Social and sensory reinforcer potency in children with severe intellectual disabilities: concurrent validity of single stimulus preference assessments and parent rated sensory and social profiles

Trickett, Jayne Kathryn (2014). Social and sensory reinforcer potency in children with severe intellectual disabilities: concurrent validity of single stimulus preference assessments and parent rated sensory and social profiles. University of Birmingham. M.Res.

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Abstract

Identifying potent reinforcers for children with intellectual disabilities, using the most efficient assessment, is important when developing interventions to facilitate learning and to target challenging behaviour. The primary aim of this study was to evaluate the concurrent validity of the single stimulus preference assessment in a sample of children with Angelman Syndrome (AS) with measures of social and sensory responsiveness, the Sociability Questionnaire in Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities (SQID) and the Sensory Experiences Questionnaire (SEQ) for the assessment of reinforcer potency in operant learning paradigms. A secondary aim was to evaluate the relationship between reinforcer potency and the functions of challenging behaviour. Twenty one children with AS completed preference and reinforcer assessments with high and low preference tangible rewards and variants of social attention. SQID and SEQ assessments were completed by caregivers. Caregiver completed SQID and SEQ scores were not concurrent with reinforcer potency but greater SEQ hypo-responsiveness subscale scores did predict greater sensory as opposed to social reinforcer potency. The single stimulus preference assessment demonstrated good predictive validity of reinforcer potency, as significant relationships between the duration of engagement with tangibles and the duration of approach behaviours with the reinforcer potency of the high preference tangible and social reinforcers respectively were found. Children who found sensory and social stimuli highly reinforcing were more likely to display attention-maintained challenging behaviour, and challenging behaviour when preferred tangibles were not available. The implications of these results for interventions targeting skill acquisition and modifying challenging behaviour are addressed.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Masters by Research > M.Res.)

Award Type:

Masters by Research > M.Res.

Supervisor(s):