Resurgence Following Higher or Lower Quality Alternative Reinforcement
Better reinforcers used during extinction yield bigger resurgence later—plan for this when fading high-quality tokens or edibles.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Shahan et al. (2024) ran a three-phase lab study with neurotypical adults. First, participants earned points for pressing one button. Next, that button stopped paying off and a new button paid better or worse prizes. Finally, both buttons stopped paying to see if the old response came back.
The team compared two qualities of alternative reinforcement: high-value gift cards versus low-value raffle entries. They tracked how well each quality shut down the original button press and how much it rebounded later.
What they found
High-quality gift cards squashed the old button press faster than cheap raffle tickets. When the gift cards ended, the old response roared back twice as big. Low-quality reinforcers gave weaker suppression and a smaller rebound.
The pattern fits a choice rule: better stuff pulls behavior away harder, so its removal hurts more.
How this fits with other research
Craig et al. (2017) and Ritchey et al. (2023) showed the same seesaw with reinforcer size instead of quality. Bigger food pellets or more points first crushed the target response, then produced larger resurgence. Shahan swaps size for quality and repeats the curve, pointing to a single rule: value drives both suppression and relapse.
Johnston et al. (2017) found rich schedules outperform lean ones at cutting behavior, but also rebound harder. The new study keeps the rich-versus-lean logic while holding the schedule constant, showing the reinforcer itself—not just how often it arrives—controls the bounce.
Greer et al. (2024) worked with children who had destructive behavior and saw that gradual thinning reduced resurgence. Shahan’s lab data echo this clinical tip: sudden loss of good reinforcement sparks the biggest return, whether the reinforcer is minutes of play or a twenty-dollar card.
Why it matters
When you move from high-value edibles or tokens to lower-value ones, expect a resurgence spike. Plan extra extinction probes and thin quality in steps, not jumps. If you must keep high-quality backup reinforcers, schedule smaller drops or pair them with praise to cushion the bounce.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Resurgence is a temporary increase in a previously suppressed target behavior-following a worsening in reinforcement conditions. Previous studies have examined how higher rates or magnitudes of alternative reinforcement affect suppression of the target behavior and subsequent resurgence. However, there has been no investigation of the effects of higher versus lower qualities of alternative reinforcement on resurgence. Using a three-phase resurgence preparation with rats, the present experiments examined the effects of an alternative reinforcer that was of higher (Experiment 1) or lower (Experiment 2) quality than the reinforcer that had previously maintained the target behavior. The results of both experiments showed greater reductions in target behavior with a higher quality alternative reinforcer and larger increases in target responding when a higher quality alternative reinforcer was removed. Along with prior findings with higher rates and magnitudes of alternative reinforcement, these findings suggest that variations in reinforcer dimensions that increase the efficacy of alternative reinforcement also tend to increase resurgence when alternative reinforcement is removed. The results are discussed in terms of the resurgence as choice in context model and in terms of potential clinical implications.
Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 2024 · doi:10.1002/jeab.904