This cluster shows why old problem behaviors can pop back up when we lower rewards for the new skills. Big, fast drops in rewards cause the biggest comebacks, so we must thin rewards slowly and watch for trouble. It teaches BCBAs to plan extra safety steps and pick gentler ways to fade help. Learning this keeps clients safe and makes good behaviors stick.
Common questions from BCBAs and RBTs
Resurgence is the return of a previously extinguished behavior when reinforcement for a newer alternative is thinned or removed. It is a predictable result of extinction, not a sign that your intervention failed.
Thin slowly in small steps, confirm stability at each step before moving forward, and avoid large rapid drops in reinforcement density for the replacement behavior.
Yes. Research shows that richer, higher-quality reinforcers during the alternative response phase produce larger resurgence effects when thinned. Plan more gradual thinning and more frequent probes when using highly preferred reinforcers.
This is called renewal. Context changes trigger old behavior patterns. Plan to maintain your full reinforcement protocol for the replacement behavior in the new context for several sessions before beginning any thinning.
Tell them that some increase during schedule thinning or transitions is expected and does not mean the treatment failed. Give them a clear response plan that avoids reinforcing the old behavior while continuing to reinforce the replacement.