Preference Assessments from Jigsaw Trust on Vimeo.
In previous lessons and methods, we?ve look at the ways in which we can used our knowledge of ABA to assess behaviors that challenge and targets for skills development. In this lesson, we will look at preference assessments.
A preference assessment is a structured method to identify highly preferred items or actions that can be used as reinforcers to keep a learner?s motivation levels high. Without sufficiently powerful reinforcers, many behaviour change procedures will struggle to have a meaningful effect for the learner. Preference Assessments can also be useful in helping to identify items or activities a client wants to engage with more often when the person cannot communicate this to those who support them.
While there are many different ways of conducting preference assessments, in this lesson we will look at three commonly used procedures.
1. Free Operant Observation ? In free operant observation various leisure items/activities are presented in front of a learner and their support worker will measure the duration of engagement with each item/activity for a predefined observation period. They can then rank the items/activities based on the duration of interaction/engagement with them.
2. Paired Stimulus Preference Assessment – In a paired stimulus preference assessment, several items are identified as potential reinforcers. All items are then presented side by side (two at a time) in front of the learner, and the assessor observes which items he/she chooses to interact with. They record which item was picked and then rank the items based on the number of times they were picked.
3. MSWO Preference Assessment ? in a MSWO (Multi Stimulus WithOut Replacement) preference assessment, all potential reinforcers that are being assessed are presented in a row on front of the learner. The person supporting the learner observes which item the learn picks and interacts with. When the learner is finished with the item, it is removed from the row and the remaining items are rotated. Then the learner is given an opportunity to pick another item. This continues until all items are gone or the learner stops picking the items. The observer then RANKS the items based on the order in which they are picked.