Effects of Presession Pairing on Preference for Therapeutic Conditions and Challenging Behavior

Abstract

The current study examined child preference for presession therapeutic conditions. A 4-year-old female diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) was exposed to three conditions in a concurrent-chains arrangement: presession pairing (PSP) prior to the onset of discrete-trial instruction (DTI), free play (FP) prior to DTI, or immediate onset of DTI. Initial link selections in the concurrent-chains arrangement suggested a relative preference for the PSP condition across multiple therapists. Negative vocalizations decreased across all conditions following implementation of the concurrent-chains arrangement with no differentiation between therapeutic conditions.