A COMPARISON OF REINFORCER ASSESSMENT METHODS: THE UTILITY OF VERBAL AND PICTORIAL CHOICE PROCEDURES

We compared three methods of stimulus preference assessment for verbal children and specifically evaluated the utility of a verbal choice procedure for assessing relative reinforcer value. Using a token system, relative preference for five categories of reinforcers, representing 15 different stimuli, was assessed by three methods: a reinforcer survey, a verbal stimulus‐choice questionnaire, and a pictorial stimulus‐choice procedure. Results showed that the verbal and pictorial stimulus‐choice assessments accurately identified high‐ and low‐preference categories for 3 of 4 participants. Survey results alone often rated multiple categories as high preference, were less likely to identify low‐preference categories, and were less likely to correspond with the results of a reinforcer assessment.