Use of a concurrent operants paradigm to evaluate positive reinforcers during treatment of food refusal

The authors evaluated the responsiveness of 4 preschool-aged children to po sitive 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 reinforceme nt paired with acceptance of each bite of food or in the number of bites of food required to obtain positive reinforcement. Experiment 1 evaluated I c hild's responsiveness to positive reinforcement while permitting escape fro m bite offers. Experiment 2 evaluated 2 children's responsiveness to positi ve reinforcement when escape extinction occurred. Results from these experi ments suggested that the children were responsive to positive reinforcers a nd chose more often me bites paired with the greater quantity and/or qualit y of reinforcement. Experiment 3 evaluated 1 child's responsiveness to posi tive reinforcement both without and with escape extinction. Results suggest ed that positive reinforcement affected choice behavior and that escape ext inction affected amount of food consumed.