Ethics and Professional Conduct Flashcards

A BCBA supervising an RBT discovers that the RBT has been implementing a DRO procedure correctly in sessions but has been falsifying data by recording fictitious interval completions to meet productivity quotas. The RBT admits this after confrontation and claims it was to avoid negative performance reviews. What is the BCBA's PRIMARY ethical obligation under the BACB Ethics Code?

Answer: Report the RBT to the BACB, notify the employing organization, and ensure the integrity of the client's data records is restored, even if this creates conflict with the organization.

Data falsification is a serious ethical violation that undermines the scientific integrity of ABA and compromises clinical decision-making. Under the BACB Ethics Code, BCBAs are required to report ethical violations that cannot be resolved informally. Falsifying data is not a minor lapse — it directly corrupts the evidence base for treatment decisions, meaning the client is harmed even if the procedure itself was correctly implemented. The BCBA must also ensure the client's records accurately reflect real outcomes.

An RBT working with a 9-year-old client notices that the child consistently flinches when a particular family member enters the room and has unexplained bruising on two separate occasions. The RBT mentions this to the BCBA supervisor, who says, 'We can't jump to conclusions — document it and let me handle it.' Two weeks pass with no further action from the BCBA. What should the RBT do?

Answer: Make a mandatory report to child protective services independently, since RBTs are mandated reporters in most jurisdictions regardless of supervisory instruction.

In the vast majority of U.S. jurisdictions, RBTs — like all direct-care workers with minors — are mandatory reporters. Mandatory reporting obligations are personal and legal, not delegable to a supervisor. A supervisor's instruction to wait does not relieve the RBT of their legal duty to report suspected abuse. Waiting two weeks while signs persist represents a failure to act, and the RBT cannot legally or ethically outsource this responsibility. The BACB Ethics Code also requires practitioners to protect clients from harm.

A BCBA is employed by an agency that instructs all behavior analysts to use a standardized punishment-based protocol for elopement across all clients, regardless of individual functional assessment results, because it has shown aggregate success in internal data. The BCBA's own functional analysis for a new client strongly indicates the elopement is escape-maintained. Ethically, the BCBA should:

Answer: Advocate within the organization for individualized treatment based on functional assessment results, document efforts to resolve the conflict, and if unresolved, consult the Ethics Code on employer conflicts — including considering whether continued employment is tenable.

The Ethics Code requires BCBAs to base treatment on individualized assessment and to advocate for scientifically sound practices. A blanket protocol that ignores functional assessment results violates core ABA principles. However, immediate resignation is not ethically mandated as a first step — the Code requires practitioners to attempt resolution through appropriate channels first, document those efforts, and then assess whether continued employment compromises ethical practice. Implementing a potentially contraindicated punishment procedure 'temporarily' to appease an employer is never ethically acceptable.

An RBT is approached at a community event by the parent of a former client (services ended 8 months ago) who asks for advice on handling a new challenging behavior that has emerged. The parent says they cannot afford ongoing services and just need 'a quick tip.' Which response is most consistent with ethical practice?

Answer: Decline to provide clinical advice, explain that doing so outside of a professional context and without proper assessment could be harmful, and offer to help the parent identify low-cost or free service resources.

RBTs are not authorized to provide clinical recommendations outside of supervised practice, and doing so without a current supervisory structure, formal intake, and functional assessment could result in harmful advice. The therapeutic relationship ending does not grant license to provide informal clinical counsel — it actually removes the supervisory safeguards that make intervention appropriate. Offering resources respects the parent's situation while staying within ethical and scope-of-practice boundaries. An informal home visit would constitute practicing without supervision.

A BCBA is asked by a colleague to co-author a case study for publication. After reviewing the draft, the BCBA realizes that the outcome data presented appears to have been selectively reported — several sessions with poor outcomes were omitted from the analysis, making the intervention appear more effective than the full dataset shows. The colleague argues that 'every study does this to some extent.' The BCBA should:

Answer: Withdraw from co-authorship and, if the selective reporting is confirmed, consider whether the ethical violation warrants a report to the BACB, since publishing fabricated or misleading data constitutes scientific misconduct.

Selectively omitting unfavorable data to misrepresent treatment efficacy is scientific misconduct and a direct violation of the BACB Ethics Code's requirements for honest, accurate, and complete reporting. The colleague's rationalization does not make it acceptable. Agreeing to co-author work with known data manipulation makes the BCBA complicit. Adding a vague limitations note does not correct the misrepresentation. The BACB has jurisdiction over ethical violations by certificants regardless of whether an IRB is involved. Withdrawal from co-authorship is required; reporting may also be warranted.

A BCBA working in a school district is pressured by an administrator to discontinue a client's behavior intervention plan (BIP) and transition the student to a purely consequence-based disciplinary approach used for general education students, citing budget constraints. The BCBA knows the student's IEP mandates the BIP and that removing it without a formal IEP team review violates federal education law. The administrator insists this is 'a school decision, not a clinical one.' The BCBA's most appropriate course of action is:

Answer: Refuse to discontinue the BIP without proper IEP team authorization, inform the administrator that doing so would violate IDEA, document the conflict in writing, and escalate to the special education director or district legal counsel if necessary.

A BIP embedded in an IEP is a legally binding document under IDEA. Discontinuing it without a formal IEP team meeting is a violation of federal law, not merely an administrative preference. The BCBA has independent ethical and legal obligations that cannot be nullified by an administrator's unilateral directive. Documenting the refusal and escalating through appropriate legal and administrative channels is the correct response. 'Pausing' implementation still removes the mandated support and exposes the client to harm and the district to legal liability.