Association for Behavior Analysis International

A substantial body of research exists on the identification, use, and efficacy of reinforcers with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Increasingly, researchers are focusing on extensions to preference assessment methodology. This symposium includes four data-based presentations from two institutions that highlight unique applications of preference assessment methods. The first paper examines the utility of single-stimulus, paired-choice and competing stimulus assessments in the treatment of severe behavior problems in young children with developmental delays. The second describes the identification, assessment, and application of preferred stimuli with pediatric patients in a minimally conscious state in a rehabilitation setting. In the third presentation, preference assessments were conducted with an adolescent with Smith Lemli Opitz syndrome to assess dimensions of task effort and task preference. The final presentation describes the use of paired-choice preference assessments with bilingual children with disabilities to assess preferences for language and across three social contexts. Methodological extensions as well as implications for use of preference assessments are discussed.

Minimally Conscious State (MCS) is a state of partial conscious awareness following a brain injury. Those in a MCS show evidence of subtle, inconsistent but reproducible command following, gesturing, verbalizations, and/or purposeful behavior (Giacino et al., 2002). The extent to which salient stimuli can be identified to help arouse or calm individuals in a MCS can impact the rehabilitation course. Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) is uniquely suited to systematically assess individuals reactions to potential stimuli. Data will be presented displaying the systematic approach to presenting and assessing stimuli across sensory domains with pediatric cases with varying levels of consciousness treated as inpatients in a rehabilitation setting. Clinicians first conducted a survey with caregivers adapted from the RAISD (Fisher et al., 1996) and consulted with staff to further identify potentially salient stimuli. Based on these interviews, in-vivo stimulus preference assessments evaluated the varying items across sensory domains. Data presented show the idiosyncratic responses (neutral, negative, positive - arousing, and positive - calming) to stimuli, as well as clinical applications (vent weaning, therapy participation, relaxation) of positive stimuli during rehabilitation. Discussion will focus on the unique and important nature of using ABA methods of preference assessments with this population.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate choices between dimensions of effort (task amount and task strategy) and preference (type of task) on choice responding. Jake was a 14 year old male diagnosed with Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome. All procedures were conducted in an outpatient clinic and IOA averaged 99%. During Phase 1, a preference assessment was conducted within a concurrent schedules design to determine Jakes relative preferences between completing an academic task (single-digit subtraction) with or without an instructional strategy (use of a calculator) and the amount of work required. Results (Figure 1, top left panel) showed that Jake always chose to complete the lesser amount of work. During Phase 2, a second preference assessment evaluated Jakes relative preferences between completing the same academic task with a calculator or a more preferred vocational task (photo copying). Results (top right panel) showed that Jake continued to choose the option with the lesser amount of work. These results suggested that response effort, in the form of amount of work, influenced Jakes choice responding more than preference.

Stimulus and language preferences of four children with disabilities who were exposed to Spanish and English in their natural environment were evaluated during three sequentially administered paired-stimulus preference assessments across three contexts: attention/talking, tangible/playing, and demands/working. The purposes of this study were to (a) identify whether participants displayed a language preference and if so, if their language preference was consistent across the three social contexts and to (b) evaluate the interaction between language and stimulus preference within each context. Nine choice options (four in English, four in Spanish, and one no stimulus/no language) were presented in pairs for a total of 36 choice trials per preference assessment. Data were collected on participants choices and IOA averaged 97.92%. The results of this study showed that (a) children demonstrated language preferences for their L1 or L2, and these preferences were not always consistent across social context(see Figures 1-4) and (b) all children showed displacement of stimuli across the preference hierarchy due to language, but the magnitude of the displacement varied across context and participant (see Figure 5). These results suggest that the language of presentation may influence the results of preference assessments and that the influence of language may vary across context.