Association for Behavior Analysis International

Stimulus preference assessments (SPA) afford opportunities for instructors to identify reinforcers in behavioral acquisition and reduction programs, and they also provide opportunities to improve decision-making and autonomy in individuals with disabilities, including autism spectrum disorder. Recent attention has been paid to extending the utility of SPAs in the treatment of challenging behavior, to assess preference for complex stimuli, and to further inform the underlying behavioral mechanisms that make SPAs effective. This symposium highlights such a movement, featuring research from the three above areas. First, this presentation will discuss a methodological evaluation that aims to identify a brief, yet reliable free-operant format for tangibly-maintained problem behavior. Next, two studies will discuss the results of efforts to extend the utility of preference assessments that assess preference for complex stimuli, such as social interactions and electronic applications embedded within an iPad. The final study will discuss recent advancements of video-based preference assessments and an evaluation of the potential behavioral mechanisms that may make them effective.

Previous researchers have conducted preference assessment studies using different types of stimuli (e.g., edibles, tangibles, music) to identify reinforcers for individuals with disabilities. This study investigates the ability of paired-stimulus preference assessment techniques to assess the potential reinforcing effectiveness of iPad applications (apps) on the academic behavior of preschoolers with autism. This study yielded a preference hierarchy for each participant among the iPad apps. Participants responding increased upon implementation of the low-preferred app. When accessing the high-preferred app as reinforcement, participants generally engaged in a higher rate of responding. These results show that a paired-stimulus preference assessment can be used to rank preference of iPad apps, and therefore identify which apps are high-preferred and low-preferred. Findings also add to the research in showing that high-preferred stimuli are more effective because they increase rates of responding. This study provides many possibilities for conducting future research involving preference of technological stimuli.

Video-based preference assessments with children with autism allow instructors to capture the visual features of stimuli (e.g., the active movement of a toy), a luxury not afforded by preference assessments conducted in pictorial format. Video-based preference assessments also allow instructors to mitigate the inherent constraint of presenting multiple large or complex stimuli at once and assess preference for protracted events. This presentation will describe three studies that evaluated video-based preference assessments that demonstrated that contingent access to chosen stimuli may not be necessary. The first study will describe initial findings of how video-based preference assessments without access to selected stimuli may accurately predict preference. The second study will discuss the utility of video-based preference assessments in assessing preference for novel stimuli. The third study will discuss results from a study that systematically examines the behavioral mechanisms responsible for the success of video-based preference assessments, when access to selected stimuli is not provided.