In Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), the therapists must understand the likes and dislikes of their clients. An understanding of the client's preferences enables the therapist to identify items or events that interest them. The therapists can then use these items or activities to encourage specific behavior patterns in the client. The most efficient method that most therapists use to make this evaluation is preference assessments. The assessments enable the therapist to identify potential motivators in the activities or objects that the client interacts with the most.
Several research-based methods can be used to conduct a preference assessment. The most applicable method is known as free operant observation. The technique involves discerning the activities or objects that clients engage with the most. The client is presented with a wide range of activities or objects and then observed. The time spent by the client with each stimulus is recorded and then compared. The activity that they spend most of their time doing is then identified and used to reinforce or motivate a particular behavior (Traub & Vollmer, 2019). For instance, if a client spent an hour watching football and 30 minutes reading a book, then the former can be considered to be more preferred than the later. Watching football can, therefore, be used as a motivator in behavioral therapy.
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The preference assessments are conducted in ABA interventions to determine the potential motivators to use in behavioral therapy. For instance, a client may have a behavioral problem where they do not like working on undesirable projects. The therapist can use the identified preferred activities to encourage the client to work on undesired projects. The risk of not conducting a preference assessment is that the success of the therapy may be limited. This is because the therapist may not have an idea of what their clients like or dislike; hence, reinforcing a behavior may not be possible. The therapist may, therefore, spend a significant amount of time trying to understand the behavior patterns of the client and still attain minimal success.
Reference
Traub, M. R., & Vollmer, T. R. (2019). Response latency as a measure of behavior in the assessment of elopement. Journal of applied behavior analysis, 52(2), 422-438.
