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Clinical Trial
. 2009 Fall;42(3):641-58.
doi: 10.1901/jaba.2009.42-641.

Functional analysis and treatment of multiply controlled inappropriate mealtime behavior

Melanie H Bachmeyer  1 , Cathleen C Piazza, Laura D Fredrick, Gregory K Reed, Kristi D Rivas, Heather J Kadey
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Functional analysis and treatment of multiply controlled inappropriate mealtime behavior

Melanie H Bachmeyer et al. J Appl Behav Anal. 2009 Fall.

Erratum in

  • J Appl Behav Anal. 2010 Winter;43(4):590

Abstract

Functional analyses identified children whose inappropriate mealtime behavior was maintained by escape and adult attention. Function-based extinction procedures were tested individually and in combination. Attention extinction alone did not result in decreases in inappropriate mealtime behavior or a significant increase in acceptance. By contrast, escape extinction alone resulted in a decrease in inappropriate mealtime behavior and an increase in acceptance. However, inappropriate mealtime behavior did not decrease to clinically acceptable levels. A combined extinction technique (i.e., escape and attention extinction) resulted in a decrease in inappropriate mealtime behavior to clinically acceptable levels and high and stable acceptance.

Keywords: escape extinction; food refusal; food selectivity; negative reinforcement; pediatric feeding disorders.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Inappropriate mealtime behavior per minute for Tyler (top) and Savannah (bottom) during the functional analysis.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Inappropriate mealtime behavior per minute for Matthew (top) and Ella (bottom) during the functional analysis.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Inappropriate mealtime behavior per minute (top) and percentage of trials with acceptance (bottom) for Tyler during escape and attention baseline, escape extinction plus attention, attention extinction plus escape, and escape and attention extinction.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Inappropriate mealtime behavior per minute (top) and percentage of trials with acceptance (bottom) for Savannah during escape and attention baseline, escape extinction plus attention, attention extinction plus escape, and escape and attention extinction.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Inappropriate mealtime behavior per minute (top) and percentage of trials with acceptance (bottom) for Matthew during escape and attention baseline, escape extinction plus attention, attention extinction plus escape, and escape and attention extinction across three foods.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Inappropriate mealtime behavior per minute (top) and percentage of trials with acceptance (bottom) for Ella during escape and attention baseline, escape extinction plus attention, attention extinction plus escape, and escape and attention extinction.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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