We trained 9 behavioral staff members to conduct 2 brief preference assessments using 30-min video presentations that contained instructions and modeling. After training, we evaluated each staff member's implementation of the assessments in situ. Results indicated that 1 or 2 training sessions for each method were sufficient for teaching each…

We evaluated a multiple schedule in which the extinction (S-) components were signaled overtly by a black lanyard and the reinforcement (S+) components were not correlated with any programmed stimuli in developing stimulus control over the high-rate social-approach responses of an adult with mental retardation. Responding was consistently low in…

An adult with autism and a mild intellectual disability participated in a 0-s delayed matching-to-sample task. In each trial, two sample stimuli were presented together until the participant completed an observing-response requirement consisting of 1 or 10 mouse clicks in the baseline and experimental phases, respectively. One of the two sample…

Individuals may prefer contexts with the option to choose between 2 reinforcing stimuli or between 2 tasks relative to contexts in which others select the same events. We evaluated children's preferences for conditions characterized by (a) the opportunity to choose between tasks and (b) the opportunity to choose between putative reinforcers…

Computerized lessons employing stimulus equivalence technology, used previously under laboratory conditions to teach inferential statistics concepts to college students, were employed in a group setting for the first time. Students showed the same directly taught and emergent learning gains as in laboratory studies. A brief paper-and-pencil…

Competing stimulus assessments (CSA) have been used to identify stimuli that are associated with reduced levels of problem behavior, presumably as a function of reinforcer competition. Following a standard CSA in which stimuli simply were made available, 2 more CSAs were conducted with additional components designed to enhance reinforcer…

Two studies were conducted that examined the preference of a student diagnosed with a brain injury. In Study 1, a preference assessment was followed by a three-choice concurrent operants reinforcer assessment. Two choices resulted in access to preferred activities for completing work, and a third choice resulted in access to nothing (i.e., no…

Many students struggle with statistical concepts such as interaction. In an experimental group, participants took a paper-and-pencil test and then were given training to establish equivalent classes containing four different statistical interactions. All participants formed the equivalence classes and showed maintenance when probes contained novel…

The authors suggest that line graphs that average response frequency over long periods obscure the major rate changes that indicate sources of behavioral control. A scatter plot can make patterns of responding identifiable and, in turn, suggest environmental features that occasion undesirable behavior. Use of scatter diagrams is illustrated in…

Four experiments involving 18 individuals (ages 14-55) with profound multiple handicaps found that 12 stimuli used in a preference assessment represented a comprehensive stimulus set for identifying preferences, though the utility of the set could sometimes be enhanced by caregiver opinion. Results also indicated that preferences identified were…

A study of three children (ages 3-5) with developmental disabilities evaluated the effects of environmental enrichment on self-injurious behavior. Each child participated in a free-operate preference assessment to identify relative preferences for aberrant behavior. This assessment correctly predicted the success of environmental enrichment to…

This study compared three methods of stimulus preference assessment for four verbal children (ages six to nine) with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, specifically evaluating the utility of a verbal choice procedure for assessing relative reinforcer value. Verbal and pictorial stimulus-choice assessments identified high- and low-preference…

Data are summarized from 152 single-subject analyses of the reinforcing functions of self-injurious behavior (SIB) in individuals with developmental disabilities. Overall results indicated that functional analysis methodologies are extremely effective in identifying the environmental determinants of SIB on an individual basis and, subsequently, in…

A study of three adults with profound mental retardation investigated the effects of using systematically assessed preferred stimuli versus staff opinion-based preferred stimuli on increasing happiness indices. Preferred stimuli based on preference assessments were more consistently accompanied by increased happiness indices than were preferred…