Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Costs Of Eating: A Behavioral Economic Analysis Of Food Refusal., Mary Louise Kerwin, W H Ahearn, P S Eicher, D M Burd

Faculty Scholarship for the College of Science & Mathematics

Behavioral economic concepts were applied to the analysis and treatment of pediatric feeding disorders in a clinical setting. In Experiment 1, children who chronically refused food were presented with varying amounts of food on a spoon (empty, dipped, quarter, half, and level). Each child exhibited a different but orderly demand function of response (acceptance, expulsion, and mouth clean) by cost (increasing spoon volume) for a constant pay-off of toys and social interaction. In Experiment 2, physical guidance or nonremoval of the spoon for food refusal was initiated at the smallest spoon volume with low levels of acceptance, and was subsequently …