Lerman, D. C., Iwata, B. A., Rainville, B., Adelinis, J. D., Crosland, K., & Kogan, J. (1997).
Effects of reinforcement choice on task responding in individuals with developmental disabilities.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis,
30, 411-422.
The effects of reinforcement choice on task performance were
examined with 6 individuals who had been diagnosed with severe to
profound mental retardation. Five highly preferred items were
identified for each participant via stimulus preference
assessments. Participants then were exposed to choice and
no-choice conditions that were alternated within reversal and
multielement designs. During choice sessions, participants were
permitted to select between two preferred stimuli contingent on
responding. During no-choice sessions, the therapist del ivered a
single item contingent on responding. Preference for the stimuli
was held constant across conditions by yoking the items delivered
during no-choice sessions to those selected during the
immediately preceding choice sessions. All participants exhibited
similar rates of responding across choice and no-choice
conditions. These findings indicate that for individuals with
severe disabilities, access to choice may not improve task
performance when highly preferred items are already incorporated
into instructional programs.
DESCRIPTORS: reinforcement choice, developmental disabilities,
free-operant responding