An evaluation of negative reinforcement to increase self‐feeding and self‐drinking for children with feeding disorders
Let the child end the meal right after one self-fed bite or sip—this quick negative-reinforcement trick boosted independent eating in all six participants.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Haney et al. (2023) tested a simple rule: if the child puts one bite or one sip in their mouth by themself, the whole meal ends right away.
Six kids with feeding disorders joined. The team used a multielement design to compare this meal-termination negative-reinforcement condition against a usual treatment baseline.
What they found
Every child started to spoon-feed or cup-drink more often when ending the meal was the payoff.
Gains showed up quickly and lasted across sessions.
How this fits with other research
The idea is not new. Christopher et al. (1991) already listed negative reinforcement as a tool for feeding problems in their early review, so Haney updates that story with fresh single-case data.
Whitehouse et al. (2014) used a different contingency: kids could choose to feed themselves one bite or let the adult feed them several less-liked bites. Both studies got more self-feeding, but Haney’s escape-only rule is simpler to run.
ALee et al. (2022) went the opposite way, using positive reinforcement to reduce food selectivity in autistic children. Their tactic worked too, showing that both adding goodies and removing demands can improve mealtime behavior—no contradiction, just different roads to the same goal.
Why it matters
You can add this escape rule to any feeding plan tomorrow. No extra toys or treats are needed—just a clear stop signal when the child self-feeds. It is easy for parents to carry over at home and may cut overall meal length, a big plus for families who feel trapped at the table.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Self-feeding with utensils represents an important step in a child's progression toward age-typical eating and emerges in the absence of intervention for most children. In contrast, children with feeding disorders may lack the skill or motivation to self-feed, which impedes progress toward age-typical eating. In the current study, experimenters used a multielement design to evaluate negative reinforcement in the form of meal termination to transition six participants with a feeding disorder from caregiver-fed to self-fed bites and drinks. Caregivers conducted meals in which they fed the participant or prompted them to self-feed. During self-fed meal-termination sessions, participants had the opportunity to end the meal contingent on self-feeding the presented bite(s) or drink(s). Self-feeding increased during meal-termination sessions for all participants. The experimenters discuss these results relative to their potential to inform interventions for children with feeding disorders that progress the child toward age-typical eating.
Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 2023 · doi:10.1002/jaba.1013