An Evaluation of the Value and Conditioning of Choice as a Reinforcer for Typically Developing Children

Abstract

Providing choice opportunities has been a successful intervention for increasing appropriate behavior and decreasing inappropriate behavior; however, the mechanism responsible for this success is unknown. One hypothesis is that choice, in and of itself, is a reinforcer. Another hypothesis is that the differential outcomes associated with choice (e.g., access to high preferred items, access to a high variety of items, or perceived higher magnitude of items) are responsible for the treatment effects. Recently, choice itself has been evaluated as a reinforcer by using identical outcomes for choice and no-choice conditions. The results of these studies show that choice is a reinforcer for some individuals. As a result, the mechanism by which choice may become a reinforcer has come into question. In the current study, we replicated and extended previous research by (a) determining the prevalence of preference for choice in a large number of typically developing children and (b) evaluating whether a history of differential outcomes associated with choice and no-choice resulted in changes in preference for choice and no-choice conditions. Results showed that the majority of participants preferred choice over no-choice contexts and a history of differential outcomes associated with choice and no-choice resulted in changes in preference for choice and no-choice conditions.