The effects of pictorial versus tangible stimuli in stimulus-preference assessments

Recent research in the area of stimulus-preference assessment has progressi vely improved the accuracy and efficiency of this technology for predicting reinforcer potency. One way to potentially improve the efficiency of the p rocedure might be to use pictorial representations of stimuli in the assess ment rather than the stimuli themselves. To determine the feasibility of us ing pictorial stimuli in preference assessments, multiple-stimulus preferen ce assessments were conducted with two adults diagnosed with mental retarda tion using both tangible stimuli and pictorial cards representing these sam e stimuli. The tangibles stimulus assessment produced greater variations in selection percentages than the pictorial assessment. Subsequent reinforcer assessments confirmed that stimuli predicted by the tangibles assessment w ere more potent reinforcers than those predicted by the pictorial assessmen t. The results are discussed in the context of improving stimulus-preferenc e assessment technology (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd.