Single‐ vs. combined‐category preference assessments for edible, leisure, and social‐interaction stimuli

• Published in: Journal of applied behavior analysis 2023-10, Vol.56 (4), p.787-803
• Main Authors: Goldberg, Nicole M., Roscoe, Eileen M., Newman, Zoe A., Sedano, Angelica J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: autism; edible; leisure; preference assessment; reinforcer assessment; social interaction
• ISSN: 0021-8855; 1938-3703
• DOI: 10.1002/jaba.1007

A concern when conducting combined‐category preference assessments is the potential for displacement effects, a shift in the preference ranking from highly preferred to moderately or less preferred for stimuli in two of three stimulus categories (e.g., edible, leisure, or social‐interaction). In this study, we evaluated potential displacement effects in combined‐category arrays of edible, leisure, and social‐interaction stimuli for five individuals with autism. First, single‐category paired‐stimulus preference assessments were implemented to identify two highly preferred stimuli from each category. When these stimuli were included in a combined‐category preference assessment, displacement effects were observed for three of five participants. During a subsequent reinforcer assessment, stimuli identified as less preferred in the combined‐category preference assessment functioned as reinforcers for two participants. Additionally, although social interaction was not identified as highly preferred for three of the five participants, it functioned as a reinforcer for four participants.