A comparison of methods for assessing preference for social interactions
Pick the social-interaction preference test that matches the learner’s current picture or vocal skills.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team tested three ways to find out which social interactions autistic kids like most.
They worked with children who had autism.
Each child tried all three methods: picture-based MSWO, a new social-interaction preference assessment (SIPA), and a vocal pictureless preference assessment (PSPA).
They used an alternating-treatments design so every child served as their own control.
What they found
The best method depends on the child’s skills.
If the child can name or point to pictures, the picture-based MSWO worked great.
If the child could not use pictures, the new SIPA gave clear results.
For kids who speak in sentences, the simple vocal PSPA was fastest and just as accurate.
How this fits with other research
McLennan et al. (2008) showed that teaching picture-to-object matching first cuts errors in half.
That supports Morris et al. (2020): only use picture-based MSWO after the child has those picture skills.
Hudry et al. (2013) found that child language level drives parent-child interaction quality.
This lines up with Morris’s finding that spoken-language level tells you when to switch to the vocal PSPA.
Hamama et al. (2021) surveyed autistic adults and found they prefer written over spoken contact with strangers.
That adult preference echoes the child data: matching the communication mode to the person’s skills leads to better outcomes.
Why it matters
Stop using one-size-fits-all preference tests.
Run a quick probe: can the child tact pictures? If yes, use MSWO. If no, use SIPA. If the child talks in full sentences, skip pictures and use vocal PSPA.
This small switch can save you weeks of noisy data and get you to effective reinforcers faster.
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Join Free →Before your next session, do a 2-minute probe: ask the child to name or point to five pictures. If they can, set up MSWO; if not, prep the SIPA arrays instead.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Researchers have evaluated a variety of methods for assessing preference for social interactions, and generally have found that such assessments accurately identify differentially reinforcing, preferred interactions. However, few researchers have compared methods for assessing preference for social interactions, and none have done so with participants across different skill levels. The current study compared the stability and validity of hierarchies produced by social interaction preference assessments (SIPA) and picture-based multiple stimulus without replacement preference assessments (MSWO) with 8 individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The MSWO most often produced valid hierarchies for participants who could match, identify, and tact pictures of social interactions and that the SIPA most often produced valid hierarchies for participants who could not identify or tact pictures of social interactions. A vocal paired-stimulus preference assessment (PSPA) was also conducted with a subset of participants who communicated vocally, and it produced valid hierarchies. Considerations and recommendations for selecting a method of assessing preference for social interactions are discussed.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2020 · doi:10.1002/jaba.692