OPERANT EXTINCTION NEAR ZERO.

Pigeons pecked a key for food under three colored lights. Each color meant food was either always on, never on, or on sometimes.

After the birds learned these rules, the researchers stopped all food. They watched how fast pecking died out under each light.

Pecking dropped to almost zero under every light. Then the team turned on a new color and gave food again.

Surprise: the birds started pecking the old, extinguished colors too. Reinforcing one stimulus brought the dead behavior back to life.

Saini et al. (2020) call this renewal. Their review of human studies shows the same bounce-back when contexts shift after extinction.

Nevin et al. (2016) found a fix: add lean, signaled differential reinforcement and relapse drops. Their data extend the 1964 warning into a practical shield.

Jackson et al. (2026) go further. They halved renewal by fading the therapy room back in instead of an abrupt return. The 1964 lab result now has a real-world patch.

If you teach a client to stop screaming in the clinic, then later reinforce manding in a new room, the old screams can pop up in the first room. Program multiple exemplar rooms, signal your DRA, and fade contexts back in to keep the ghosts quiet.