Graduation Date

Spring 5-9-2026

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Programs

Applied Behavior Analysis

First Advisor

Bethany Hansen

Abstract

Escape extinction is a well-established intervention for pediatric feeding disorders (LaRue et al., 2011); however, it has been associated with undesirable side effects, including emotional responding and extinction-induced aggression (Engler et al., 2023). An antecedent-based intervention that may be less intrusive and has some evidence of increasing consumption of novel foods is the high-probability (high-p) instructional sequence. This intervention consists of presenting a child with a sequence of high-p demands that the child is highly likely to comply with, followed by the presentation of a low-probability (low-p) demand. The present study replicated and extended Trejo and Fryling (2018) by comparing two variations of the high-p instructional sequence on increasing acceptance of new foods for three children with food selectivity and measuring caregiver acceptability. When the high-p intervention alone did not increase cooperation with new foods, a systematic bolus reduction was implemented. The high-p instructional sequence alone increased cooperation with two target foods for one participant but did not produce similar effects for the other two participants. The high-p instructional sequence with a bolus reduction resulted in increased cooperation and decreased inappropriate mealtime behavior for one of the two participants. Caregiver acceptability ratings indicated that the intervention package was viewed as both feasible and acceptable.

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