Comparing High-Probability Demands With and Without Food to Increase the Consumption of Healthy Food in Picky Eaters

Abstract

The high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence is a nonintrusive antecedent-based intervention that involves the presentation of a series of high-p demands followed by one low- probability demand. To date, only nine studies have examined the effectiveness of the high-p sequence to treat food selectivity in children, and the findings have been mixed. In the current study, we used a multielement within a multiple baseline across food sets design to compare the effectiveness of two iterations of the high-p sequence to increase the consumption of healthy food in one picky eater. One iteration consisted of presenting three bites of a preferred food followed by a bite of the nonpreferred food and the other iteration consisted of presenting three bites of an empty spoon followed by a bite of the nonpreferred food. We found the high-p preferred food condition was more effective than the high-p empty spoon condition during one of two comparisons; however, we were unable to replicate the effectiveness of the high-p preferred food condition in the second comparison. Results are discussed within the context of the limitations and implications for future research.