Further refinement of video‐based brief multiple‐stimulus without replacement preference assessments

The team showed four children with autism short videos of toys and snacks.

Kids pointed to their favorites in a brief MSWO format.

No items were handed to them during the test.

Later the same day staff ran a normal MSWO where kids could touch and eat the items.

The researchers then compared the two preference lists.

The video-only list matched the real-item list well.

Correlations were strong to moderate for every child.

This means you can trust the video results even without giving access right away.

Storch et al. (2012) and Hong et al. (2016) meta-analyses already show video modeling works for autism.

Those papers support using video tools, but they looked at teaching skills, not picking reinforcers.

Bailey et al. (2010) seems to clash at first—they found kids had no preference between video and live modeling.

The key difference is purpose: B et al. asked kids which model they liked watching; Brodhead asked which items kids wanted.

So the studies don’t disagree—they just answer different questions.

You can now run a quick MSWO on a tablet without hauling toys around.

This saves prep time and keeps kids engaged with fast-moving clips.

Try it during intake or when space is tight.

Just show 30-second videos, record choices, and move straight to teaching with the top picks.