ASSESSMENT OF PREFERENCE FOR BEHAVIORAL TREATMENT VERSUS BASELINE CONDITIONS Claudia L. Dozier 1 , Timothy R. Vollmer 1 * , John C. Borrero 2 , Carrie S. Borrero 3 , John T. Rapp 4 , Jason Bourret 5 and Anibal Gutierrez 6 1 University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA 2 University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Baltimore, USA 3 Kennedy Krieger Institute, Baltimore, USA 4 St. Cloud State University, St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA 5 The New England Center for children, Massachusetts, USA 6 University of Miami, Florida, USA This study was designed to determine whether behavioral treatments would be preferred over no treatment (baseline) conditions. Functional analyses and descriptive observations were conducted to determine the variables that maintained each participant’s problem behavior. Next, treatments were implemented based on assessment results. Finally, participants were provided a choice between baseline and treatment conditions to determine whether they preferred to participate in treatment. Baseline conditions were in place on one side of a room and treatment conditions were in place on the other side of the room. Assessment results suggested that problem behavior was automatically reinforced for one participant and multiply controlled for another participant. The treatment results showed that differential reinforcement and extinction (extinction was not implemented for automatically reinforced behavior) were effective in reducing problem behavior for each participant. Results of the choice between baseline and treatment phase showed that both participants chose treatment over baseline conditions. Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Choice involves the distribution of operant behavior among alternative sources of reinforcement (Fisher & Mazur, 1997; Pierce & Epling, 1999). When several choices are concurrently available, and one of these available alternatives is chosen more frequently than others, response allocation may be described as ‘preference’ for one source of reinforcement. Preference in this case is not meant to describe a subjective experience such as likes or feelings, but an objective account of response allocation. In this study we sought to evaluate preferences for behavioral treatment versus baseline (no treatment) conditions. Behavioral treatments are now commonly based on the outcome of a functional analysis. Functional analysis methods allow clinicians and researchers to identify Behavioral Interventions Behav. Intervent. 22: 245–261 (2007) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com) DOI: 10.1002/bin.241 *Correspondence to: Timothy R. Vollmer, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, The University of Florida, Gaines- ville, FL 32611, USA. E-mail: vollmera@ufl.edu Copyright # 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.