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IMPROVING DIETARY PRACTICES OF ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS: THE POWER OF PROMPTING, FEEDBACK, AND SOCIAL REINFORCEMENT
Author(s) -
Stock Leah Z.,
Milan Michael A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of applied behavior analysis
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.1
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1938-3703
pISSN - 0021-8855
DOI - 10.1901/jaba.1993.26-379
Subject(s) - reinforcement , psychology , autism , developmental psychology , power (physics) , contingency management , cognitive psychology , social psychology , psychiatry , intervention (counseling) , physics , quantum mechanics
Three intervention packages consisting of (a) enhanced prompts, feedback, and social reinforcement; (b) a lottery; and (c) serving as a confederate were added and removed in sequence as adjacent conditions in an extended withdrawal design to assess their effects on the dietary choices of elderly persons. Participants were 3 elderly residents of an independent living facility who were identified as making consistently poor dietary choices and who had medical conditions that necessitated changes in their eating habits. All 3 participants demonstrated a marked increase in healthy choices of food items in response to the package of enhanced prompts, feedback, and social reinforcement. No additional increase occurred with the introduction of the lottery and serving as a confederate. Food‐choice data indicated that most of these improvements could be attributed to healthier entree and dessert choices. Group data for all residents suggested small improvements in dietary practices during the three intervention conditions, with the largest proportion of the group's healthy choices occurring when the lottery was added to enhanced prompts, feedback, and social reinforcement. Food‐choice data indicated that most of these improvements could be attributed to healthier dessert choices alone.