Reduction of RapidEating by Normal Adults

Abstract

Three normal adults, who considered their eating habits socially unacceptable, were trained in the family home to eat at normal pace by gradually increasing their meal duration. Additional food, descriptive praise, and self-approval were made contingent upon a step-wise increasing criterion of meal duration. During maintenance, the additional food component was withdrawn. A multiple baseline experimental analysis showed that the treatment package was successful in decreasing rapid eating to normal rates, as measured by the subjects' self-monitoring of their meal durations. In addition, the increased durations were maintained when the food component was withdrawn from the treatment package in a subsequent phase.