Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) engage in reduced levels of physical activity relative to neurotypical children. Researchers conducted 2 studies to (1) evaluate the influence of the number of physical activity options and effort on choice and (2) develop a token-based intervention to increase physical activity engagement and evaluate…

The current study compared the differential effects of choice and no-choice reinforcement conditions on skill acquisition. In addition, we assessed preference for choice-making opportunities with 3 children with autism, using a modified concurrent-chains procedure. We replicated the experiment with 2 participants. The results indicated that…

Pathological and nonpathological gamblers completed a task that assessed preference among 2 concurrently available slot machines. Subsequent assessments of choice were conducted after various attempts to transfer contextual functions associated with irrelevant characteristics of the slot machines. Results indicated that the nonproblem gambling…

Responding of 4 children was assessed under conditions in which (a) no programmed contingencies were arranged for target behavior, (b) responding produced tokens that could be exchanged for a single highly preferred edible item, and (c) responding produced a token that could be exchanged for a variety of preferred edible items. After assessing the…

Restricted and repetitive behavior (RRB) is more pervasive, prevalent, frequent, and severe in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) than in their typical peers. One subtype of RRB is restricted interests in items or activities, which is evident in the manner in which individuals engage with items (e.g., repetitious wheel spinning),…

Three adolescents with traumatic brain injury performed a physical therapy task in the absence of programmed consequences or duration requirements. Next, the experimenter gave the participants the options of a smaller immediate reinforcer with no response requirement or a larger delayed reinforcer with a response requirement. Self-control training…

Factors that influence reinforcer choice have been examined in a number of applied studies (e.g., Neef, Mace, Shea, & Shade, 1992; Shore, Iwata, DeLeon, Kahng, & Smith, 1997; Tustin, 1994). However, no applied studies have evaluated the effects of postsession reinforcement on choice between concurrently available reinforcers, even though basic…

Factors that influence choice between qualitatively different reinforcers (e.g., a food item or a break from work) are important to consider when arranging treatments for problem behavior. Previous findings indicate that children who engage in problem behavior maintained by escape from demands may choose a food item over the functional reinforcer…

A study of seven adults with profound developmental disabilities compared methods for presenting stimuli during reinforcer-preference assessments. It found that a multiple-stimulus format in which selections were made without replacement may share the advantages of a paired-stimulus format and a multiple-stimulus format with replacement, while…

Two variations of a vocal paired-stimulus preference assessment were evaluated to determine whether the verbal reports of preference, given by individuals with developmental disabilities when no access to the activity was given, matched their verbal reports when access to the activity was given contingent on their choice. The results indicated…

The current study examined the reinforcing effects of choosing among alternatives in a four-part evaluation. In the first study, initial-link responses in a concurrent-chains arrangement resulted in access to terminal links in which the completion of an academic task resulted in (a) the choice of a reinforcer (choice), (b) the delivery of an…

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…

Tangible preference assessments were compared with verbal preference assessments for six individuals (ages 15-20) with mental retardation, behavior disorders, or both. The two assessments yielded similar high-preference items for 4 of the 6 participants. The verbal assessment was typically completed in less time than the tangible assessment.…

Reviewers (n=126) of behavioral journals were asked to evaluate identical manuscripts according to their usual criteria. Half the manuscripts were supposedly written by men and half by women. Male reviewers did not evaluate male- and female-authored manuscripts differently, but female reviewers accepted significantly more female-authored than…

Three adolescents with severe mental retardation were trained to request snacks from visible three-item snack sets. During subsequent stimulus control assessment sessions, one subject requested food items when no food items were present, two frequently requested a missing item when the two other items were visible, and all subjects requested…