Preference for and reinforcing efficacy of different types of attention in preschool children

• Published in: Journal of applied behavior analysis Vol. 54; no. 3; pp. 882 - 902
• Main Authors: Harper, Amy M., Dozier, Claudia L., Briggs, Adam M., Villegas, Sara Diaz, Ackerlund Brandt, Julie A., Jowett Hirst, Erica S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Hoboken, USA Wiley Subscription Services, Inc 01-06-2021; Wiley; Blackwell Publishing Ltd
• Subjects: Attention; Experiments; Interaction; Interpersonal Communication; preference; Preferences; Preschool Children; progressive‐ratio schedule; Reinforcement; Teacher Student Relationship; preschool children; attention; progressive-ratio schedule; reinforcement; preference
• ISSN: 0021-8855; 1938-3703
• DOI: 10.1002/jaba.814

It is unknown whether and to what extent common types of attention delivered in early childhood environments are preferred by and function as reinforcers for young children. We assessed children's preference for commonly delivered types of attention across 31 preschool‐aged participants (Experiment 1). Next, we conducted a reinforcer assessment (Experiment 2) and a progressive‐ratio assessment (Experiment 3) to (a) validate the results of the preference assessment and (b) determine the relative reinforcing efficacy of each type of attention. Results of Experiment 1 showed that most participants preferred conversation or physical interaction. Results of Experiment 2 validated the results of Experiment 1 showing preferred types of attention were more likely to function as reinforcers. Finally, although some types of attention functioned as reinforcers, results of Experiment 3 indicated these reinforcers only maintained responding under relatively dense schedules of reinforcement. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.