Comparison of preference assessment methods

Document Type

Thesis

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Psychology

Degree

M.S. Applied Behavior Analysis

Date Completed

2012

First Committee Member

Roscoe, Eileen

Second Committee Member

Hanley, Gregory

Third Committee Member

Bourret, Jason

Abstract

"In Study 1, we evaluated preference stability across four different preference assessment methods. We also measured participants’ problem behavior as a corollary measure during all assessment methods. Stability was observed consistently across participants using the paired-stimulus (PS) and multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) methods and infrequently using the free operant (FO) and response restriction (RR) methods. Although differentially higher levels of problem behavior did not occur with a single method, lower levels were consistently observed with the FO method. During Study 2, we evaluated the implications of poor stability on reinforcer efficacy by comparing an initially identified and immediately identified high preference stimulus in a reinforcer assessment. Results showed that initially identified and immediately identified stimuli were equally effective reinforcers, suggesting that frequent identification of high-preferred stimuli may not be necessary."

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