Preference
and
Reinforcer Assessments
Michael F. Dorsey, Ph.D., BCBA
Preference/ Reinforcer
Assessments
• Why are they vital to the success of any
behavioral intervention?
Best Review of the Field:
Ivancic, M. (2000). Stimulus Preference and
Reinforcer Assessment. In Handbook of
Applied Behavior Analysis, Austin, J. & Carr, J.
(Eds.), Context Press.
Most Common Method of
Preference/Reinforcer
Assessment
Teacher/Parent
Selection
Teacher Choice of Potential Reinforcers
a.k.a., “Rewards”
• Consider age, interests, and appetites of
individual
• Consider the behavior you wish to strengthen
(reinforcer value needs to match behavior
effort)
• List potential reinforcers
• Do teachers choose effective reinforcers?
What research says about teacher choice:
• Green et al, (1991) found caregiver opinions of
preferences did not coincide with student
preferences obtained during a choice
assessment.
• Does this matter?
• “Reward” vs. “Reinforcer”
Preference/ Reinforcer Assessment
• What is the difference
between a preference
assessment and a
reinforcer assessment?
• Choice versus function
• Only reinforcer
assessment measures
effectiveness!!!
Preference Assessment
• A large number of stimuli are evaluated to
identify preferred stimuli (Piazza, et al., 1996)
• Purpose is to identify potential reinforcers
• Does not evaluate the reinforcing effects of
the stimuli
Purpose of
Preference Assessment
• Piazza, Fisher, Hagopian, Bowman & Toole
(1996) found that high-preference stimuli
were very likely to be effective reinforcers, but
low function stimuli do not function as
reinforcers.
Methods for completing a preference
assessment:
• Self-report (Who? How?)
• Interview/ Informant Report
– Structured or semi-structured interview
– Checklist or rating scale
• Direct observation
– Free Operant
• Direct testing
Preference
Assessments
•Interview or questionnaire
– Advantage: Simplicity
– Disadvantage: Subjective (based on opinion),
unreliable
•Observation of daily activities (preferences)
– Advantage: Objective (based on direct observation)
– Disadvantage: Time consuming (except Free
Operant), limited access to stimuli
•Systematic preference assessment
– Advantage: Objective, accommodates a wide range
of stimuli
– Disadvantage: Time consuming
Interviews or
Questionnaires
The Person’s
Choice Matters!
Methods: Self-Report
• Involves asking a person to report on items of
preference
• Usually involves interview, checklists, or rating
scales
Informant Report
• Involves interviewing or gathering information
via rating scale or checklist from a person
familiar with the individual being assessed
Which to Use:
Does it Matter?
Yes, Generally Self-Report is more
Reliable than Parent/Teacher
Interviews
Forms to Use for Interviews/
Self-Reports
1. Reinforcer Assessment for Individuals With
Severe Disabilities;
2. Description of Potentially Reinforcing Events;
3. Psychiatric Reinforcement Survey Schedule
(PRESS);
4. Leisure Item Preference Assessment;
Similar Results re:
Tasks Being Reinforced
• Vaughn & Horner (1997) examined levels of problem
behavior on preferred v. non-preferred tasks AND
when each task was chosen by teacher v. student;
• List of preferred v. non-preferred tasks gathered by
interview/ observation;
• Results showed allowing students to choose between
pairs of lower preference tasks resulted in lower
rates of behavior;
Systematic Preference
Assessments
Stimulus Preference Methodologies
Study
•
•
•
•
_______Stimulus Presentation
Pace et al. (1985)
Fisher et al. (1992)
DeLeon & Iwata (1996)
Roane et al. (1998)
• DeLeon et al. (1999)
Response Measure
Single, trials
% Approach
Paired, trials
% Selection
Grouped, trials
% Selection
Grouped, free operant Duration of
engagement
Single, trials
Duration of
engagement
Direct observation of approach (Pace, et al.,
1985)
• Direct observation in
the individual’s natural
settings
• Items present during
free play; data recorded
on approach to items,
self-selection, and
duration of use.
• Arrangements of items
Choice Assessment
• Initially described by Fisher (1992)
• Each stimuli presented/ paired with every
other stimulus, placed .7 meter apart and .7 m
in front of the child
• An instruction is given to “pick one only”
• Client approach = 5 seconds of access to
choice; simultaneous approach blocked, no
response = sampling of each
Choice Assessment:
• In comparison to single-choice presentation,
paired-choice presentation more reliably
identifies reinforcers (Fisher, et al., 1992).
Verbal v. Tangible Choice
• Cohen-Almeida, Graff, & Ahearn (2000)
compared tangible presentation of objects
with verbal presentation.
• Assessment using verbal presentation
completed in less time
• Assessment using verbal and tangible
presentations achieved comparable results in
4 of 6 individuals
Verbal v. Pictorial Choice
• Northup et al., (1996) confirmed that verbal
choices were as effective as pictorial choices
in a choice assessment
• Also confirmed that survey was less likely to
correspond to the results of a reinforcer
assessment than choice-based assessments
Ambiguous Preference Assessment
• Individual may not make any selection:
– if none of the items are preferred
– if choice-making skills lacking
– if several of the items are highly preferred and
compete with each other; switches across trials
can become ambiguous
What to do…
• Present items singularly (although this
method is less reliable)
• Do duration based assessment with single
items (DeLeon, 1999)
– Present items alone
– Measure duration subject manipulates items
Free Operant
• Roane, Vollmer, Ringdahl, & Marcus (1998)
• Stimulus Preference Assessment
– participates had noncontingent access to an
array of stimuli and could interact with any of
the stimuli during 5-min sessions
– object manipulation was recorded using a 10 s
partial-interval recording procedure
Free Operant (cont.)
• Advantages
Time efficient
Reduced behavior problems
• Disadvantages
– False negatives
– Does not produce rank
-
Reinforcer Assessments
Reinforcer Assessment
• The evaluation of a small number of stimuli
(highly preferred stimuli) to determine the
reinforcing effects of the stimuli
• Stimuli presented contingently for desired
behavior (a multi-element design)
Reinforcer Sampling
• Ayllon & Azrin (1968) described a procedure
called reinforcer sampling, designed to
increase the frequency of using potential
reinforcers.
• Involved forced engagement for brief periods
of time
• Increased # and duration of use of the
potential reinforcers available
More on Reinforcer
Assessment/Sampling
• Smith, et al., (1995) compared reinforcer
sampling to teacher choice (from previously
determined preferences) at the start of
training sessions and found little to no
difference in stimuli were selected by subjects
rather than experimenters.