Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 11, 2026

A Treatment Package without Escape Extinction to Address Food Selectivity
Published on: August 21, 2015
Reducing pica by teaching children to exchange inedible items for edibles
Lee Kern1, Kristin Starosta, Barry Eshkol Adelman
1Lehigh University, USA.
Abstract:
Assessment results indicated that pica exhibited by two boys with developmental disabilitieswas not associated with environmental contingencies. Consistent with previous research, an oral stimulation function was hypothesized. A related intervention that taught participants to exchange inedible items for edibles was developed. Findings showed that the intervention resulted in reductions in pica for both participants. When the interventionwas introduced across settings, reductions in pica were observed for one participant. However, additional training with alternative pica itemswas necessary to produce reductions in pica across settings with the second participant. Reductions in pica were maintained as the intervention was systematically thinned.
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