A quantitative analysis of the effects of target- and alternative-reinforcement rate on resurgence

Abstract

Resurgence is defined as an increase in a previously reinforced and reduced target response when conditions worsen for a more recently reinforced alternative response. The present experiment evaluated the effects of target- and alternative-reinforcer rate on resurgence in humans. We arranged combinations of contingent high- and low-rate target and high- and low-rate alternative reinforcement across four groups. When extinguishing all reinforcement, resurgence occurred only in groups experiencing a high rate of alternative reinforcement, with resurgence being higher in the group that experienced high rates of both target and alternative reinforcement. Our findings join those of others that indicate that rates of alternative reinforcement contribute more to resurgence than target-reinforcer rates. A quantitative model of resurgence, resurgence as choice in context (RaC²), tended to underpredict target responding and overpredict alternative responding in Phase 3. Including a misallocation parameter to account for a proportion of reinforcers misallocated between responses provided a better account of the findings.