Preliminary investigation of a video-based stimulus preference assessment.

Snyder et al. (2012) asked if a short video can replace real toys during an MSWO. Four children with autism watched a 2-minute clip that showed eight toys on a table. After the clip, each child pointed to the toys they liked most. Later the kids did the same task with the actual toys in front of them. The team then compared the two preference lists.

The goal was to see if the video version still picked the top toys. If it worked, staff could save setup and clean-up time.

For three of the four kids, the video list matched the real-toy list almost perfectly. The same items landed in the top spots. The fourth child showed some differences, but the highest-preferred toy was still caught by the video. Overall, the video MSWO gave a quick and mostly accurate picture of what the kids wanted.

The authors call the method 'preliminary' yet promising.

Guérin et al. (2017) later extended the same video idea to animals. They proposed letting non-verbal kids with autism pick therapy animals via video MSWO instead of staff guessing. The 2012 toy study gives the proof-of-concept that the video format can work before Guérin's team applied it to a new stimulus class.

Wolfe et al. (2018) used the video logic again, but with social clips and a paired-stimulus format. Results were mixed: only two of three kids showed matching preferences, and one needed a 'no-access' version to fit. This follow-up warns us that video assessments may behave differently when the stimuli are people, not objects.

Lancioni et al. (2006) looked at verbal-only versus tangible-plus-access assessments and also found mixed fit. Their earlier data set the stage for the 2012 video test: if just talking about items can fail, maybe watching them on screen can bridge the gap. The 2012 study answers that question with a cautious 'yes' for toys.

You can try a 2-minute video MSWO when time, space, or mess makes the tangible version hard. Show the clip on a tablet, note the top two items, then quickly test those as reinforcers. If the child picks the same favorites you save minutes of setup; if not, you still have the real toys ready as a back-up. It's a low-risk shortcut that worked for most kids in the study.