Running Head: PREFERENCE ASSESSMENT IN 3RD GRADE 1

Preference Assessment in 3rd Grade

Sarah Beaver
Franciscan University of Steubenville
EDU 348
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Preference Assessment in 3rd Grade

A preference assessment is something that determines whether a certain object, token or

interaction is something that could reinforce good behavior for younger children or those

children who struggle with a disability (Chazin, 2016a). Different types of preference

assessments are Multiple Stimulus without Replacement, Multiple Stimulus with Replacement,

Paired Stimulus Preference Assessments, Single Stimulus Preference Assessments, and Free

Operant Observations (Chazin, 2016a).

Preference assessments are used because they allow the assessor an opportunity to

evaluate the student and what will motivate them (Chazin, 2016a). The information a preference

assessment produces is whether the items were most desirable, least desirable or moderately

desirable (Chazin, 2016a) The information received from the preference assessment is used for

determining which item the assessor will use to reward or encourage good behavior (Chazzin,

2016a). The preference assessment used within this study was Multiple Stimulus without

Replacement. Multiple Stimulus without Replacement is when the assessor places multiple items

in a row and presents them to the student (Chazin, 2016b). Multiple Stimulus without

Replacement includes the same items throughout all of the trials, making it without replacement

(Chazin, 2016b).

Introduction of the Cooperating Student

The student is a third grade male, he is a Caucasian student. The student seems to be

behind in reading but understands math. Within the classroom, the student feels bullied by his

peers and struggles with being confident. The student mentioned that his father left, leaving the

impression that his situation at home is not a peaceful situation.

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The student’s communication is very clear and he really enjoys talking. The student was

very engaged with this preference assessment and was very grateful he could participate. The

student is energetic and communicates how he feels and what goes through his mind. The student

seems be very functional, at times the student can be considered to get overwhelmed and

discouraged, but is well driven. The student had a positive behavior, but needed to be affirmed in

his actions.

Setting of the Assessment

The assessment was given in a hallway where there were many kindergarten and

preschool classrooms, which resulted in a distracting environment. Multiple times, throughout

the assessment, people walked by and distracted the student. Luckily, the student was not phased

and was able to continue throughout the assessment.

The people present at the assessment were the assessor and the student, as well as those

who walked by. The assessment took place at a table facing the wall, with two chairs. The wall

the table was against included art work of the classrooms surrounding the assessment. At times,

the student would get distracted and begin discussing the art work.

The items that were on the table included the paper towel for the items, the items in their

entirety, those not used for the specific trial were not in view of the student but remained on the

table, as well as the assessor’s paper to record the data. The student was seated next to the

assessor, both facing the wall. This assessment took place about an hour before school would be

let out. Mostly likely an hour or so after lunch.

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Materials Used for the Assessment

The items used for the assessment included three edible items and two toys. The edible

items were skittles, M&M’s and Haribo gummy bears. The toys included in the assessment was a

little transformer toy as well as a little bit of glow in the dark silly putty. These items were

decided upon by the assessor, the assessor did not have an opportunity to speak with the

student’s corresponding teacher. The assessor had other edible items available in case the student

did not want the three above. The other materials were stored in the far right corner by the

assessor and were not visible to the student.

Procedure of the Assessment

The assessor began to set up and explained what was going to happen to the student as

setting up. The assessor than placed the items on a napkin and covered it and then presented the

items. As the items were presented, the items were received well from the student. The plan for if

the student started to go off-task was to reintroduce the procedure and to encourage the student to

try it again. What occurred was the opposite. The student was very involved and ready to

continue to the next trial. The student was almost surprised and sad in a way when he heard it

was the last trial.

Throughout the assessment the student would share his thoughts on the items and his

favorites and continued to share about his life. The student at some points tried to use the two

toys at once to play with them together, but the assessor redirected the student’s attention. For

each trial, the assessor set them up with a paper hiding them, removed the paper, allowed the

student to pick an item, praised the student, covered the remaining items, switched their order

around and then recorded the item that was chosen. This method was repeated for nine trials.
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Results of the Assessment

The results of the assessment were extremely clear. The student had a specific item he

enjoyed the most and always had the same second favorite. The last two or three always seemed

to be whatever he felt like. Even though there were the distractions of the noise and people

walking around, the student stayed very focus and it did not break his concentration.

