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Abstract: Forced-choice preference assessments have been found to identify reinforcers. However, the utility of this procedure to identify similar reinforcers when conducted by different individuals is unknown. This investigation sought to determine whether a child's parent and a novel individual delivering the stimuli would yield the same results within forced-choice preference and subsequent reinforcer assessment procedures. During the forced-choice preference assessments, the child chose the same items. However, when the utility of these items as reinforcers was evaluated, different outcomes were found. The child chose to work for immediate reinforcers when the parent served as the therapist and to work for delayed rewards when a novel therapist was employed. The clinical significance of these outcomes is discussed.
The development of effective interventions for decreasing problem behaviors and increasing appropriate behaviors depends largely on the identification of interventions that are acceptable to care providers (Reimers, Wacker, Derby, & Cooper, 1995) and that provide reinforcers that are efficient to administer and salient (Horner & Day, 1991). To date, there are a number of assessment procedures that allow for the selection of effective stimuli to serve as reinforcers. These methods include (a) single-item presentation preference assessment (Pace, Ivancic, Edwards, Iwata, & Page, 1985), (b) forced-choice presentation preference assessment (Fisher et al., 1992), (c) free operant preference assessment (Ringdahl, Vollmer, Marcus, & Roane, 1997), and (d) functional analyses (Iwata, Dorsey, Slifer, Bauman, & Richman, 1994). These procedures typically involve a two-phase assessment process. First, the relative preference of 8 to 16 tangible items is established. Typically, relative preference is determined by the number of times a client approaches a tangible item (Fisher et al., 1992; Pace et al., 1985). Second, the utility of preferred stimuli to serve as reinforcers for increasing a novel response is assessed within a reinforcement assessment phase. Specifically, identified stimuli are used to increase the occurrence of a novel behavior, such as an academic task. To date, most investigations that have assessed these methods have been conducted in inpatient or outpatient settings or in therapy rooms in local schools, with trained therapists providing the contingencies (Fisher et al., 1992; Pace et al., 1985; Ringdahl et al., 1997). In addition, preference assessment procedures can possibly help clinicians develop positive behavior support plans by identifying preferred...