A laboratory model for evaluating relapse of undesirable caregiver behavior

Mitteer, Daniel R.; Greer, Brian; Fisher, Wayne W.; Briggs, Adam M.; Wacker, David P.

doi:10.1002/jeab.462

Cited by 43 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…Thus, instances of resurgence may result in more sustained increases in destructive behavior when routine caregivers implement reinforcement schedule thinning, because they may be less likely to implement extinction with high integrity during such periods. That is, caregivers may be more likely than highly trained behavior therapists to deliver the functional reinforcer in response to an instance of resurgence, which would likely sustain resurgence (Bruzek, Thompson, & Peters, ; Mitteer, Greer, Fisher, Briggs, & Wacker, in press; St. Peter Pipkin, Vollmer, & Sloman, ). Future research should examine whether and to what extent caregivers show decreased procedural integrity when implementing reinforcement thinning steps that produce resurgence relative to thinning steps that do not evoke resurgence.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of resurgence of destructive behavior when thinning reinforcement schedules during functional communication training

Briggs

Fisher

Greer

et al. 2018

J of App Behav Analysis

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Functional communication training is a well-established treatment for socially reinforced destructive behavior that typically includes differential reinforcement of the functional communication response (FCR) in combination with extinction of destructive behavior. However, when the schedule of reinforcement for the FCR is thinned, destructive behavior may resurge (e.g., Greer, Fisher, Saini, Owen, & Jones, 2016). Currently, data are unavailable on the prevalence and characteristics of resurgence during reinforcement schedule thinning. In this study, we evaluated the prevalence of resurgence during reinforcement schedule thinning on a per-case and per-schedule-step basis and also evaluated the magnitude of resurgence in relation to the functions of destructive behavior. We observed resurgence in 19 of the 25 (76%) applications of reinforcement schedule thinning. In some cases, the magnitude of resurgence exceeded the mean levels of destructive behavior observed in baseline. We discuss these results relative to prior translational and applied research on resurgence.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prevalence of resurgence of destructive behavior when thinning reinforcement schedules during functional communication training

Briggs

Fisher

Greer

et al. 2018

J of App Behav Analysis

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130

150

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“…In addition to studies that evaluated operant renewal as a singular relapse phenomenon, we also included preparations that combined contextual changes with other variables commonly associated with relapse (e.g., the resurgence of maladaptive behavior as a result of decrements in reinforcement for a newly taught alternative response). We included these studies because combined relapse arrangements may better simulate what occurs in practice when multiple environmental events interact during relapse (e.g., Mitteer, Greer, Fisher, Briggs, & Wacker, ). We excluded studies that (a) examined operant renewal using nonhuman animal subjects, (b) examined renewal in a respondent conditioning paradigm with humans, (c) described simple failures of generalization across environments or contexts (e.g., Schindler & Horner, ), (d) did not report or display data at the individual level, and (e) were reviews, meta‐analyses, book chapters, or dissertations.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A review of investigations of operant renewal with human participants: Implications for theory and practice

Saini

Mitteer

2019

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Operant renewal is the recurrence of a previously eliminated target behavior as a function of changing stimulus contexts. Renewal as a model of treatment relapse in humans suggests that a change in stimulus conditions or context is sufficient to produce relapse of a previously eliminated maladaptive behavior. The extent to which general findings from operant renewal studies involving nonhuman animal subjects are supported by relapse studies involving human participants is unknown. We conducted a systematic review of studies demonstrating or mitigating operant renewal in human participants in peerreviewed studies found in PsycINFO, ERIC, PubMed, and Scopus between 1980 and 2019. We identified 12 studies involving 61 participants and 93 cases of operant renewal. We coded descriptive data on participant and study characteristics and calculated summary statistics. Results indicated that the renewal effect was a robust phenomenon, supported by demonstrations in both clinical and human-laboratory studies, and across a variety of variables and experimental preparations. However, there were relatively few studies involving human participants that attempted to reduce or eliminate renewal of clinically meaningful behavior. We discuss variables relevant for studying renewal in socially meaningful contexts, practical limitations of observing the renewal effect in real-world settings, implications for theoretical models of renewal, and identify barriers to methodology unique to human participants. We provide directions for future research related to implementing and translating nonhuman animal studies of renewal to applied settings.

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“…Briggs et al (2018) found that resurgence is common when using FCT-at least one episode of resurgence in over 75% (19/25) of FCT applications during reinforcementschedule thinning. In addition, Mitteer, Greer, Fisher, Briggs, and Wacker (2018) trained caregivers to implement FCT with high integrity and examined the conditions under which resurgence of undesirable caregiver behavior occurred, with undesirable caregiver behavior including reinforcement of destructive behavior. Mitteer et al found that caregiver reinforcement of destructive behavior increased when desirable caregiver behavior (i.e., implementing treatment) had no effect on destructive behavior during a context change.…”

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confidence: 99%

Mitigating resurgence of destructive behavior using the discriminative stimuli of a multiple schedule

Fisher

Fuhrman

Greer

et al. 2019

J Exper Analysis Behavior

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Results of several recent translational studies have suggested that correlating contextual or discriminative stimuli with the delivery and withholding of reinforcement for the functional communication response (FCR) may mitigate resurgence of destructive behavior, but few, if any, have isolated the effects of those stimuli. In the present study, we first trained the FCR, brought it under stimulus control of a multiple schedule, and thinned its reinforcement schedule in one stimulus context. Next, we conducted resurgence evaluations (i.e., baseline, functional communication training [FCT], extinction challenge) in two novel contexts to test the effects of the discriminative stimuli on resurgence. We programmed one context to include the (a) S D during the FCT phase to signal the availability of reinforcement for the FCR and (b) S Δ during a subsequent extinction challenge to signal the unavailability of reinforcement for the FCR. The other context did not include the S D during the FCT phase, nor the S Δ during the extinction challenge. We expected to see greater persistence of the FCR in the context that included the S D during FCT and less persistence of the FCR and less resurgence of destructive behavior in the context that included the S Δ during the extinction challenge. Obtained results confirmed this latter prediction, but we observed no reliable difference when the S D was present or absent during the FCT phase. Our results have relevance for practitioners in that they provide further empirical support for the use of discriminative stimuli when treating destructive behavior.

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A laboratory model for evaluating relapse of undesirable caregiver behavior

Cited by 43 publications

References 48 publications

Prevalence of resurgence of destructive behavior when thinning reinforcement schedules during functional communication training

Prevalence of resurgence of destructive behavior when thinning reinforcement schedules during functional communication training

A review of investigations of operant renewal with human participants: Implications for theory and practice

Mitigating resurgence of destructive behavior using the discriminative stimuli of a multiple schedule

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