Certified Brain Injury Specialist Exam (CBIS)
Exam Guide - Part I 2026 Edition
• What factors influence the type and extent of behavioral difficulties an individual
may demonstrate after brain injury? -✓✓ site and severity of damage; pre-injury
characteristics of personality, intelligence, and learning style, and the current
environment
• What is coma-emergent agitation? How long does it last? -✓✓ episode of
agitation that may occur as an individual emerges from coma that is usually brief,
lasting less than 10 days in duration
• What is consequence-based programming? -✓✓ interventions focused on
learning; not indicated for individuals emerging from coma and demonstrating
agitation or confusion
• What is often the safest and most efficient technique for dealing with agitation in
a behavior-based manner? -✓✓ through environmental management, where the
focus is on offering a quiet, organized, and structured environment with limited
and carefully managed stimulation
• What is the Stability Triangle? -✓✓ Is a construct which is useful when
identifying treatment priorities and establishing the treatment plan; contains the
following: establish medical stability, promote behavior stability, and develop a
stable activity plan
• What is applied behavior analysis? -✓✓ the science of prediction and change of
socially significant behaviors
,• What is behavior? -✓✓ anything an individual does that can be measured, NOT
necessarily yelling/hitting/spitting/etc.
• What is the goal of applied behavior analysis? -✓✓ to discover variables that
reliably influence behavior to either predict behavior change or promote behavior
change
• What are indirect methods of behavior assessment? -✓✓ interviews, checklists,
may be reviewed with caregivers, family members, and the individual themselves;
can be subject to bias d/t self-reporting
• What are direct methods of behavior assessment? -✓✓ direct observations of an
individual, either in a naturally-occurring situation or one in which specific
variables have been controlled or manipulated for assessment purposes
• What is Functional Analysis/Functional Assessment -✓✓ methods of direct
observation within the field of behavior analysis conducted by BCBA to pinpoint
the potential function or purpose of a behavior via experimental manipulation
• What is a functionally equivalent alternative? -✓✓ a behavior that serves the
same function as the target behavior but is safer or more appropriate and thus more
useful for the individual (e.g., instead of yelling resulting in d/c of a non-preferred
task, request a break)
• What is an operational definition? -✓✓ a definition that outlines what exactly will
be counted as an occurrence or episode of the behavior; must be observable and
measurable, and the definition must be specific enough such that multiple
observers can agree upon what would count as an occurrence
,• What are two dimensions of a behavior that will be important to take into account
when developing an operational definition? -✓✓ topography (what the behavior
looks like physically) and intensity (describing the measure of force)
• What are five variables of interest when measuring behavior? -✓✓ frequency,
rate, duration, latency, and % correct
• What is the four-term contingency within the field of behavior analysis? -✓✓
establishing operation; discriminative stimulus; response/behavior; consequence
• What is A-B-C analysis? -✓✓ A=antecedent, B=behavior/response,
C=consequence
• What is positive reinforcement? -✓✓ adding something makes a response more
likely to occur in the future (e.g., if you do your chores, I'll give you $5)
• What is negative reinforcement? -✓✓ taking away something makes a response
more likely to occur in the future (e.g., if you do your HW, you can skip chores
tonight)
• What is positive punishment? -✓✓ adding something to make a response less
likely in the future (e.g., if you hit your sister, you have to do the chores)
• What is negative punishment? -✓✓ taking something away to make a response
less likely in the future (e.g., if you hit your sister, you can't play Xbox)
• What are 3 kinds of schedules of reinforcement? -✓✓ extinction (decline in
previously reinforced response d/t no more consequence), continuous (response
, always produces reinforcer), and intermittent (response sometimes produces a
reinforcer)
• What are consequence-based interventions? -✓✓ systematic intervention wherein
the target behavior is followed by a specific kind of consequences, which depends
on whether the behavior is targeted for increase or decrease
• What is a task analysis? -✓✓ a list of very specific steps involved in completing a
task; can be used to break down larger tasks into smaller component steps
• What is a shaping technique? -✓✓ reinforcing actions that loosely resemble the
target behavior and are more easily displayed by an individual (successive
approximations)
• What is fading? -✓✓ the process by which one learns to produce the same
response under gradually changing conditions
• What is generalization? -✓✓ when one begins to respond similarly to different
stimuli or situations in which they have not been trained
• What is discrimination? -✓✓ when an individual responds differently to similar
stimuli
• What are some examples of paraverbal behavior? -✓✓ personal space, body
posture and motion, facial expression and gaze, and tone, volume and cadence of
speech
Exam Guide - Part I 2026 Edition
• What factors influence the type and extent of behavioral difficulties an individual
may demonstrate after brain injury? -✓✓ site and severity of damage; pre-injury
characteristics of personality, intelligence, and learning style, and the current
environment
• What is coma-emergent agitation? How long does it last? -✓✓ episode of
agitation that may occur as an individual emerges from coma that is usually brief,
lasting less than 10 days in duration
• What is consequence-based programming? -✓✓ interventions focused on
learning; not indicated for individuals emerging from coma and demonstrating
agitation or confusion
• What is often the safest and most efficient technique for dealing with agitation in
a behavior-based manner? -✓✓ through environmental management, where the
focus is on offering a quiet, organized, and structured environment with limited
and carefully managed stimulation
• What is the Stability Triangle? -✓✓ Is a construct which is useful when
identifying treatment priorities and establishing the treatment plan; contains the
following: establish medical stability, promote behavior stability, and develop a
stable activity plan
• What is applied behavior analysis? -✓✓ the science of prediction and change of
socially significant behaviors
,• What is behavior? -✓✓ anything an individual does that can be measured, NOT
necessarily yelling/hitting/spitting/etc.
