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M5: Preference Assessment Project
Javier Alejandro Garcia
Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College,
Arizona State University
SPE 527: Behavior Analytic
Assessment
CI Carly Vivio
February 14th, 2021
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Assessment - “Nina”
Summary
Learner 1: “Nina” The family dog
Practitioner: Javier Garcia
Age: 5 years 6 months
Date of Birth: July, 2015
Date: February 13th, 2021
Setting: Living room of the family home
Assessment: Pairwise Preference Assessment
Background: Nina’s father consented that an assessment could be done with his dog for the
completion of his class project. His hopes were to find some novel reinforcers that Nina might
work for in a hypothetical intervention plan. He went to the store to find 3 novel toys or
“reinforcers” she might like for the assessment: a smoked beef bone (beef bone), a cheese filled
beef bone (cheese bone), and a braided rawhide chew treat (braided rawhide). The assessments
were done on the living room floor of the family home. To find her preferences among the three
novel reinforcers we used the Pairwise or Paired Stimulus Preference Assessment and the
Multiple Stimulus with Replacement (MSWR) Preference Assessment.
The Pairwise Preference Assessment is conducted by placing two reinforcers in front of
the learner and allowing them to between the two. After the selection is made by the learner the
practitioner picks up the reinforcers and places them back for selection, being sure to record
trials of every reinforcer in the assessment paired together and that the positions are alternated
to assure that positional bias is not a factor (Boutot, 2021). Because of the few number of items
to be assessed these trials were conducted in four series of three trials, for a total of 12 paired
selections, to try to account for positional bias. A choice constituted the dog picking up a
reinforcer with her mouth when presented in front of her.
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The Multiple Stimulus with Replacement Assessment is conducted by placing a row of all
the reinforcers to be used in front of the learner and allowing one to be selected. After the
selection is made by the learner the practitioner picks up the entire row of reinforcers and
records which item was selected. The row of reinforcers is then presented back to the learner for
another selection. The trials are conducted until at least the number of reinforcers equals the
number of trials, and possibly more trials if greater accuracy in determining a ranking is desired
(Boutot, 2021). These trials were conducted four times with Nina, with the reinforcers
assembled on a small collapsible table and presented to her, and then picked back up again after
a selection was made.
Results
Multiple Stimulus with Replacement Assessment
Nina was given four opportunities to select among the three different reinforcers. She
selected the braided rawhide three out of the four opportunities or 75 percent of the time. She
selected the beef bone once out of four opportunities or 25% of the time. She selected the beef
bone first, and then selected the braided rawhide for the rest of the three trials. The cheese bone
had zero selections.
Trial #1 Beef Bone Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #2 Beef Bone Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #3 Beef Bone Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #4 Beef Bone Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Total 1 3
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Pairwise Preference Assessment
Nina was given twelve paired choice opportunities among the three different reinforcers.
She selected the beef bone the most, five times out of the eight times it was presented or 62
percent of the time. She selected the cheese bone the second most, four out of the eight times it
was presented or 50 percent of the time. She selected the braided rawhide the least with three
out of the eight times it was selected or 38 percent of the time.
Reinforcer Times %
selected Selected
Beef Bone 5/8 62%
Cheese Bone 4/8 50%
Braided Rawhide 3/8 38%
Trial #1 Beef Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #2 Cheese Bone Beef Bone
Trial #3 Braided Rawhide Cheese Bone
Trial #4 Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #5 Beef Bone Cheese Bone
Trial#6 Braided Rawhide Beef Bone
Trial #7 Braided Rawhide Beef Bone
Trial #8 Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #9 Beef Bone Cheese Bone
Trial #10 Beef Bone Cheese Bone
Trial #11 Cheese Bone Braided Rawhide
Trial #12 Braided Rawhide Beef Bone
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Comparison
The beef bone was the most preferred out of the three different reinforcers presented,
Nina selected the beef bone for the highest percentage during the Pairwise Assessment and
selected it first during the MSWR Assessment. It is difficult to tell which of the remaining two
reinforcers ranks second. The cheese bone was only selected once more than the braided
rawhide during the pairwise assessment. The braided rawhide was selected three times
compared to zero selections for the cheese bone during the MSWR. In comparing the two results
it is clear, though, that all three items are reinforcing for Nina.
Discussion
The Pairwise Assessment was the more difficult of the two to set up and record, as I
wanted to make sure of no positional bias by including more trials and alternating the positions.
Nina being unable to clearly discern my instructions made the Pairwise more difficult as well,
she hesitated often when I would present the two choices when I would lay them down. During
many of the trials she looked me in the eye and back at the reinforcers several times before
picking. Dr. Boutot referred to this during the second webinar about preference assessments,
telling us that the paired stimulus assessment was best done with a learner who could
understand the instructions and make clear choices (2021). The MSWR was very easy by
comparison in set up and execution. Nina made her preference very clear and mitigated the
need for further trials. If I had more reinforcers to assess it would have taken longer, longer still
if Nina was more scattered with her choices.
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References
Boutot, A. (2021). Webinar 2: Preference assessment [Webinar]. Arizona State University.
https://canvas.asu.edu/courses/76707/assignments/1933579?
module_item_id=4939231
