Resurgence as Choice: Implications for promoting durable behavior change

Self Cite

Resurgence as Choice (RaC) is a quantitative theory suggesting that an increase in an extinguished target behavior with subsequent extinction of an alternative behavior (i.e., resurgence) is governed by the same processes as choice more generally. We present data from an experiment with rats examining a range of treatment durations with alternative reinforcement plus extinction and demonstrate that increases in treatment duration produce small but reliable decreases in resurgence. Although RaC predicted the relation between target responding and treatment duration, the model failed in other respects. First, contrary to predictions, the present experiment also replicated previous findings that exposure to cycling on/off alternative reinforcement reduces resurgence. Second, RaC did a poor job simultaneously accounting for target and alternative behaviors across conditions. We present a revised model incorporating a role for more local signaling effects of reinforcer deliveries or their absence on response allocation. Such signaling effects are suggested to impact response allocation above and beyond the values of the target and alternative behaviors as longer-term repositories of experience. The new model provides an excellent account of the data and can be viewed as an integration of RaC and a quantitative approximation of some aspects of Context Theory.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Ghosts Of Models Past and Futurementioning

confidence: 91%

Resurgence as Choice in Context: Treatment duration and on/off alternative reinforcement

Shahan

Browning

Nall

2019

Self Cite

“…According to BMT, this effect may happen as a result of severing the response-reinforcer relation maintaining target behavior and altering generalization decrement (Nevin et al, 2001;Greer, Fisher, Romani et al, 2016). According to RaC, DRA treatments that arrange extinction for target behavior lessen the relative value of that response in relation to the value of the alternative response, which is likely to affect resurgence (Greer & Shahan, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Resurgence following differential reinforcement of alternative behavior implemented with and without extinction

Brown

Greer

Craig

et al. 2020

Self Cite

In the clinic, differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) often involves programming extinction for destructive behavior while reinforcing an alternative form of communication (e.g., a functional communication response); however, implementing extinction can be unsafe or impractical under some circumstances. Quantitative theories of resurgence (i.e., Behavioral Momentum Theory and Resurgence as Choice) predict differences in the efficacy of treatments that do and do not involve extinction of target responding when reinforcement conditions maintaining alternative responding worsen. We tested these predictions by examining resurgence following two DRA conditions in which we equated rates of reinforcement. In DRA without extinction, target and alternative behavior produced reinforcement. In DRA with extinction plus noncontingent reinforcement, only alternative behavior produced reinforcement. We conducted this study in a reverse‐translation sequence, first with participants who engaged in destructive behavior (Experiment 1) and then in a laboratory setting with rats (Experiment 2). Across both experiments, we observed proportionally lower levels of target responding during and following the DRA condition that arranged extinction for the target response. However, levels of resurgence were similar following both arrangements.

“…The absence of differences in alternative responding across resurgence tests with versus without paired stimuli, despite differences in target responding, also appears problematic for the Resurgence as Choice model (RaC; Greer & Shahan, 2019;. Consistent with previous models of choice (e.g., Herrnstein, 1970), RaC is based on the matching law and suggests that the rate of target responding is determined by the relative value of the outcomes associated with the target versus alternative response based on a temporal weighting rule.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 67%

Examining stimuli paired with alternative reinforcement to mitigate resurgence in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and pigeons

Shvarts

Jimenez‐Gomez

Bai

et al. 2019

In two laboratory experiments, we examined whether stimuli paired with alternative reinforcers could mitigate resurgence of a previously reinforced target response with pigeons (Experiment 1) and children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Experiment 2). In Phase 1, we arranged food reinforcement according to a variable-ratio schedule for engaging in a target response. In Phase 2, we arranged extinction for target responding and differentially reinforced alternative responding according to a fixed-ratio schedule, with every alternative-reinforcer delivery paired with a change in keylight color (Experiment 1) or automated verbal (praise) statement (Experiment 2). In Phase 3, we assessed resurgence during extinction of target and alternative responding in the presence versus absence of continued presentation of the paired stimulus. Despite variation across sessions, resurgence on average was lower when continuing to present the paired stimuli in all pigeons and children while maintenance of alternative responding did not differ between assessments. These findings indicate that stimuli paired with alternative reinforcement can modestly decrease resurgence, but further examination of their efficacy and a better understanding of the underlying processes are necessary before they can be recommended for clinical use in reducing resurgence of clinically relevant problem behavior.