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

Recent research in the area of stimulus-preference assessment has progressively improved the accuracy and efficiency of this technology for predicting reinforcer potency. One way to potentially improve the efficiency of the procedure might be to use pictorial representations of stimuli in the assessment rather than the stimuli themselves. To determine the feasibility of using pictorial stimuli in preference assessments, multiple-stimulus preference assessments were conducted with two adults diagnosed with mental retardation using both tangible stimuli and pictorial cards representing these same 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 were more potent reinforcers than those predicted by the pictorial assessment. The results are discussed in the context of improving stimulus-preference assessment technology.