Comparing preference assessments: selection- versus duration-based preference assessment procedures.
MSW and free-operant assessments often disagree—run a 5-minute reinforcer test to see which one actually drives behavior.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team ran two kinds of preference assessments on the same people.
One was MSW: kids pick one toy from many, then all toys go back for the next round.
The other was free-operant: kids could touch or play with any toy for five minutes.
They then tested if the top toy from each method actually worked best as a reinforcer.
What they found
The two methods named different favorite toys for every participant.
Only half the time did the MSW top pick beat the free-operant top pick in a reinforcer test.
So you cannot assume the two formats will give you the same strongest reward.
How this fits with other research
Kang et al. (2013) looked at 14 studies and found MSW often wins, but not always.
Their review includes this 2009 paper and shows the mixed picture is normal.
Curiel et al. (2018) later moved MSW online for videos and still got clear hierarchies.
This extends the MSW idea to new tech, showing the format can travel beyond toys.
Villafaña et al. (2023) compared pictures of food to real food and found pictures work if you give a quick taste.
Like Tiffany et al., they show that changing the format can change the result, so always check with a brief reinforcer test.
Why it matters
Pick one method and stick with it for each client, but do a quick reinforcer test before you trust the result. If the top item does not boost behavior, rerun the other format. This saves you from weak reinforcers and wasted sessions.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
In the current investigation, the results of a selection- and a duration-based preference assessment procedure were compared. A Multiple Stimulus With Replacement (MSW) preference assessment [Windsor, J., Piché, L. M., & Locke, P. A. (1994). Preference testing: A comparison of two presentation methods. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 15, 439-455] and a variation of a Free-Operant (FO) preference assessment procedure [Roane, H. S., Vollmer, T. R., Ringdahl, J. E., & Marcus, B. A. (1998). Evaluation of a brief stimulus preference assessment. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 31, 605-620] were conducted with four participants. A reinforcer assessment was conducted to determine which preference assessment procedure identified the item that produced the highest rates of responding. The items identified as most highly preferred were different across preference assessment procedures for all participants. Results of the reinforcer assessment showed that the MSW identified the item that functioned as the most effective reinforcer for two participants.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2009 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2009.02.010