Behavior Analysis: Research and Practice, Vol 22(4), Nov 2022, 354-367; doi:10.1037/bar0000257
Several studies have shown that reported hierarchies of relative reinforcer efficacy (RRE) for edible or leisure items have little correspondence with preference assessments. However, no researchers have compared reported hierarchies to reinforcer assessment hierarchies or evaluated reported hierarchies of RRE for social interactions. Clinicians were asked to provide a hierarchy of preference for social interaction and these hierarchies were compared to those produced by a subsequent reinforcer assessment, many of which had been published previously. We compared 44 reported hierarchies of preference for social interactions to 22 hierarchies produced by reinforcer assessments. Reported hierarchies were positively correlated with reinforcer assessment hierarchies, but the strength of correlation was highly variable. Reported hierarchies accurately identified the most reinforcing interaction on only 34% of comparisons. Implications of the findings for research and practice are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)