Is Contingent Reinforcement Really Preferred? Session 201 with Holly Gover

09/30/22 • 69 min

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The Behavioral Observations Podcast with Matt Cicoria

Would you rather earn preferred items or get them for free? More technically stated, would you prefer response-contingent reinforcers over response-independent ones (and to further split hairs, if the preferred items are provided response-independently, are they really reinforcers?)?

It turns out that there has been some basic and applied research in this area, and some studies demonstrated participants' general preference for earning reinforcers as opposed to simply getting them for "free."

My guest for Session 201, Dr. Holly Gover, published a review and meta-analysis on this topic in a recent issue of The Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, called, "On the generality of preference for contingent reinforcement."

In this episode, we discuss how she became interested in this topic, what motivated her to review this literature, what she learned from this process, and perhaps of most interest to you, what implications these findings have for practice.

Towards the end of the conversation, we changed gears a bit and discussed Holly's work in the area of feeding challenges. She quickly reviewed what is currently known about the assessment and treatment of these problems, as well as the unique approach to resolving feeding issues that she has outlined.

Holly will be presenting on this topic at the upcoming Stone Soup Conference on October 21st (disclosure: the Lake Ridge Community Support Services, host of the conference, is a BOP sponsor, and they are providing listeners with discounted registration when using the promo code, PODCAST).

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask - no, I mean beg you to to listen to Holly's advice for newly-minted BCBAs. I'm not kidding you that this has to be one of the best pieces of advice offered on this podcast. Please do yourself a favor and check it out and let me know if you agree.

OK, here are some links:

Holly's Vanderbilt University page.
Holly's Google Scholar page.
TRIAD - Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Session 186: Enhanced Choice Model, Adithyan Rajaraman.
Luczynski and Hanley (2013). Do Children Prefer Contingencies? An evaluation of the efficacy and preference for contingent versus non-contingent social reinforcement during play.
Luczynski and Hanley (2010). Examining the Generality of Children's Preference for Contingent Reinforcement via Extension to Different Reinforcers, Responses, and Schedules.
QCABA - Quebec Association for Behaviour Analysis.
Koffer and Coulson (1971). Feline indolence: Cats prefer free to response-produced food.
Osborne (1977). The free food (contrafreeloading) phenomenon: A review and analysis.
Honig & Staddon: Handbook of Operant Behavior (disclosure: Amazon Associates link).

In addition to the Stone Soup Conference, if you're interested in learning more about addressing feeding challenges, my colleague, Jen Farris, is putting together a 10-week mentoring cohort on this topic called Happy, Relaxed, and Eating. This is for a 10-week cohort consisting of 6, 2-hour LIVE virtual meetings and includes 12 CEs. There is also an option for no CEs at a discounted rate. And she is giving podcast listeners a 10% discount. So use the code BOP at checkout, or just tell Jen you heard about it on the podcast.

If you're looking for continuing education on a wide variety of topics,...

OK, here are some links:

Holly's Vanderbilt University page.
Holly's Google Scholar page.
TRIAD - Treatment and Research Institute for Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Session 186: Enhanced Choice Model, Adithyan Rajaraman.
Luczynski and Hanley (2013). Do Children Prefer Contingencies? An evaluation of the efficacy and preference for contingent versus non-contingent social reinforcement during play.
Luczynski and Hanley (2010). Examining the Generality of Children's Preference for Contingent Reinforcement via Extension to Different Reinforcers, Responses, and Schedules.
QCABA - Quebec Association for Behaviour Analysis.
Koffer and Coulson (1971). Feline indolence: Cats prefer free to response-produced food.
Osborne (1977). The free food (contrafreeloading) phenomenon: A review and analysis.
Honig & Staddon: Handbook of Operant Behavior (disclosure: Amazon Associates link).

If you're looking for continuing education on a wide variety of topics,...

Previous Episode

Behavioral Observations Session 200 Special!

I’ve always maintained that this is a show that is all about the listeners and the guests, and so it is with that in mind that I’m thrilled to share the following interview segments that were nominated by so many of you. We did have many entries, so I couldn’t fit all of them in, but I genuinely appreciate all of you who took the time to write in and share your thoughts.

While I’m expressing gratitude here, I’d be remiss to not mention the support that I’ve received from podcast sponsors, especially the OG’s like Barb Voss at HRIC Recruiting and Behavior University. I’m also very thankful to all of you who have supported the show through Continuing Education sales, and Patreon memberships.

Together, we’ve created this medium that has been downloaded almost 3.6 million times in over 100 countries. As I’ve told many friends and colleagues, back when I was conceptualizing this show, I always knew there would be an audience for this type of content, but I had no idea that it would develop into what it is these days.

All of this to say that I’m extraordinarily thankful for all of you who have tuned in over the years. Thanks so much for letting Behavioral Observations into your commutes, your workouts, your laundry folding, your dog walking... or when or wherever else you take in the show. It’s been a privilege to be able to share these conversations with you, and I look forward to the next 200 episodes!

Here's what we have in store for you:

Session 87: Merrill Winston
Session 31: Pat McGreevy
Session 181: Francesca Delgi Espinosa
Session 51: Ashley Rose
Session 193: Claire St. Peter
Inside JABA 7: Pat Friman
Session 41: Russ Harris
Session 160: Greg Hanley
Session 63/91: Chuck Merbitz

Lastly, huge thanks to Miguel Avila, Celia Heyman, Natalie Todd, Rob Harvey, Sarah DiGioia, Alesia Patterson, Alexa, as well as my colleague, Jen Farris (who also nominated some of the same segments from Session 63, which I forgot to mention in the broadcast).

Next Episode

How to Think About Program Modification: Apollo Case Study Series #5 with Jim Moore

After a brief hiatus, the Apollo Case Study Series returns to Behavioral Observations for its fifth installment.

In this episode, Dr. Jim Moore shares his approach to modifying existing clinical programs that aren't making progress. More specifically, we talk about the temptation to go out and purchase the 'new shiny thing' (as in curriculum, assessment protocol, data collection systems, etc...), and what things to consider before deciding whether making such changes is an appropriate course of action.

If you're a clinical director or supervisor, I'd say this is a must-listen episode. At one point, our internet connection phases out. Thankfully it passes quickly and the remaining conversation is pretty stable.

If you're digging these conversations with Jim, hit him up on LinkedIn, or email him (jim.moore at apollobehavior dot com). Also, many of you have reached out to see if Apollo is a good fit as an employer, and if you're wondering the same thing, you can talk to Jim about that too, or check out their openings in the Atlanta Metro area.

Here are the links to what we discussed:

Previous ACSS shows.
Session 167 with Jim, "Making Science Part of Your Practice."
Fisher et al. (2014). Increasing the saliency of behavior-consequence relations for children with autism who exhibit persistent errors.
Fisher, Kodak, and Moore (2007). Embedding an identity-matching task within a prompting hierarchy to facilitate acquisition of conditional discriminations in children with autism.
Cariveau et al. (2019). A Review of Error Correction Procedures during Instruction for Children with Developmental Disabilities.
Hayes et al. (1999). The Scientist Practitioner: Research and Accountability in the Age of Managed Care (2nd Edition) 2nd Edition (note: Amazon Associates link).
EFL Methods of Alternative Speaking (Pat, you're welcome ;-).

I hope you enjoy this ad and intro-free episode, brought to you courtesy of Apollo Behavior! If you enjoy it, please share it with friends and colleagues!