Discriminative properties of the reinforcer can be used to attenuate the renewal of extinguished operant behavior

Trask, Sydney; Bouton, Mark E.

doi:10.3758/s13420-015-0195-9

Cited by 47 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…In that experiment, high and indistinguishable levels of resurgence were seen when animals received Phase-2 training on an FR 10, a yoked VI, or a yoked variable-time (VT) schedule. Similar results recently have been reported by Trask and Bouton (2015).…”

Section: Basic Features Of Resurgencesupporting

confidence: 93%

“…In addition, changing the qualitative properties of a reinforcer between Phase 2 and test (while keeping their rate constant) can also produce resurgence, suggesting that the discriminative function (rather than just the disrupting properties) of the reinforcer can play a crucial role (Bouton & Trask, 2015). Other experiments have demonstrated that a reinforcer specifically associated with the inhibition of an operant behavior can be used to inhibit behavior in renewal tests (Trask & Bouton, 2015). …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This might entail using a distribution of reinforcement through treatment that would encourage more generalization to the real world (as in Bouton & Trask, 2015; Schepers & Bouton, 2015; Sweeney & Shahan, 2013a), gradually thinning the rates to encourage generalization (Bouton & Schepers, 2014; Winterbauer & Bouton, 2012; Schepers & Bouton, 2015), or providing distinct cues from treatment once treatment ends (Bouton & Trask, 2015; Trask & Bouton, 2015). In addition, treatments like the therapeutic workplace (Silverman et al, 2001; Silverman et al, 2002) in which treatment conditions with alternative reinforcement continue indefinitely, may provide a promising avenue if treatments aim to promote continued abstinence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other experiments (Trask & Bouton, 2015) have explored additional implications of the idea that the discriminative properties of reinforcers can control the inhibition of operant behavior. In a first experiment, rats learned to lever press in one physical context (Context A) for an O1 reinforcer (counterbalanced again as a grain-based and sucrose-based food pellets).…”

Section: Evaluating the Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Context Change Explains Resurgence After the Extinction of Operant Behavior

Trask

Schepers

Bouton

2015

RMAC

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Extinguished operant behavior can return or "resurge" when a response that has replaced it is also extinguished. Typically studied in nonhuman animals, the resurgence effect may provide insight into relapse that is seen when reinforcement is discontinued following human contingency management (CM) and functional communication training (FCT) treatments, which both involve reinforcing alternative behaviors to reduce behavioral excess. Although the variables that affect resurgence have been studied for some time, the mechanisms through which they promote relapse are still debated. We discuss three explanations of resurgence (response prevention, an extension of behavioral momentum theory, and an account emphasizing context change) as well as studies that evaluate them. Several new findings from our laboratory concerning the effects of different temporal distributions of the reinforcer during response elimination and the effects of manipulating qualitative features of the reinforcer pose a particular challenge to the momentumbased model. Overall, the results are consistent with a contextual account of resurgence, which emphasizes that reinforcers presented during response elimination have a discriminative role controlling behavioral inhibition. Changing the "reinforcer context" at the start of testing produces relapse if the organism has not learned to suppress its responding under conditions similar to the ones that prevail during testing.Operant behavior has been an important focus of laboratory research for many decades because it provides a model for studying the variables that control voluntary behavior. In a typical study of operant behavior, animals such as rats learn to perform a response (e.g., a lever press or chain pull) to receive an outcome (such as a food reinforcer). Although the animal is free to do whatever it "wants" during a session, it can be shown that the rate of its behavior is lawfully related to its consequences. Indeed, once the response has been acquired, it can be reduced through a process known as extinction, in which the reinforcer or outcome is no longer produced by that response. Extinction is a well-known and popular method for reducing behavioral excesses. However, behavior that has been reduced through extinction is prone to recovery and relapse (see , for one review). Therefore, the suppression of operant responding that occurs when reinforcers are omitted should not be taken as evidence that the original learning has been erased or unlearned.

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Section: Basic Features Of Resurgencesupporting

confidence: 93%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Evaluating the Theoriesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Context Change Explains Resurgence After the Extinction of Operant Behavior

Trask

Schepers

Bouton

2015

RMAC

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“…O1 and O2 were provided by grain and sucrose food pellets (counterbalanced). Previous research in this laboratory has found these pellets to be discriminably different (Bouton, Todd, León, Miles, & Epstein, 2013; Bouton & Trask, 2015; Trask & Bouton, 2014; 2015), and they enter into separate associations with different Rs (Trask & Bouton, 2014). The new question was whether extinction of the response in S1 would still transfer to S2 when R had been associated with another outcome in that stimulus.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 90%

Learning to inhibit the response during instrumental (operant) extinction.

Bouton¹,

Trask²,

Carranza-Jasso³

2016

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Animal Learning and Cogniti

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Five experiments tested implications of the idea that instrumental (operant) extinction involves learning to inhibit the learned response. All experiments used a discriminated operant procedure in which rats were reinforced for lever pressing or chain pulling in the presence of a discriminative stimulus (S), but not in its absence. In Experiment 1, extinction of the response (R) in the presence of S weakened responding in S, but equivalent nonreinforced exposure to S (without the opportunity to make R) did not. Experiment 2 replicated that result and found that extinction of R had no effect on a different R that had also been reinforced in the stimulus. In Experiments 3 and 4, rats first learned to perform several different stimulus and response combinations (S1R1, S2R1, S3R2, and S4R2). Extinction of a response in one stimulus (i.e., S1R1) transferred and weakened the same response, but not a different response, when it was tested in another stimulus (i.e., S2R1 but not S3R2). In Experiment 5, extinction still transferred between S1 and S2 when the stimuli set the occasion for R's association with different types of food pellets. The results confirm the importance of response inhibition in instrumental extinction: Nonreinforcement of the response in S causes the most effective suppression of responding, and response suppression is specific to the response but transfers and influences performance of the same response when it is occasioned by other stimuli. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

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Renewal and resurgence of severe problem behavior in an intensive outpatient setting: Prevalence, magnitude, and implications for practice

Falligant

Chin

Kurtz

2022

Behavioral Interventions

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Following successful behavioral treatment in which problem behavior is reduced, problem behavior sometimes reemerges as a function of changes in stimulus conditions (i.e., renewal) or the worsening of reinforcement conditions for an appropriate alternative response (i.e., resurgence). Extant research suggests that both renewal and resurgence may be relatively prevalent phenomenon in a variety of clinical settings. The purpose of the present study was to replicate and extend extant research quantifying the prevalence and magnitude of renewal (Experiment 1) and resurgence (Experiment 2) in an intensive outpatient clinic via retrospective consecutive controlled case series (CCCS; Hagopian, 2020). Findings from the current study—which represents the largest sample to date investigating relapse in applied settings—suggest that both renewal and resurgence are relatively common phenomenon and occur in the majority of treatment applications. Based on our findings (and emerging research in this area), we provide recommendations for practitioners to mitigate the occurrence of renewal and resurgence in clinical contexts.

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Discriminative properties of the reinforcer can be used to attenuate the renewal of extinguished operant behavior

Cited by 47 publications

References 40 publications

Context Change Explains Resurgence After the Extinction of Operant Behavior

Context Change Explains Resurgence After the Extinction of Operant Behavior

Learning to inhibit the response during instrumental (operant) extinction.

Renewal and resurgence of severe problem behavior in an intensive outpatient setting: Prevalence, magnitude, and implications for practice

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