Using Behavioral Skills Training to Train New Parents to Reduce Choking Risks: Three Single-Subject Study

Abstract

Purpose Choking on items is a highly prevalent issue among young children which can lead to injury and death. This study assessed the effects of behavioral skills training (BST) for new three parents in identifying choking hazards and preparing food that will not be a choking hazard for young children. Method This study used multiple exemplar training using 160 nonfood items and 73 food items. Generalization was programed for by using an environment that was set up to resemble a naturalistic setting. Results The participants responding was low and variable responding in baseline and improved to high consistent rates of correct responding of identifying choking hazards and preparing foods to a nonhazardous size following BST. Discussion The success of this training package is attributed to the use of a performance-based training which included direct observation of the target behavior and immediate feedback following the participant's performance.