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Open Access Knowledge and Scholarship

Date of Award

12-2016

Culminating Project Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Applied Behavior Analysis: M.S.

Department

Community Psychology, Counseling and Family Therapy

College

School of Health and Human Services

First Advisor

Benjamin Witts

Second Advisor

Kimberly Schulze

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Keywords and Subject Headings

Choice, preference, resistance to change, concurrent chains design

Abstract

Preference for situations containing two or more response options, called free choice situations, have been observed in humans and nonhumans. However, basic and applied studies have also identified instances in which preference for situations containing only a single option, called restricted choice situations, is present, in addition to situations where no clear preference is identifiable. In the current study, adult participants earned points for playing a chance-based computer game where they selected between free or restricted choice situations. Once a participant’s preference, or lack thereof, was identified, an attempt was made to alter preference through manipulating points for a particular choice situation. Implications for the research in relation to a behavior analytic conceptualization of choice and preference are discussed along with limitations and potential modifications.

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