The phantom plateau.

The author tells a quick classroom story. Psychology exams reuse the same questions each year. The twist: the right answer changes while the wording stays the same.

This short note is theory, not an experiment. No data, no graphs, just the anecdote.

The punch line is simple. Last year’s correct choice becomes this year’s wrong choice. Students who once earned points for the same response now lose them.

The reinforcer flips even though the stimulus looks identical.

Michael (1974) proves the point in a lab. Pigeons pecked a key that lit up before food. When the richer schedule moved to the other key, the light lost its reinforcing power. Same light, new context, new value.

Jones et al. (1992) show the flip with people. College students pressed a key to see messages tied to no-food periods. The extinction cue became a reinforcer for observing. Again, the same words gained new meaning when the schedule changed.

Browning et al. (2018) and Aggarwal et al. (2026) extend the idea to clinical extinction. Remove a peer, switch tasks, or change rooms and extinguished behavior pops back. Context controls whether the behavior pays off or not.

Bouton (2024) sums it up: habits are not steel cables; they are context strings. Shift the scene and the habit weakens, just like the exam answer key.

Your client may master a skill in the clinic room yet lose it in the cafeteria. The stimulus looks the same, but the pay-off changed. Probe before you trust "mastery." When you change staff, tasks, or rooms, re-check the contingency. A quick trial can save you from a phantom plateau.