| Preference assessments are likely the most common way to identify items to use as reinforcers in behavior analytic practice. Although, based on the findings in the behavior economic literature, the generality of the results of preference assessments are worth investigating. Since preference assessments are conducted at a low schedule value (i.e., FR1), there may be reason to believe that preference shifts may occur if an individual was offered the same choice between stimuli after completing an increasing amount of work. The purpose of the current study was to investigate if preference assessment findings extend from low to high FR schedules, extend the generality of the exponentiated demand equation, and assess if the alpha values and preference at FR1 match. By graphing the results as a demand curve, we can see the relation between increases in price and consumption of the reinforcers in the array, and identify differences in elasticity across items. Results indicate that hierarchies remained relatively stable, and the mathematical described the data well. |
