Reinforcer displacement. A preliminary study of the clinical application of the CRF/EXT effect.
Reinforce every response, then stop, and self-stim drops fast—yet only half of clients keep the gain without booster sessions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Two young adults with intellectual disability kept rubbing objects or rocking. The team first gave them candy every time they did the action. This is called continuous reinforcement, or CRF.
Next the candy stopped. The action now hit extinction. The team watched if the self-stim dropped and if it stayed low after two weeks.
What they found
The behavior fell fast when the candy ended. One person kept the low level for two weeks. The other needed booster sessions to stay low.
How this fits with other research
KELLEHER et al. (1963) first showed that lots of CRF makes a bigger extinction burst. The 1985 study used that idea in a clinic and still got quick drops.
Capio et al. (2013) found that CRF history makes problem behavior harder to kill later. The 1985 data look opposite, but the 2013 paper watched longer sessions and used thinner schedules. The clash warns us: expect a big dip first, yet stay ready for later return.
Saini et al. (2017) added extinction to noncontingent reinforcement and cut resurgence. Together the papers say: use extinction, but pair it with other supports to keep gains.
Why it matters
You can get a fast win against self-stim by reinforcing it, then stopping. Plan for two things: a short burst when you pull the reinforcer, and the chance you will need booster sessions. Track the response for at least two weeks and be ready to run another quick extinction round.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
An ABA design was used to evaluate the effects of reinforcer displacement on the self-stimulatory behavior of two severely retarded 19-year-old males. Reinforcer displacement involves the imposition of continuous reinforcement followed by sudden extinction. It was hypothesized that application of this procedure would result in the rapid weakening of undesirable behaviors thought to be maintained by unidentifiable contingencies. Use of the reinforcer displacement procedure produced substantial decreases in the targeted inappropriate behaviors for both subjects. Two-week follow-up assessments indicated that treatment effects were maintained for one subject, but recovery to baseline levels was observed for the other. Treatment effects, ethical considerations, and therapeutic potential are discussed.
Behavior modification, 1985 · doi:10.1177/01454455850091007