EFFECTS OF REINFORCEMENT CHOICE ON TASK RESPONDING IN INDIVIDUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
- 1 September 1997
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Wiley in Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis
- Vol. 30 (3) , 411-422
- https://doi.org/10.1901/jaba.1997.30-411
Abstract
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 delivered 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.Keywords
This publication has 27 references indexed in Scilit:
- Teacher-control versus student-control over choice of task and reinforcement for students with severe behavior problemsJournal of Behavioral Education, 1995
- THE EFFECTS OF CHOICE AND TASK PREFERENCE ON THE WORK PERFORMANCE OF ADULTS WITH SEVERE DISABILITIESJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1994
- CHOICE MAKING TO PROMOTE ADAPTIVE BEHAVIOR FOR STUDENTS WITH EMOTIONAL AND BEHAVIORAL CHALLENGESJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1994
- PREFERRED CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES AND REDUCED PROBLEM BEHAVIORS IN STUDENTS WITH INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIESJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1994
- FUNCTIONAL ASSESSMENT, CURRICULAR REVISION, AND SEVERE BEHAVIOR PROBLEMSJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1991
- EFFECTS OF CHOICE MAKING ON THE SERIOUS PROBLEM BEHAVIORS OF STUDENTS WITH SEVERE HANDICAPSJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1990
- BALANCING THE RIGHT TO HABILITATION WITH THE RIGHT TO PERSONAL LIBERTIES: THE RIGHTS OF PEOPLE WITH DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES TO EAT TOO MANY DOUGHNUTS AND TAKE A NAPJournal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 1990
- The competition of autistic stereotyped behavior with usual and specially assessed reinforcersResearch in Developmental Disabilities, 1987
- Effects of Choice on Leisure Participation for Persons with Severe HandicapsJournal of the Association for Persons with Severe Handicaps, 1985
- EFFECTS OF CHOICE AND IMMEDIACY OF REINFORCEMENT ON SINGLE RESPONSE AND SWITCHING BEHAVIOR OF CHILDREN1Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 1973