SUNY Upstate Medical University, Syracuse, NY, USA.
J Exp Anal Behav. 2024 Sep;122(2):195-206. doi: 10.1002/jeab.4202. Epub 2024 Jul 31.
In treatments based on differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, applied researchers and clinicians often provide multiple, qualitatively different reinforcers (i.e., synthesized reinforcement) rather than a single reinforcer (i.e., isolated reinforcement) contingent on alternative behavior. Some research shows that providing synthesized reinforcement for alternative responses within such treatments produces more rapid and complete suppression of target behavior; however, there is limited research evaluating the durability of these effects during treatment disruptions. Conceptual explanations of resurgence (e.g., resurgence as choice, context theory) suggest that treatments that include synthesized alternative reinforcement may lead to more resurgence of target behavior when alternative reinforcement is disrupted relative to treatments using isolated reinforcement. We evaluated this hypothesis within a three-phase resurgence evaluation. We exposed rats to isolated or synthesized reinforcement for alternative responding in the second phase, and we exposed rats to extinction in the third phase. Synthesized alternative reinforcement produced more rapid and complete suppression of target behavior than did isolated reinforcement in the second phase; however, exposure to extinction following synthesized reinforcement produced more resurgence. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for applied research and their support for current conceptual explanations for resurgence.
在基于替代行为的差别强化治疗中，应用研究人员和临床医生经常提供多种不同性质的强化物（即综合强化物），而不是根据替代行为提供单一强化物（即隔离强化物）。一些研究表明，在这种治疗中，为替代反应提供综合强化物会导致目标行为更快、更完全地被抑制；然而，关于治疗中断期间这些效果的持久性的研究有限。关于复苏的概念解释（例如，作为选择的复苏、情境理论）表明，包含综合替代强化物的治疗可能会导致目标行为在替代强化物被中断时更频繁地复苏，而不是使用隔离强化物的治疗。我们在一个三阶段复苏评估中评估了这个假设。我们在第二阶段让老鼠接触隔离或综合强化物来替代反应，然后在第三阶段让老鼠接受消退。与隔离强化相比，在第二阶段，综合替代强化物更迅速、更完全地抑制了目标行为；然而，在接受综合强化后进行消退会导致更多的复苏。我们根据这些结果对应用研究的意义及其对当前关于复苏的概念解释的支持进行了讨论。
