A Liquid Reinforcement Dish for Profoundly Retarded Children

In studies concerned with operant conditioning of profoundly retarded or schizophrenic children i t is often necessary to use food (dining hall meals) as reinforcers. The meals are difficult to dispense, measure, or balance. Liquids such as Metrecal and Nutrament provide a balanced diet and can be easily measured and dispensed with the device described. In addition, liquids form a class of durable reinforcers (e.g., Kool-Aide, Tang, and chocolate milk) . The device illustrated in Fig. 1 is a rugged and easy to clean human liquid reinforcement dish. The dish is designed for use with a Davis liquid pump (Model LR-132-100 cc. Syringe).' The dish, Fig. 1, was cut from a Plexiglas plate 3.8 in. wide, 4.7 in. long, and 1.0 in. thick. The Plexiglas plate was cut to the configuration shown in Fig. 1 on a band saw and the depression was cut out with a small hand-held electric router and grinder. The cup is elliptical in shape (major axis 1.0 in., minor axis 0.7