A nonsequential approach to the study of operant renewal: a reverse translation

Abstract

ABA renewal is a model of treatment relapse that describes the recurrence of severe problem behavior when behavior learned in one context (e.g., home; A) and treated in a separate context (e.g., clinic; B) reemerges when the original context is reintroduced (A). However, in the typical environment and during the usual course of treatment for severe problem behavior, the target behavior is exposed to the baseline context periodically (e.g., the child returns home after several hours in a clinic setting). Due to the difficulty of studying what effect this may have on treatment relapse during ABA renewal in a strictly applied investigation, we developed a human-laboratory translation to study renewal in a nonsequential manner. Using undergraduate students as subjects, we directly compared levels of recurrence using the standard ABA renewal procedure and a modified nonsequential ACA procedure, one modeled from the typical course of treatment for problem behavior. Both methods produced renewal at comparable levels, and patterns during nonsequential ACA renewal were similar to those during sequential ABA renewal. We discuss the implications of these findings in the framework of treatment for severe problem behavior.

Further evaluation of a nonsequential approach to studying operant renewal

“…First, as described previously, Sullivan et al' () paper reported negligible differences in renewal between their Sequential and Nonsequential assessments. Effectively, their data suggested that refining laboratory renewal preparations to capture the potential influences of context/contingency changes present in outpatient treatment for severe destructive behavior may have little implication for translational research on renewal (as no such influences appeared to be present in their study).…”

“…The present experiment systematically replicated Sullivan and colleagues' () procedure while addressing the concerns raised above as follows. First, rat subjects were used to control for potential mediation of behavior during the renewal test by verbal processes.…”

“…This finding suggests that frequent reexposures to Context A, associated with reinforcement for target behavior, impacts the amount of renewal that is observed upon reintroduction of Context A under extinction contingencies. Sullivan et al () observed only modest differences in renewal between Sequential and Nonsequential assessments in their human‐operant evaluation of these outcomes, with five of nine participants demonstrating a larger magnitude of renewal following the Nonsequential assessment. Their study, however, was limited as described above, thus prompting execution of the current experiment in a controlled laboratory setting using a protocol that controlled for several (potentially) critical confounds in their design.…”

“…Sullivan et al () introduced an alternative method for studying renewal in the laboratory that aligns more closely with the contextual changes that clients experience during outpatient behavioral therapy. In this procedure (termed a “Nonsequential” renewal assessment), target behavior is reinforced in Context A during baseline, analogous to reinforcement for destructive behavior prior to clinical intervention.…”

“…Sullivan and colleagues' () procedure is limited in several major ways, however, that complicate interpretation of their outcomes. First, the duration of exposure to extinction in their Sequential‐renewal treatment was twice as long as it was in their Nonsequential treatment (recall that Context B was presented only half of the time in the latter treatment).…”