Preference and efficacy of concurrent schedules of reinforcement in children with autism spectrum disorder.

A review of the literature highlighted a lack of research that measured the effects and preference of two or more reinforcement schedules that possess a constant magnitude and varied distribution. The current study replicates and extends the procedures of DeLeon, et al (2014) by comparing two different schedules of reinforcement in children with autism spectrum disorder who possess limited functional communication skills. Participants were exposed to long interval and short interval schedules of reinforcement in an alternating fashion to measure the rate of responding during both schedules. Additionally, a concurrent choice analysis was conducted to determine whether a preference for one schedule of reinforcement emerged for each participant after continued exposure.