The Effects of Activity Sequences on Preference Change in Children

Abstract

The signalling effect hypothesis proposes that behaviour which reliably leads to particular future events can acquire a discriminative function. Students in school settings are exposed to a series of activities throughout the school day, and thus activities may acquire discriminative properties. We examined whether, when a highly preferred activity always follows a less preferred activity (or the other way around), the discriminative properties of the first activity in the sequence alter preference for that activity. Four students who required extra learning support in the classroom took part. We assessed each student’s preference for a range of activities using a multiple stimulus without replacement (MSWO) assessment, and following stable preferences, a modified version of the MSWO. It was hypothesised that a signalling effect would emerge through multiple exposures to contrived sequences of activities of different levels of preference, since the first activity in the sequence would become a reliable discriminative stimulus for a more (or less) preferred activity occurring in the future. Thus, it was expected that preference for the first activity in a sequence would change based on preference for the second activity in the sequence. Two out of four participants had changes in preference ranks following exposure to the sequences. These changes were evident only when the activity sequencing still occurred during the preference assessment. However, these changes in preference were not entirely consistent with a signalling hypothesis. Possible explanations for these outcomes are discussed, along with recommendations for future research. Translational research such as this extends the principles of behaviour found in experimental settings to more natural settings, and gives valuable insight into the importance of context in preference assessments.