Prevalence of resurgence during thinning of multiple schedules of reinforcement following functional communication training

Muething et al. (2021) watched what happens when you thin reinforcement after FCT. They used multiple schedules: long breaks without rewards mixed with short reward periods.

They counted how often problem behavior came back during each thinning step.

Resurgence showed up in 4 of every 10 thinning steps. When it hit, problem behavior jumped seven times higher right after the change.

Briggs et al. (2018) saw resurgence in 3 of 4 steps, a much higher rate. The drop from 76 % to 41 % may come from tighter participant selection or clearer signals in the 2021 study.

Kranak et al. (2021) logged 91 % resurgence in an inpatient unit. The hospital setting and sorter cases likely pushed the rate up, while outpatient clinics in Muething’s data kept it lower.

Strohmeier et al. (2024) cut resurgence by starting with a terminal probe instead of dense-to-lean steps. Their tweak builds on Muething’s warning and offers one way to lower the 41 % risk.

Expect relapse in almost half of your schedule-thinning moves. Build in probe sessions, keep FCT booster lessons ready, and consider terminal probes to soften the jump.