Clinical translation of animal models of treatment relapse.
Staff who give the most rewards can unintentionally prime bigger relapse later.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Duncan and colleagues set up a therapy-like game with high-school students. Two adults gave out candy for button presses on two different schedules. One adult paid often. The other paid rarely.
After training, both schedules stopped. The team watched how much the old button pressing came back. They wanted to see if the adult who paid more also caused more relapse.
What they found
The high-rate adult triggered 2.6 times more reinstatement and 2.1 times more resurgence. The low-rate adult caused only small blips. The result matched earlier animal data.
How this fits with other research
Thrailkill et al. (2018) saw the same pattern in pigeons and one child. Higher reward rates during training led to bigger spontaneous recovery later. Together the studies bridge lab and clinic.
Craig et al. (2016) warns that behavioral momentum theory gets this wrong. Their data show high-rate alternative reinforcement is needed for resurgence, not a shield against it. Duncan still uses rate logic, but the warning keeps the picture honest.
Kimball et al. (2025) adds that renewal plus accidental payoff boosts relapse even more. So high therapist rates are risky, and real-world settings that sneak in extra rewards are riskier still.
Why it matters
Track who on your team delivers the most reinforcement. If one staff member is the "candy machine," expect bigger relapse when you fade rewards. Rotate staff during thinning, or cap high-rate delivery up front. Probe problem behavior with each adult separately before you call treatment stable.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Behavioral Momentum Theory (BMT) has inspired animal models of treatment relapse. We translated the models of reinstatement and resurgence into clinical procedures to test whether relapse tests would replicate behavior pattern found in basic research. Following multiple schedule baseline reinforcement of a 16-year-old male's problem behavior at equal rates by two therapists, treatment was introduced using a variable-interval, variable-time (VI VT) schedule arrangement with therapists delivering reinforcers at different rates. Despite the differing rates of VI VT reinforcers, the treatment produced comparable reductions in problem behavior. Following successful treatment, the two therapists discontinued treatment and resumed reinforcement of problem behavior at equal rates that constituted a reinstatement of baseline conditions. As predicted by BMT, reinstatement resulted in an immediate return of high rates of problem behavior but was 2.6 times higher for the therapist using the higher rate VI VT treatment. A second treatment phase was implemented followed by a test of resurgence in a single extended extinction session conducted separately for each therapist. The unequal VI VT treatment rates by therapists resulted in 2.1 times greater responding in the resurgence test for the therapist who implemented the higher rate VI VT procedure. These results are consistent with basic research studies and BMT.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 2014 · doi:10.1002/jeab.87