Reinforcer Identification in Organizational Behavior Management cont.

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Results and Discussion

The results of the assessment suggest that the survey method was more accurate than the verbal forced choice method. More specifically, the survey method was 78% accurate, whereas the verbal forced choice method was 56% accurate. Results are inconsistent with behavior analytic research with other (i.e., “clinical”) verbal populations. One reason for this may be that unlike other populations, verbally competent adults are able to accurately describe what will function as a reinforcer for their behavior. We are currently running additional participants through this protocol, so these results may change somewhat. Limitations of the study include the small number of participants and the fairly restricted set of items assessed. Future research in this area should include a larger number and a greater variety of employees. Future research should also examine other aspects of preference assessment in OBM, such as the identification of preferred items / activities for groups of employees.

References

Daniels, A. C., & Daniels, J. E. (2004). Performance management: Changing behavior that drives organizational effectiveness. Atlanta, GA: Performance Management Publications.

Northup, J. (2000). Further evaluation of the accuracy of reinforcer surveys: A systematic replication. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 33, 335-338.

Northup, J., George, T., Jones, K., Broussard, C., & Vollmer, T. (1996). A comparison of reinforcer assessment methods: The utility of verbal and pictorial choice procedures. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 29, 201-212.

Wilder, D., Ellsworth, C., White, H., & Schock, K. (2003). A comparison of stimulus preference assessment methods in adults with schizophrenia. Behavioral Interventions, 18, 151-160.

Biographies

Kristen Rost is a current Master’s student at Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). Dr. David Wilder is a professor at FIT. Kelly Therrien is a recent graduate of FIT and is now employed part-time as an OBM consultant.