Evaluating the effects of motivating operations on reinforcer assessment outcomes

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2016

First Committee Member

Graff, Richard B.

Second Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen

Third Committee Member

Karsten, Amanda

Abstract

"Behavior analysis practitioners often use reinforcement-based procedures with individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and developmental and intellectual disabilities. Understanding the variables that influence the effectiveness of reinforcers is critical to implement effective interventions to teach new skills and reduce problem behavior. The identification of reinforcers typically involves a two-step process. The first step involves identifying preferred items, and establishing a preference hierarchy. The second step involves testing the effectiveness of stimuli as reinforcers. Although behavior analysts have developed a variety of methods to assess preference and evaluate reinforcer effectiveness, previous research has demonstrated that motivating operations, such as satiation and deprivation, can influence preference and reinforcer efficacy (e.g., Gottschalk, Libby, & Graff, 2000; Vollmer and Iwata, 1992). In this study, we evaluated the impact of providing pre-session access to a) individual reinforcers and b) categories of reinforcers (Ciccone, Graff & Ahearn, 2015) on reinforcer assessment outcomes with three individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Results of these assessments indicated that when participants received pre-session access to individual items or different items that were members of the same category, response rates were lower than when no pre-session access to items was provided."

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