Positive- and negative-reinforcement-based procedures typically have targeted acceptance for children with severe food refusal; however, these procedures do not always result in successful swallowing. Once acceptance is achieved, some children expel the food repeatedly or pack (hold or pocket) it in their mouths for extended periods of time. This…

In the current investigation, we evaluated the effects of open and closed economies on the adaptive behavior of 2 individuals with developmental disabilities. Across both types of economy, progressive-ratio (PR) schedules were used in which the number of responses required to obtain reinforcement increased as the session progressed. In…

We evaluated an enriched teaching program for reducing resistance and indices of unhappiness displayed by 3 individuals with profound multiple disabilities during teaching sessions. The program involved presentation of preferred activities before, during, and after each teaching session, discontinuation of identified nonpreferred activities, and a…