CURRENT LIMITS TO REINFORCER IDENTIFICATION FOR SOME PERSONS WITH PROFOUND MULTIPLE DISABILITIES

Fifteen persons with profound mental retardation were divided into two groups. One group was identified with chronic training needs by habil itative staff and the other group served as a control. In an attempt t o identify a reinforcer, each participant received a preference assess ment and a simple, low-effort treatment procedure. In Experiment 1, on ly individuals who approached at least one stimulus on 80% or more of the preference assessment trials (''high preference'') showed reinforc ement effects in treatment. However; three individuals showing high pr eference failed to show treatment effects. All persons identified with chronic training needs failed to show reinforcement effects. Experime nt 2 analyzed characteristics of the two groups and found significant differences in overall movement and response latency. Limitations of t he current reinforcement technology were apparent for identifying rein forcers in the group with chronic training problems. Research is sugge sted for evaluating training alternatives for people with profound mul tiple disabilities who move very little or who respond with very long latencies.