An Evaluation of a Stimulus PreferenceAssessment of Auditory Stimuli for Adolescents with Developmental Disabilities

Previous researchers have used stimuluspreferenceassessment (SPA) methods to identify salient reinforcers for individuals with developmentaldisabilities including tangible, leisure, edible and olfactory stimuli. In the present study, SPA procedures were used to identify potential auditory reinforcers and determine the reinforcement value of preferred and non-preferred auditorystimuli. The results from this study suggest that the paired stimulus procedure utilized was effective in identifying preferred and non-preferred auditorystimuli, as the contingent application of the identified auditorystimuli produced higher rates of correct responding than did non-preferred auditorystimuli for all participants