Choice making
An antecedent strategy that gives the client real options, such as which task, materials, order or reinforcer, to increase engagement and reduce problem behavior.
Choice making means building opportunities for the client to choose into the session. Choices can involve which task to do first, the order of tasks, which materials to use, where to work, who to work with, or which reinforcer to earn. Research in applied behavior analysis has shown that offering choices can reduce problem behavior, especially escape-maintained behavior, and increase engagement, even when the tasks themselves stay the same.
Choices work partly by changing motivating operations: a task the client picked may be less aversive than an assigned one, and being able to pick the reinforcer can make it more valuable. Choice making also respects the client's preferences and dignity, and it can support assent by giving the client some control over the session.
To be useful, the choices must be real and acceptable. Every option offered must be one the RBT can actually provide and one that fits the plan. Offering two or three options visually or verbally, at a level the client understands, works better than an open question. The supervisor decides which choices fit the program; for example, whether the client can choose to skip a task, or only the order.
The RBT offers the choices the plan describes, honors the choice the client makes, and records it when the plan calls for it. Offering a choice and then overriding it teaches the client that choices do not matter.
Example and non-example
| Example | Before writing practice, the RBT holds up a pencil and a marker and asks, "Which one do you want to use?" The client picks the marker and starts the task. |
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| Non-example | An RBT asks, "Do you want to do your work now?" when work is not optional. When the client says no, the RBT starts the task anyway, so no real choice was offered. |
Don't confuse it with
| Preference assessment | A preference assessment is a structured procedure to identify likely reinforcers, while choice making is an ongoing strategy of offering options during sessions. |
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| Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) | NCR delivers a reinforcer on a time schedule, while choice making lets the client select among options. |
Test yourself
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Question 1Before chores, an RBT asks an adult client whether they would like to fold towels or sort socks first, as the plan directs. What is this?
Show answer
A: Offering choice as an antecedent strategy. Giving the client a choice among tasks or task order before work begins is an antecedent strategy that can reduce problem behavior.
- B: DRA delivers a reinforcer after an alternative behavior; here the choice comes before the task.
- C: NCR delivers a reinforcer on a time schedule.
- D: A high-p sequence uses easy requests before a harder one.
Task D.2 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.2 Antecedent interventions in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.