The Effects of Large, Small, and Thinning Magnitudes of Alternative Reinforcement on Resurgence

Resurgence refers to an increase of a previously reinforced target behavior following the worsening of conditions for a more recently reinforced alternative behavior. There is evidence to suggest that alternative reinforcers of greater magnitude are more effective at reducing target responding but may also result in more resurgence when removed. Similar effects have been observed with high rates of alternative reinforcement. However, in clinical settings, reinforcement rate thinning is used to reduce the likelihood of resurgence associated with higher rates of alternative reinforcement. Given the clinical importance of alternative reinforcer magnitude, it is necessary to evaluate how reinforcer magnitude thinning may impact resurgence as well. Following Phase 1 in which target responding was reinforced, rats earned either large (six pellets), small (one pellet), or thinned (reduced from six pellets to one across sessions) magnitude reinforcement for alternative responding during target-response extinction in Phase 2. Then, alternative responding was placed on extinction for all groups in Phase 3. Target responding was comparably elevated at the end of Phase 2 for groups Small and Thin compared to group Large. In Phase 3, resurgence was evident only in group Large but target responding remained relatively elevated in groups Small and Thin. These results provide additional evidence of the important interplay between conditions of alternative reinforcement and the persistence and resurgence of target responding.