Evaluation of an efficient method for training staff to implement stimulus preference assessments.
A single 30-minute BST session with feedback and role-play reliably produces staff mastery of both MSWO and paired preference assessments.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team trained 16 staff to run two common preference tests.
Each person got one 30-minute BST session.
It had instructions, a demo, practice, and quick feedback.
Then staff ran MSWO and paired-stimulus checks alone.
What they found
After the short lesson, 16 out of 16 staff scored a large share or better.
Fourteen hit a large share or higher on both tests.
One brief round with feedback was enough for mastery.
How this fits with other research
Sawyer et al. (2017) got the same lift with pre-service teachers.
They also used a 30-minute BST cycle and saw near-perfect role-play.
Gray et al. (2026) later moved the training online.
Most students still hit a large share fidelity, but two needed extra feedback.
Together, the three studies show the same core recipe works across live, remote, and new learner groups.
Why it matters
You can stop running long workshops. One short BST block gives you staff who run preference checks the right way. Try it Monday: teach, model, let them practice, give feedback, then watch them test with a large share accuracy.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We used a brief training procedure that incorporated feedback and role-play practice to train staff members to conduct stimulus preference assessments, and we used group-comparison methods to evaluate the effects of training. Staff members were trained to implement the multiple-stimulus-without-replacement assessment in a single session and the paired-stimulus method in another single session. In all 16 cases (2 assessments for 8 trainees), correct responding increased to over 80% accuracy; in 14 of those 16 cases, it increased to over 90% accuracy. Thus, training produced mastery-level performance in a single training session in almost all cases.
Journal of applied behavior analysis, 2008 · doi:10.1901/jaba.2008.41-249