Shifting preferences for choice-making opportunities through histories of differential reinforcer quality

Choice versus no choice: Practical considerations for increasing choices

Choice involves engaging in a selection response when multiple options are concurrently available. Choices can be incorporated into many components of behavior-analytic treatment such as providing clients with a choice between multiple items, activities, or tasks. We reviewed the main characteristics of 38 behavior-analytic articles that compared choice and no-choice conditions. We coded the experimental arrangements of choice and no-choice conditions and analyzed potential factors affecting preferences for choice and no choice. The findings suggest that the sizing of alternatives from which to choose, the timing of choice opportunities, and the timing of the delivery of the chosen option varied across the studies. Furthermore, preferences for choice shifted with differential reinforcement history and response effort manipulations of choice or no choice. The findings suggest that individual variables should be considered when providing choices, but more research is needed.

Comparison of Function-Based, Nonfunction-Based, and Combined Treatments for Escape-Maintained Aggression in a Child With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Case Study

In applied behavior analysis, the use of function-based treatments to reduce problem behavior is well-supported. However, in some cases, function-based treatments alone may not be as effective as nonfunction-based treatments or function-based treatments with additional, nonfunction-based components. In this case study, we compared the delivery of preferred edible items (a nonfunction-based treatment), a break from a task (a function-based treatment), and an enhanced break, which consisted of a break plus access to a preferred tangible item (combination of a nonfunction-based and function-based treatment), to treat escape-maintained aggression exhibited by a young child with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Across all three treatments, reinforcement (i.e., edible, break, or enhanced break) was delivered contingent upon compliance with instructions and problem behavior resulted in escape. The nonfunction-based treatment and the combination treatment reduced aggression to zero levels; the function-based treatment did not. Finally, we allowed the participant to choose which of the three treatments he preferred to experience; he selected the combination treatment most often.