An investigation of resurgence of reinforced behavioral variability in humans
Extinction can bring back reinforced variability in humans, but signaling ‘no reinforcement’ can prevent the bounce.
01Research in Context
What this study did
College students sat at a computer and pressed keys to make colored shapes appear.
If they picked a new pattern each time, they earned points. Repeating the same pattern paid nothing.
After the payoff stopped, the researchers watched whether students went back to mixing patterns.
What they found
When points disappeared, students quickly started varying their key choices again.
The same bounce-back had only been seen in pigeons before. It shows that ‘being different’ can itself be reinforced like any other behavior.
How this fits with other research
Miles et al. (2025) later added a twist: they placed a red light that signaled ‘no points.’ That cue cut the bounce-back, proving resurgence can be toned down with clear extinction signals.
Rilling et al. (1969) worked with goldfish and found that slipping an occasional payoff into extinction sharpens stimulus control. Galizio’s team used pure extinction, so the return of variety was cleaner.
HOFFMAN et al. (1963) watched pigeons for years and saw that suppressed responses kept fading each session. The human bounce-back happened fast, showing short-term resurgence, not multi-year drift.
Why it matters
You now know that extinction can revive old, flexible responses, not just topographies. If a learner suddenly starts ‘random’ acts after you withdraw reinforcement, check whether variety itself was once rewarded. Add clear ‘no points’ signals, as Miles did, to keep the bounce low while you teach the next skill.
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Before you place a skill on extinction, tell the learner the new rule or post a visual ‘no points’ cue to cut resurgence.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
The present study examined resurgence of reinforced variability in college students, who completed a 3-phase computer-based variability task. In the first phase, baseline, points were delivered for drawing rectangles that sufficiently differed from previous rectangles in terms of a target dimension (size or location, counterbalanced) but were sufficiently similar in terms of the alternative dimension. In the second phase, alternative, points were only delivered for rectangles that were sufficiently different in terms of the alternative dimension, but repetitive in terms of the target dimension. In the third phase, extinction, no points were delivered. In baseline, participants made rectangles that were highly varied in terms of the target dimension and less varied in terms of the alternative dimension, and vice versa in the alternative phase. During extinction, levels of variability increased for the target dimension, providing evidence for resurgence of reinforced variability of a specific dimension of behavior. However, levels of variability also remained high for the alternative dimension, indicating that extinction-induced response variability may also have impacted the results. Although future research is needed to explore other explanations, the results of this study replicate prior research with pigeons and provide some support for the notion of variability as an operant.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2020 · doi:10.1002/jeab.637