Evaluation of reinforcer preferences for profoundly handicapped students.
A single microswitch can uncover powerful reinforcers for students with profound disabilities in under five minutes.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team gave five profoundly handicapped students a small switch.
Pressing the switch turned on a toy or radio for a few seconds.
The researchers timed how long each student held the switch down.
Longer hold times showed which items worked as reinforcers.
A multiple-baseline design proved the effect was real.
What they found
Every student pressed longer when the switch powered a favorite item.
Some students barely touched the switch for low-preference toys.
The same item could be a strong reinforcer for one student and weak for another.
Microswitch activation quickly revealed these individual differences.
How this fits with other research
Verriden et al. (2016) later compared four common formats.
They found paired-stimulus and MSWO give the most stable rankings.
Free-operant, like the microswitch method, keeps problem behavior low but rankings shift more.
The 1985 study opened the door; Verriden refined when to use each tool.
Curiel et al. (2024) extended the idea to preschoolers with autism.
They used MSWO and still saw clear preferences, showing the concept travels across ages and diagnoses.
Why it matters
If you work with learners who can’t speak or point, a microswitch is a fast way to ask “What do you like?”
Tape a button to a tray, wire it to a toy, and watch hold times for two minutes.
Pick the top item for your next teaching session.
You’ll start therapy with a reinforcer that already has proof of power.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Attach a battery-interrupter button to one toy, let the student press freely for 2 min, and use the toy with the longest hold time as the first reinforcer in your program.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Five students classified as profoundly/multiply handicapped were trained to use microswitches to indicate reinforcer preferences. The students were trained to emit a designated motoric response (raise arm or raise head) which in turn activated a microswitch. The microswitches were connected to battery-operated toys and devices, and served to provide immediate, contingent consequences to the students for their motoric responding. The results of the investigation were evaluated within a multiple baseline (across students) with alternating treatments (potential reinforcers) design. During baseline, the students were provided with the switches and devices, but the switches were not connected to the devices. During the training conditions, the switches activated the devices. Evaluation of the devices was conducted by recording the cumulative frequency and duration of the students' responses. When the microswitches activated the devices during training, a substantial increase in the duration of motoric responding occurred for all students. In addition, some students performed differentially across devices, suggesting that they had reinforcer preferences.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 1985 · doi:10.1901/jaba.1985.18-173