Translational evaluation of on/off alternative reinforcement cycling

Abstract

Cycling between the availability and unavailability of reinforcement for alternative responding has successfully reduced resurgence in basic laboratory evaluations, but this approach represents a marked departure from current standards of care when treating problem behavior, warranting careful translation before its use clinically. Therefore, with extinction arranged for target responding across groups in Phase 2, we evaluated the effects of cycling between the availability and unavailability of differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) using a computer-based task with adult humans recruited through Amazon MTurk. Two control groups experienced constant DRA in Phase 2, with one group experiencing a dense DRA schedule and another group experiencing a lean DRA schedule. The cycling DRA group tended to show greater reductions in target responding and improved discrimination in Phase 2 and less target responding across Phases 2 and 3 than the lean DRA and dense DRA groups. These preliminary findings suggest that on/off DRA cycling procedures may produce more desirable treatment outcomes than constant DRA without producing negative side effects; however, further research is needed to confirm these possibilities.