Sequential contrast effects with human subjects.
Bringing reinforcement back after extinction gives a quick but fading boost in response rate.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Researchers worked with adults who had intellectual disabilities. They used a two-key setup. One key paid off on a variable-interval schedule. The other key never paid off.
They switched the schedule back and forth. Some sessions had more non-pay blocks before the payoff block. They counted how fast each person pressed the paying key.
What they found
After a stretch of no-pay, response rate on the paying key jumped. More no-pay blocks made the jump bigger. The boost faded after about ten sessions.
The study shows that recent extinction can briefly pump up reinforced behavior. The effect is real but short-lived.
How this fits with other research
Dove et al. (1974) saw the same jump with neurotypical adults. Their data line up with Peterson (1968), giving a human cross-check across populations.
Ginsburg et al. (1971) later asked how long the no-pay period must last. They found longer extinction gives bigger contrast, peaking around forty minutes. This tightens the dose-response curve that F first sketched.
de Rose (1986) moved the paying key from VI to fixed-interval. Longer extinction still lifted rates, showing the rule holds across schedule types. Together, the papers say: any reinforced behavior can spike after extinction, but the spike will shrink as sessions roll on.
Why it matters
When you bring reinforcement back after a break, expect a brief burst of faster responding. Use it to jump-start a cold skill, but do not mistake the spike for lasting progress. Track data across at least ten sessions to see the true steady state.
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Join Free →After an extinction break, measure response rate for the first five minutes of renewed reinforcement to spot the expected spike, then keep plotting to watch it settle.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
Institutionalized retardates were exposed to a multiple variable-interval: extinction schedule of reinforcement in which 5-min periods of variable-interval reinforcement and 5-min periods of extinction were presented in a random order. This schedule was found to generate sequential contrast effects: response rates during variable-interval reinforcement were higher when a variable-interval period followed an extinction period than when it followed another variable-interval period. The rate of responding within a variable-interval period also was affected by the number of extinction periods preceding a variable-interval period. As the number of successive extinction periods that preceded a variable-interval period increased, the rate of responding during that variable-interval period increased. The sequential contrast effects were transient, being most evident during the early sessions and generally disappearing by the tenth session.
Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior, 1968 · doi:10.1901/jeab.1968.11-537