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Escape Extinction and Negative Reinforcement in the Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: a Single Case Analysis

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Abstract

Pediatric feeding disorders are common among children with developmental disabilities and can have detrimental effects on growth and development. An escape extinction and negative reinforcement-based approach to treating food refusal was examined in a child with cerebral palsy. A changing criterion treatment design was implemented, which allowed the child to exit the treatment area contingent upon the acceptance and ingestion of a pre-determined number of bites. Food acceptance ranged from one to three bites at baseline and exceeded the pre-set criteria for mastery, at 14 bites during the final intervention phase.

  • The study will contribute to the current literature on negative reinforcement procedures used in the treatment of pediatric feeding problems.

  • The study will contribute to increasing the availability of literature pertaining to pediatric feeding problems among children with complex disabilities such as cerebral palsy.

  • The intervention is brief with components to the treatment package which increases utility and ease of implementation.

  • The study demonstrates the applicability of changing criterion design within clinical settings.

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References

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Ethical Statement

This manuscript has not been submitted to any other journals for simultaneous consideration. The manuscript has not been published previously (partly or in full). A single study is not split up into several parts to increase the quantity of submissions and submitted to various journals or to one journal over time (e.g., “salami-publishing”). No data have been fabricated or manipulated (including images) in order to support the conclusions. No data, text, or theories by others are presented as if they were the author’s own (“plagiarism”). Proper acknowledgements to other works must be given (this includes material that is closely copied (near verbatim), summarized and/or paraphrased), quotation marks are used for verbatim copying of material, and permissions are secured for material that is copyrighted. Consent to submit has been received explicitly from all co-authors, as well as from the responsible authorities—tacitly or explicitly—at the institute/organization where the work has been carried out, before the work is submitted. Authors whose names appear on the submission have contributed sufficiently to the scientific work and therefore share collective responsibility and accountability for the results.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Milford, CT, USA

    Harry Voulgarakis & Solandy Forte

  2. School of Psychology, Fielding Graduate University, 2020 De La Vina Street, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Harry Voulgarakis

  3. Endicott College & The Center for Children with Special Needs, 230 Main Street, Glastonbury, CT, USA

    Solandy Forte

Authors
  1. Harry Voulgarakis
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  2. Solandy Forte
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Correspondence to Harry Voulgarakis.

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Voulgarakis, H., Forte, S. Escape Extinction and Negative Reinforcement in the Treatment of Pediatric Feeding Disorders: a Single Case Analysis. Behav Analysis Practice 8, 212–214 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0086-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40617-015-0086-8

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