• What is the goal of applied behavior analysis? -✓✓ to discover variables that
reliably influence behavior to either predict behavior change or promote behavior
change
• What are indirect methods of behavior assessment? -✓✓ interviews, checklists,
may be reviewed with caregivers, family members, and the individual themselves;
can be subject to bias d/t self-reporting
• What are direct methods of behavior assessment? -✓✓ direct observations of an
individual, either in a naturally-occurring situation or one in which specific
variables have been controlled or manipulated for assessment purposes
• What is Functional Analysis/Functional Assessment -✓✓ methods of direct
observation within the field of behavior analysis conducted by BCBA to pinpoint
the potential function or purpose of a behavior via experimental manipulation
• What is a functionally equivalent alternative? -✓✓ a behavior that serves the
same function as the target behavior but is safer or more appropriate and thus more
useful for the individual (e.g., instead of yelling resulting in d/c of a non-preferred
task, request a break)
• What is an operational definition? -✓✓ a definition that outlines what exactly will
be counted as an occurrence or episode of the behavior; must be observable and
measurable, and the definition must be specific enough such that multiple
observers can agree upon what would count as an occurrence
,• What are two dimensions of a behavior that will be important to take into account
when developing an operational definition? -✓✓ topography (what the behavior
looks like physically) and intensity (describing the measure of force)
• What are five variables of interest when measuring behavior? -✓✓ frequency,
rate, duration, latency, and % correct
• What is the four-term contingency within the field of behavior analysis? -✓✓
establishing operation; discriminative stimulus; response/behavior; consequence
• What is A-B-C analysis? -✓✓ A=antecedent, B=behavior/response,
C=consequence
• What is positive reinforcement? -✓✓ adding something makes a response more
likely to occur in the future (e.g., if you do your chores, I'll give you $5)
• What is negative reinforcement? -✓✓ taking away something makes a response
more likely to occur in the future (e.g., if you do your HW, you can skip chores
tonight)
• What is positive punishment? -✓✓ adding something to make a response less
likely in the future (e.g., if you hit your sister, you have to do the chores)
• What is negative punishment? -✓✓ taking something away to make a response
less likely in the future (e.g., if you hit your sister, you can't play Xbox)
• What are 3 kinds of schedules of reinforcement? -✓✓ extinction (decline in
previously reinforced response d/t no more consequence), continuous (response
, always produces reinforcer), and intermittent (response sometimes produces a
reinforcer)
• What are consequence-based interventions? -✓✓ systematic intervention wherein
the target behavior is followed by a specific kind of consequences, which depends
on whether the behavior is targeted for increase or decrease
• What is a task analysis? -✓✓ a list of very specific steps involved in completing a
task; can be used to break down larger tasks into smaller component steps
• What is a shaping technique? -✓✓ reinforcing actions that loosely resemble the
target behavior and are more easily displayed by an individual (successive
approximations)
• What is fading? -✓✓ the process by which one learns to produce the same
response under gradually changing conditions
• What is generalization? -✓✓ when one begins to respond similarly to different
stimuli or situations in which they have not been trained
• What is discrimination? -✓✓ when an individual responds differently to similar
stimuli
• What are some examples of paraverbal behavior? -✓✓ personal space, body
posture and motion, facial expression and gaze, and tone, volume and cadence of
speech
