Elimination of rumination by controlled eating and differential reinforcement

The purpose of the present study was to examine the effectiveness of a controlled eating technique and a procedure which combined controlled eating with differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) for the reduction of rumination in an obese, 23-year-old, severely retarded and autistic male. The controlled eating technique resulted in a 75 per cent reduction in the rate of rumination while controlled eating with DRO resulted in an overall 95 per cent reduction. A six month follow-up showed that the participant's ruminative behavior had declined to zero.