Sabrina Bogosian

EDU 348
4/10/18
Preference Assessment

Participant, Setting, and Materials

The participant that is included for this preference assessment is a kindergarten student

by the name of Joseph (pseudonym), who is considered a white American student. Joseph has

high-functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Although the teacher did not give many

details about Joseph’s home life, she did share that he comes from a two-parent home and has a

younger brother. Although very social, the teacher shared that Joseph often has trouble

regulating his emotions, especially when he is denied something that he wants. Prosocial

behaviors that he is working on include sharing, following school rules, and straying from

routine. Academically, Joseph is working on letter sounds and numbers over 20. The teacher

indicated that learning to share is currently their top priority.

Joseph receives his education in a self-contained classroom with five other male students,

all of whom have been diagnosed with ASD. The classroom is low lit and several of the walls are

well padded. It was in this room, at a low table, that the preference assessment was conducted.

While four of the six students in the class (one being absent that day) had playtime in the room

next door, Joseph engaged in the preference assessment.

For this preference assessment, a total of five items were used. Based on teacher input

and recommendation the following items were chosen from an array of items: A toy drum, a

small Etch-a-Sketch, a toy Ninja Turtle, a toy car, and a toy dinosaur.
Results

The assessment utilized for this project was the Multiple Stimulus Without Replacement

preference assessment. Each item was presented in all of the sessions conducted, but once the

item was selected in a trial it was not placed back in the line for the following trials. This process

was repeated for each session. In order to determine Joseph’s preference of each item, the total

number of times an item was chosen was divided by the total number of times it was presented.

Results indicated that Joseph’s most preferred item was the drum followed by the toy dinosaur,

the Ninja Turtle, the car, and then the Etch-a-Sketch (from most to least preferred). Results are

summarized in the tables following this section.

Since the results indicated that Joseph’s most preferred item was the drum, it would be

beneficial to utilize this item as a reinforcer for those activities that pose the most challenge for

Joseph, like sharing. When Joseph engages in sharing, he could be given five minutes of

playtime with the toy drum to increase the likelihood of that behavior. For activities that don’t

pose as much of a challenge for Joseph, less preferred items, like the toy dinosaur, could be used

as reinforcers.

Session 1 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum N N N N 0
Etch-a-Sketch Y - - - 1
Ninja Turtle N N Y - 3
Car N Y - - 2
Toy Dinosaur N N N Y 4
Session 2 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum Y - - - 1
Etch-a-Sketch N N N N 0
Ninja Turtle N N Y - 3
Car N N N Y 4
Toy Dinosaur N Y - - 2

Session 3 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum N Y - - 2
Etch-a-Sketch N N N N 0
Ninja Turtle N N N Y 4
Car N N Y - 3
Toy Dinosaur Y - - - 1

Session 4 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum Y - - - 1
Etch-a-Sketch N Y - - 2
Ninja Turtle N N Y - 3
Car N N N Y 4
Toy Dinosaur N N N N 0

Session 5 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum N Y - - 2
Etch-a-Sketch N N Y - 3
Ninja Turtle N N N N 0
Car N N N Y 4
Toy Dinosaur Y - - - 1
Session 6 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum Y - - - 1
Etch-a-Sketch N N N Y 4
Ninja Turtle N Y - - 2
Car N N N N 0
Toy Dinosaur N N Y - 3

Session 7 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum N Y - - 2
Etch-a-Sketch N N N N 0
Ninja Turtle Y - - - 1
Car N N Y - 3
Toy Dinosaur N N N Y 4

Session 8 Date:
04/05/18
Item Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 TOTAL
Drum N Y - - 2
Etch-a-Sketch N N N N 0
Ninja Turtle N N Y - 3
Car Y - - - 1
Toy Dinosaur N N N Y 4

Joseph’s Hierarchy of Preference

Item
Drum 7 of 15 trials = 47%
Toy Dinosaur 7 of 23 trials = 30%
Ninja Turtle 7 of 23 trials = 30%
Car 7 of 25 trials = 28%
Etch-a-Sketch 4 of 26 trials = 15%

Reflection

I was very glad to have had this opportunity to take what I have learned about preference

assessments in class and apply that knowledge to a real-world setting. Of course, while engaging
in the preference assessment there were components that went well, components that posed some

challenges, and components that I would modify in the future.

Introducing the preference assessment as a game of sorts really helped to keep Joseph

engaged. It seemed that he enjoyed being chosen as the one to play this “game” with me. He

understood the “rules” of the game and complied readily when I asked for the toy back. In

addition, having the edible to give to him in between trials seemed to keep things moving in a

positive direction.

However, after the sixth trial when the class came back into the room from playtime,

Joseph became very distracted by the other students, paraeducators, and iPads that were sitting

nearby. In the future, I would allow the student to have a break between every few sessions to

maintain his or her attention. Additionally, I would attempt to keep this assessment in a one-on-

one setting, away from distractions. In order to help the keep the brisk pace of the assessment, I

would modify a couple things for the future. Before beginning, I would have every toy recorded

in the appropriate spaces for each of the sessions. Trying to write all of toy description while

administering the assessment made desired pace difficult to keep. The toy drum, though the most

preferred item, was very clunky and difficult to move around between trials. In the future, I

would choose items that are smaller and easier to maneuver.