Clients can often choose massed or alternating trials when both options are safe, accessible, and compatible with the learning goal. Explain the actual task sets, order, duration, consequences, and right to change. Choice can alter exposure and delay to preferred outcomes, so report selected formats alongside acquisition, maintenance, time, prompts, and burden. A preference observed in one task does not automatically transfer to other skills or settings.
Compare massed or alternating trials
Show both options in the person's communication mode. Use concrete previews when helpful. Keep both options genuinely available and define what happens if the person pauses, changes format, or stops.
Use the preference study narrowly
A two-child study used a computerized matching task with 12 opportunities and found both children preferred alternating mastered and unknown trial sequences. The small sample and task do not establish a population preference or superior learning.
Separate choice from performance
A preferred format can still produce weaker acquisition, while a more efficient format can feel burdensome. Record choice, completion, accuracy, time, prompts, and client report as distinct outcomes. Reassess after the person experiences each option.
Protect assent and access
The Ethics Code addresses understandable communication, involvement, assent when applicable, preferences, and evaluation. ASHA supports continual AAC access. The BACB outline includes client-informed goals and contextual fit.
A practical example
Sami chooses alternating trials in 5/6 sessions. Accuracy is 15/20 when alternating and 7/10 when massed. Sami reports both are acceptable but selects alternating for longer sessions. The team avoids turning the 75% and 70% results into a causal preference claim.
Questions families can use
Were both options experienced? Can the person change mid-session? Are task sets equal? Does choice affect reinforcement delay? Are preference and learning reported separately?
Sources
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, BCBA Test Content Outline, 6th edition
- Haq and colleagues, Comparing the Effects of Massed and Distributed Practice on Skill Acquisition for Children With Autism
- DeSouza and colleagues, Empirical Application of Skinner's Verbal Behavior to Interventions for Children With Autism
- Ross and colleagues, Learner Preference Between Massed- and Alternating-Trial Sequencing
- Behavior Analyst Certification Board, Ethics Code for Behavior Analysts
- American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, Augmentative and Alternative Communication
Finni resources
