Abstract
Basic research on choice responding has influenced applied research in many important ways; we highlights three such outgrowths in this chapter: (a) using choice preparations to predict high-quality reinforcers and activities to include in educational and habilitative programming, (b) understanding response allocation in multi-response environments (e.g., when will children choose to practice mathematics when the opportunity to play with their toys is available, or when a child with developmental disabilities will choose to engage in self-injurious behavior (SIB) to solicit attention rather than using a more socially appropriate communicative behavior), and (c) systematically providing access to a choice of stimuli or activities as reinforcers. This chapter focuses upon both current applied practice and the basic, applied, and translational research that has informed this area.
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- 1.
Note that Chap. 11 focuses exclusively on the assessment of stimulus preferences and reinforcer efficacy. Nevertheless, the importance of stimulus preference and reinforcer efficacy in the discussion of choice necessitates a brief commentary. See Chap. 11 for a more extensive review of stimulus preference and reinforcer assessments.
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Tiger, J., Reed, D. (2015). Translational and Applied Choice Research. In: DiGennaro Reed, F., Reed, D. (eds) Autism Service Delivery. Autism and Child Psychopathology Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-2656-5_7
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