Translational Analysis of Extended Extinction Effects on Resurgence
​​Resurgence is the reemergence of a previously reinforced but not currently occurring behavior (e.g. problem behavior) in response to worsening conditions of reinforcement for current behavior (e.g. alternative behavior; Lattal, 2017). Understanding the extent to which resurgence of problem behavior can be mitigated is important for designing durable clinical intervention. In a recent review of basic and preclinical resurgence studies, Podlesnik (2023) found a steep increase in the publication rate of resurgence related studies in the past decade. Studies varied in terms of design, procedural manipulations, definitions of resurgence, and types of analyses. Typically, models of resurgence consist of three phases: training, elimination, and testing. However, LeCompte (2021) compared three-phase and four-phase procedures with rats. Results indicated greater levels of resurgence for rats exposed to the three-phase procedure as compared to the four-phase procedure which increased exposure of the target behavior to extinction following the initial training phase. The purpose of the current study was to replicate and extend LeCompte by comparing levels of resurgence obtained from three-phase and four-phase resurgence procedures via within-subjects design with young children in an analogue clinical setting. Preliminary results suggest both models can capture resurgence effects, but differences in resurgence magnitude may be a function of the order of exposure (i.e., reductions during second exposure to extinction relative to first exposure). Results are discussed in terms of clinical application of the basic resurgence assessment models.
Behavioral sciences, Behavioral psychology, Extended Extinction, Four-Phase Procedure, Resurgence, Three-Phase Procedure, Translational
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