The present study extended the literature on feeding disorders by conducting a comparison of sequential and simultaneous food presentation in the treatment of food selectivity. In the simultaneous condition, a highly preferred food was presented in the same bite with a non-preferred food (NPF), and during the sequential condition, a highly preferred food was delivered as a consequence for acceptance and consumption of NPFs. Generalization and maintenance of food consumption was assessed. Although results for two participants indicated that both presentation methods produced an increase in acceptance and consumption of NPFs when combined with an escape extinction procedure, anecdotal observations suggested that participants may have had a preference for eating foods in a sequential fashion.

Several studies have shown that the acquisition of food consumption does not occur until after escape prevention is implemented. However, the mechanism responsible for the maintenance of food consumption may be due to participants contacting the reinforcing properties of food targeted during intervention such that the food naturally reinforces food consumption. The present study extended the literature on feeding disorders by conducting pre-and post-treatment preference assessments to determine if preference for non-preferred foods (NPFs) had developed after exposure to a treatment comparison of sequential and simultaneous food presentation; presentation methods were implemented alone and combined with escape prevention in the form of a non-removal of the spoon (NRS) procedure. Results for three participants with food selectivity indicated that preference for NPFs developed after being exposed to those foods during either treatment sessions or generalization probes.