Within-Session Matching Analyses to Quantify the Effects of Individualized Preferred Interactions on Social Time Allocation.

Researchers have used the generalized matching equation to quantify the function of social interaction based on within- and across-session patterns of social time allocation. Within-session matching analyses could provide an efficient method of quantifying the extent to which preferred, individualized social interactions are more reinforcing than generic, non-individualized social interactions. The current study explores the potential utility of this novel application of the generalized matching equation. We recruited four participants who displayed indifference during baseline sociability assessment sessions. Individualized, preferred interactions were identified for each participant and then introduced during subsequent assessment sessions. Within-session matching analyses of the last session of baseline and first session of intervention suggested improvements in sensitivity to social reinforcement and reductions in bias toward a given side of the assessment for three out of four participants. Results were compared to a reanalysis of previously published data for three participants experiencing an identical intervention. Heterogeneity in the persistence of intervention effects as well as implications for future research related to increasing social time allocation and applying the generalized matching equation are discussed.