Free-Operant Preference Assessments

(Bourret, Vollmer, & Rapp, 2004) evaluated vocal mand assessments and vocal mand training procedures in individuals with autism and other similar disorders. The evaluation consisted of two studies. Study one evaluated an assessment method conducted to identify conditions that might influence occurrence of vocal mands. Results showed different outcomes for three subjects evaluated. Based on findings from study one, study two tested an individualized teaching approach for each subject. Findings of study two showed assessment results directly predicted correct mand training strategies for each subject. Aggregated results of studies validated assertions that behavioral assessments were linked logically to strategies for teaching various skill sets. Tailoring of treatments to subjects as dictated by the vocal mand assessment results added strength to this study. The reason this was a strength was that selection of specific interventions limited evaluation to interventions that were assessed as effective; consequently, counter-therapeutic interventions for specific subjects were not evaluated in this study. The authors mention an exclusion of some
This type of assessment accorded discovery of highly-preferred actions or activities which might not be discovered while using other types of preference assessments. Previous research has shown free-operant preference assessments as easy to conduct and as effective as paired-stimulus assessments which require a greater degree of effort. Additionally, research has shown that free-operant preference assessments ranked preferred items in the same order as MSWO (Multiple Stimulus without Replacement) preference assessments; however, they can be conducted with subjects who demonstrate a side bias or are unable to choose between a highly-preferred item and a low-preferred