A preliminary evaluation of treatment duration on the resurgence of destructive behavior
Longer extinction during DR does not reduce resurgence—build behavioral momentum for the replacement response instead.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Greer et al. (2020) asked a simple question. If we run extinction longer during DR treatment, will the problem behavior come back less later?
They worked with children who hit, bit, or broke things. The team used DR plus extinction until the behavior stopped. Then they stopped the rewards and watched for resurgence.
Some kids got a short extinction phase. Others got a long one. The study compared how much the behavior bounced back.
What they found
Longer extinction did not give less resurgence. Short and long groups showed the same size bounce-back when rewards ended.
Duration alone does not protect you. The behavior can return even after many calm sessions.
How this fits with other research
Greer et al. (2023) ran the same study again and got the same null result. The finding is solid.
Smith et al. (2022) seems to disagree. They showed that longer Phase 2 extinction cuts resurgence in adults. The difference is the people and the setting. Smith used neurotypical adults in a lab. Greer used children with clinical problems in real rooms.
Fisher et al. (2018) offers a better path. They used dense reinforcement for the replacement response before thinning. That momentum trick lowered resurgence without needing longer extinction.
Why it matters
You cannot just wait out extinction and hope the behavior stays gone. Plan for relapse no matter how long you run the phase. Instead of stretching extinction, build momentum for the new skill first. Give lots of strong rewards for the replacement behavior, then thin. That keeps kids safer when the schedule loosens.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Quantitative models of resurgence (e.g., Behavioral Momentum Theory, Resurgence as Choice) suggest that resurgence is partly a function of the duration of extinction exposure, with longer histories of extinction producing less resurgence. This prediction is supported by some laboratory research and has been partially supported by clinical translations that did not isolate the effects of extinction exposure prior to testing for resurgence. The degree to which different histories of extinction impact the likelihood of treatment relapse in therapeutic applications of differential reinforcement is of great interest to the clinical community, including insurance carriers and other financial providers. In the present study, we isolated the effects of extinction history for severe destructive behavior across six participants referred for treatment services and examined resurgence of destructive behavior when alternative reinforcement terminated. Our within-subject evaluation showed no difference in the level of resurgence or persistence of destructive behavior following short and long exposures to differential reinforcement with extinction. We discuss our failure to replicate in relation to experimental-design considerations for investigating this and other relapse phenomena in future research with clinical populations.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2020 · doi:10.1002/jeab.567