Use of a concurrent operants paradigm to evaluate positive reinforcers during treatment of food refusal.
A two-bite concurrent test quickly shows which toy or praise actually moves a food-refusing preschooler to eat.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team set up a two-choice test at the lunch table. Kids could pick a bite that came with a small toy or a bite that came with a bigger toy. The food stayed the same; only the toy changed.
Each child got several short sessions. The researchers counted which bite the child took first and how many bites were finished. Later they added escape extinction to see if choices would rise even more.
What they found
Children almost always chose the bite paired with the better or bigger reinforcer. When escape extinction was added, total bites jumped again.
The simple two-choice test gave a clear picture of what each child was willing to work for during meals.
How this fits with other research
Animal work had already shown the same rule: more or better reinforcers pull more responses. Catania et al. (1974) saw monkeys pick higher cocaine doses, and Killeen (1978) found rats shift with economic limits. The 1999 study moves that rule from lab cages to preschool lunch tables.
LMcQuaid et al. (2024) later used a fast 42-minute trial-based FA to find reinforcers for SIB. Both papers shorten assessment by letting the child’s choice do the talking, but LA applied it to problem behavior instead of food refusal.
Delmendo et al. (2009) looked at unit price with neurotypical kids and also saw consumption drop when cost rose. Together these studies tell us: keep reinforcer value high and response cost low to keep kids engaged, whether the goal is eating, learning, or reducing SIB.
Why it matters
You can finish a reinforcer check in under ten minutes right at the table. Offer two bites, each with a different toy or praise amount, and watch which one the child picks. Use the winner to start treatment, then add escape extinction if needed. No extra rooms, no long baselines—just quick, child-driven data.
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Join Free →Place two identical bites on the plate, pair one with a large toy and one with a small toy, and record which bite the child takes first across five trials.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The authors evaluated the responsiveness of 4 preschool-aged children to positive reinforcers within a concurrent operants paradigm during mealtimes. The children were presented with two identical, concurrently available sets of food. Each set differed in quantity and quality of positive reinforcement paired with acceptance of each bite of food or in the number of bites of food required to obtain positive reinforcement. Experiment 1 evaluated 1 child's responsiveness to positive reinforcement while permitting escape from bite offers. Experiment 2 evaluated 2 children's responsiveness to positive reinforcement when escape extinction occurred. Results from these experiments suggested that the children were responsive to positive reinforcers and chose more often the bites paired with the greater quantity and/or quality of reinforcement. Experiment 3 evaluated 1 child's responsiveness to positive reinforcement both without and with escape extinction. Results suggested that positive reinforcement affected choice behavior and that escape extinction affected amount of food consumed.
Behavior modification, 1999 · doi:10.1177/0145445599231001