No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

The identification of preferred and reinforcing stimuli has long been a focus of behavior analysts in applied settings. Research has primarily focused on different methodologies for assessing whether stimuli are preferred and there has been additional research on identifying under what conditions those stimuli will function as reinforcers. Recently, research has begun to examine responses and reinforcers from a behavioral economic perspective. The present study compared responding in a situation where the price of one item was increased, but the price of alternative items remained the same, to a situation where the price of all available items increased. Multiple stimulus with replacement (MS) preference assessment methodology was used and price was altered by increasing the distance of the stimuli from the participant. During the first assessment, the item chosen most frequently in the first session was systematically moved 6 - 24 inches beyond the other items during subsequent sessions. During the second assessment, all items were systematically moved 6 - 24 inches beyond the starting point in front of the participant during subsequent sessions. Results for the first assessment indicated that for four of the five participants, consumption of the target item decreased as a function of increased price for that item. Results for the second assessment indicated that at high costs, clear preference for one item was observed for three of the five participants. Taken collectively, these results suggest that response effort is a variable that should be taken into consideration when evaluating effective treatments for individuals with disabilities. Preference and reinforcer effectiveness may shift as individuals are presented with tasks that require increased response effort in terms of reaching or moving about their environment. / Educational Psychology

In this study, 2-minute and 5-minute free operant preference assessments were conducted. Preference hierarchies and the order of item selection were both identified and compared. The preference assessments were administered in alternating order and the resulting differentially preferred items were utilized in subsequent reinforcer assessments to determine if the items selected were reinforcing. The reinforcer assessments were conducted using an initial baseline and an alternating treatment design. Social validity was assessed with both the families and the participants. Treatment fidelity and inter-observer agreement data were also collected. The 2-minute free operant preference assessment was shown to be effective at identifying effective reinforcers for two out of the three participants. The third participant did not respond consistently to the free operant preference assessment at any length and responded aversively to the presentation of the free operant preference assessment, one which is known for yielding few problem behaviors. For the two participants that responded to the preference assessment, items that were identified functioned effectively as reinforcers. There was also a strong correlation using the Spearman’s Rank-Order Correlation Coefficient between the preference hierarchies and the order of selection list. This study supports the usage of the shortened free operant preference assessment but requires expansion and repetition. The author discussed the limitations of the current study and directions for future research. / Applied Behavioral Analysis