| Abstract: | We compared free‐operant and restricted‐operant multiple‐stimulus preference assessments with three children diagnosed with mental retardation. The methods produced comparable results, although the free‐operant assessment identified fewer potential reinforcers than the restricted‐operant assessment. The highest‐ and lowest‐ranked stimuli from both methods were subsequently evaluated in a concurrent‐operants reinforcer assessment. All participants engaged in behavior that resulted in access to the highest‐ranked stimuli the majority of the time, thus validating both preference assessment methods as effective in identifying reinforcers. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
