Although feedback is a widely used intervention for improving performance, it is unclear what characteristics individuals prefer and what is necessary for it to be effective. The purpose of this study was to systematically extend Simonian and Brand (2022) by addressing the limitations of the study and adding a best-treatment phase. During an…

We compared the effects of the effects of self-instructions in the form of prose or song lyrics in the acquisition of gross motor tasks in 4 third-grade children. We taught participants 4 pairs of gross motor tasks, with one task in each pair taught with prose self-instructions and the other taught with song lyric self-instructions. Both…

We used a reversal design with an embedded multielement design to compare the effects of an independent group contingency and a randomized dependent group contingency on compliance with assigned literacy worksheets in a first-grade general education classroom. Nine participants were selected based on low levels of compliance in baseline or by…

Previous research has shown that praise is an effective reinforcer; however, few researchers have evaluated whether qualitative differences in praise affect responding. The purpose of the current study was to compare the effects of neutral, enthusiastic, and no praise on the rate of matching-to-sample acquisition during discrete-trial training…

Past research has demonstrated that pictorial preference assessments can predict subsequent reinforcement effects for individuals with developmental disabilities only when access to the selected stimulus is provided contingent on a pictorial selection. The purpose of the present investigation was to assess more comprehensively the feasibility of…

We examined correspondence between preference assessment outcome and within-session patterns of responding in one subject with autism. Responding maintained by a single highly preferred item resulted in a greater total number of responses, a slower decline in within-session response rates, and a greater proportion of short interresponse times…

Clinicians are particularly challenged by the development of interventions for behavior maintained by automatic reinforcement because reinforcers that maintain the responses often cannot be directly observed or manipulated. Researchers have conducted either preference assessments or competing items assessments when developing effective treatments…

Comparative studies of forward and backward chaining have led some to suggest that sensitivity to each teaching procedure may be idiosyncratic across learners and tasks. The purposes of the current study were threefold. First, we assessed differential sensitivity to each chaining procedure within children when presented with multiple learning…