Brief exposure to contingent reinforcement produces a sustained increment in the strength of an elicited response.

Green et al. (1986) worked with rats in a small lab cage.

Each rat could press a lever to avoid a mild shock.

The scientists gave only a few minutes of this reinforcement, then stopped it completely.

They watched how long the lever pressing would last without any more shocks or rewards.

Even a short taste of reinforcement made lever pressing explode.

Response rate jumped 10 to 50 times higher.

The new rate stuck around for up to six months with zero extra reinforcement.

A brief history wrote a long story in the rat’s behavior.

Capio et al. (2013) looked at kids with autism and found a twist.

Continuous reinforcement made problem behavior harder to extinguish.

Both studies show that early reinforcement rules later persistence; the 2013 paper moves the idea from rat lab to clinic.

Smith et al. (2022) added numbers: longer reinforcement phases create bigger resurgence later.

Together the three papers warn that even short, rich reinforcement can lock in behavior you may later want gone.

Your reinforcement choices today echo for months.

When you start a new program, use the leanest effective schedule first.

Thin continuous reinforcement before you try extinction.

Document how long each client has been on rich reinforcement so the next BCBA knows the history.

Plan booster sessions early instead of hoping the behavior will just fade.