What Number Chosen Within Each Trial

6

0
Transformer M&M Gummy Bear Silly Putty Skittle

Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3 Trial 4 Trial 5 Trial 6 Trial 7 Trial 8 Trial 9

The formula used to determine the hierarchy was recording the data in a chart, writing

down next to the item what number in the lineup it was per trial. The data was then added up and

created the data shown above and below. The graph above is showing the placement of when

they were picked. For example, the transformer was picked third for the first trial and was picked

fifth for trials two, six, eight, and nine.

The graph below shows which items were picked as first through fifth throughout all of

the trials. As it shows in this chart, and the chart above, clearly the gummy bear was the favorite
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because it was chosen seven times as the first pick, as shown below. Or above we can see that as

the gummy bear’s bars remain on the one for trials two through 8.

The Number of Times the Item Was Chosen and In What Order
8

6
How Many Times Chosen

0
Chosen First Chosen Second Chosen Third Chosen Fourth Chosen Fifth
When it was Chosen

Gummy Bear Skittle M&M Silly Putty Transformer

Seen above in the two graphs, we notice that the gummy bear was the first pick and the

second pick was most frequently silly putty. Clearly, one can see that the gummy bear or the silly

putty would be very helpful with redirecting or encouraging the student. This would be followed

by the skittle, and the transformer was favored just a bit more than the M&M’s.

Discussion

Throughout this preference assessment, it is noted how the student was very well

motivated to just please the assessor, that could be considered as one of the reinforcers for this

student, praise. Though, the data shows that gummy bears and the silly putty should help
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motivate the student to try harder the next time. Continuing into the future, studies need to have

as much background as possible to really look into providing the best possible reinforcers for

teachers, to help in the classroom.

If I were to use these two with this student, I would encourage him when he is

procrastinating school work with mentioning the possibility of gummy bears at snack time, or

after he finished the work sheet. While with the silly putty, I would probably try to save that for

an end of the day reward and use the gummy bears throughout the day. Moving forward, since I

was not that familiar with this student, it is hard to say how frequent these assessments should be

done. Since he is older, it may be important to do it about every three months since their opinions

do not change as frequently as those younger than them. But I also do not feel it would be

necessary to do that frequently even.

If I were to do this again, I would try to get more information about the student

beforehand, including what motivates them. I would try to pick out less edible items to just

expand to see what would be something the student could play with rather than fill up on. After

doing this assessment I realize how important these reinforcers are. Toner speaks about the

importance of reinforcers. Reinforcers are there to motivate the student to continue a desired

behavior (Toner, n.d.). Reinforcers are the best way to reach that desired behavior (Toner, n.d.).

In the student’s case for this preference assessment, the best result will come when encouraged

with a gummy bear or use of the silly putty for a bit. Overall, this was an excellent experience

with a preference assessment because of the student’s willingness to listen and be involved.
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Bibliography

Chazin, K.T. & Ledford, J.R. (2016). Multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO)

preference assessment. In Evidence-based instructional practices for young children with

autism and other disabilities. Retrieved from http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ebip/multiple-

stimulus-without-replacement

Chazin, K.T. & Ledford, J.R. (2016). Preference assessments. In Evidence-based instructional

practices for young children with autism and other disabilities. Retrieved from

http://vkc.mc.vanderbilt.edu/ebip/preference-assessments

Toner, N. (n.d.). Conducting preference assessments on individuals with autism and other

developmental disabilities. Office for people with developmental disabilities.

Retrieved from https://opwdd.ny.gov/opwdd_community_connections/ autism_platform/

parents_corner/conducting_preference_assessments_on_individuals_with_autism_and_ot

her_developmental_disabilities