phenomena of
interest.
, Prepared by Meral Koldas, BCBA from Cooper’s book 3rd edition
Experimentation When events are observed to covary or occur in close temporal
sequence, a functional relation may exist, but other factors may be
responsible for the observed values of the dependent variable. To
investigate the possible existence of a functional relation, an
experiment (or better, a series of experiments) must be performed in
which the factor(s) suspected of having causal status are
systematically controlled and manipulated while the effects on the
event under study are carefully observed.
Replication Replication—repeating of experiments (as well as repeating
independent variable conditions within experiments)— “pervades
every nook and cranny of the experimental method” (Johnston &
Pennypacker, 1993a, p. 244). Replication is the primary method with
which scientists determine the reliability and usefulness of their
findings and discover their mistakes (Johnston & Pennypacker, 1980;
1993a; Sidman, 1960). Replication—not the infallibility or inherent
honesty of scientists—is the primary reason science is a self-correcting
enterprise that ultimately gets it right (Skinner, 1953).
Parsimony parsimony requires that all simple, logical explanations for the
phenomenon under investigation be ruled out, experimentally or
conceptually, before more complex or abstract explanations are
