Impact of High Versus Low Preference Rewards on Oral Reading Fluency

Abstract

Preference assessments have been used to identify preferred items that increase the effectiveness of a reinforcer. Informal preference assessments are most often utilized when an individual can verbally identify their most preferred items. The ability to accurately identify a stimulus that can serve as a powerful consequence contributes to the success of reinforcement-based interventions. The current study measured the impact of a highly preferred incentive identified through an informal preference assessment versus a standard, less-preferred incentive on oral reading fluency. Brief Experimental Analysis (BEA) was used to identify students who benefited from an incentive-based intervention to improve their oral reading fluency scores. The current study implemented an alternating treatments design comparing a highly preferred incentive identified through the preference assessment versus a standard, less-preferred incentive. The results showed that the highly preferred item identified through an informal preference assessment can increase oral reading fluency scores more so than a less preferred incentive for some students.