Journal of the experimental analysis of behavior最新文献

Decreases in alternative reinforcement and context changes are events that can lead to resurgence and renewal, respectively. Those stimulus conditions are often investigated in isolation within three-phase arrangements. Recently, studies have examined whether combined decreases in alternative reinforcement and context changes in Phase 3 produce a relapse magnitude different from the summed effects of each change in isolation. In the present study, we examined whether discriminative stimuli paired with target response extinction in Phase 2 would mitigate resurgence when both stimulus changes occurred simultaneously in Phase 3. We used a within-subjects design and exposed 11 typically developing adults to four 3-phase arrangements in a randomized sequence: ABB− (resurgence in isolation), ABA+ (renewal in isolation), ABA− (resurgence and renewal), and ABA-S^∆. Results indicated that the combined decrease in alternative reinforcement and context change in Phase 3 had a superadditive effect in five participants and an additive effect in four participants and that the discriminative stimulus significantly attenuated these interaction effects for most participants. These results are further discussed in terms of stimulus control tactics for mitigating resurgence produced by contingency and context and changes and future research on the topic of combined relapse broadly.

The Skinner box has provided a standardized method of conducting experiments on operant behavior throughout the history of behavior analysis. As technology has advanced, these operant chambers have become increasingly complex to allow for the study of new stimuli, behavior, and outcomes. The present article takes this variability one step further by advocating for the use of video game engines in the study of operant behavior in humans. Game engines provide high levels of flexibility, control, and realism as well as continuous behavioral tracking, dynamic stimulus presentation, and complex reinforcement schedules that greatly expand the range of research questions that can be addressed. Importantly, the potential for increasing stimulus, response, and outcome variability provides the basis for assessing and maximizing the generalizability of operant and related principles. This article illustrates the use of video game engines to study causal inference, delay discounting, loot boxes, foraging, and multiplayer dynamics. Adopting game engines in behavioral research not only expands the scope of behavior analysis but also increases its relevance to real-world behavior, offering a promising path forward for innovation.

A common method for studying derived relations is the matching-to-sample (MTS) preparation. However, certain aspects of its training format potentially hinder the emergence of new relations. The training version of the implicit relational assessment procedure (training-IRAP) may present an alternative. Our primary objective involved comparing the effectiveness of delayed MTS(2s) and training-IRAP procedures on participant yield. The secondary objective involved comparing mean number of training blocks per procedure. Given additional components in the standard training-IRAP not found in MTS, changes were made to the former, producing the modified training-IRAP and delayed modified training-IRAP(2s). Sixty-eight typically developing students participated in a between-subjects design. Two classes comprising five abstract stimuli were employed. Yield was analyzed at three levels, 91.67, 83.33, and 79% correct responses, with at least 87.5% correct responses at baseline mixed-block maintenance. All participants maintained baseline criterion during tests. At the three levels of analyses, the modified versions of training-IRAP produced higher yield, followed by DMTS(2s) and then the standard training-IRAP. Mean number of blocks to complete training phases was lowest for the delayed MTS(2s) and delayed modified training-IRAP(2s) groups. Limitations and implications of the findings toward greater precision, scope, and depth in conceptual, experimental, and applied settings are discussed.

Variables affecting scheduled-induced drinking (SID) have been widely studied. Previous experience with other food schedules can slow or prevent acquisition of SID, and its rate can decrease once it has developed if the conditions of the experimental sessions change. These findings conform to the idea that the distribution of behaviors during interreinforcement intervals depends on the occurrence of other behaviors. The goal here was to investigate the effect of interrupting access to water on the subsequent maintenance of SID when access to water was restored. First, in Phase A, rats developed SID under three different fixed-interval (FI) schedules. Then, in Phase B, access to water was removed in the conditioning chambers while food continued to be delivered under the same schedules. Last, when access to water was restored, rats that continued under the food-reinforcement schedule showed lower levels of SID than subjects that remained in their home cages throughout Phase B. Competition between licking and lever pressing was observed, particularly during short FI schedules. These data expand previous findings on behavioral history effects on SID and suggest that SID is part of behavioral patterns developed during interreinforcement intervals in which distribution of behaviors depends on occurrence of all other behaviors.

Resurgence is an increase in a suppressed target behavior following a worsening of conditions for a more recently reinforced alternative behavior. Prior research shows that exposure to equal-duration sessions of alternative reinforcement availability versus unavailability during treatment (i.e., contingency discrimination training; CDT) reduces resurgence. Clinically, minimizing exposure to extinction while maintaining the resurgence-mitigating effects of CDT would be desirable. This experiment examined the effects of reduced off-session durations by exposing groups of rats to different ratios of off:on session durations: All On (0 min: 30 min), CDT 1:1 (30 min: 30 min), CDT 1:2 (15 min: 30 min), CDT 1:6 (5 min: 30 min), and CDT escalate (i.e., [Esc] off-session duration increased across sessions). Resurgence decreased exponentially with “off” session duration, with CDT 1:2 reducing resurgence and both CDT 1:1 and CDT Esc eliminating resurgence while generating control of alternative behavior by the prevailing reinforcement contingencies, without increasing the total number of target responses during treatment. Resurgence as choice in context theory described the data well with the assumption that the effect of the signaling properties of the reinforcement contingencies themselves increases linearly with the off:on duration ratio, as is true with the S−/S+ ratio in other discriminations.

Progressive ratio analysis (PRA) has been used to quantify the relative reinforcer efficacy of various programmed consequences across basic and applied research paradigms. It has also been used as an alternative methodology for demand-curve analysis. In this study, we enrolled 96 consenting adults with disabilities to participate in a translational controlled consecutive case series. Specifically, we compensated participants for using an arbitrary response (e.g., a die roll) to demonstrate the circumstances under which they would work to earn preferred reinforcers in both Basis x PRA and progressive fixed ratio analysis (PFRA) paradigms. Using t tests of logarithmically transformed Pearson correlation coefficients, we established that Basis x PRA did not correlate with metrics of demand elasticity obtained from PFRA. However, Basis x PRA significantly predicted multiple metrics of equilibrium observed during PFRA. Consequently, the assessment likely retains prescriptive value across a number of domains.

Although differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) is frequently successful in decreasing challenging behavior, relapse of previously reduced behavior can occur. Renewal is a form of relapse following a context change. This human-operant experiment evaluated a context-fading procedure to mitigate renewal during DRA with asymmetrical reinforcers for two alternative responses (i.e., differing magnitudes of points). Thirty-six participants were assigned to a context-fading or control group. During the first phase, the target response was reinforced in Context A. During the second phase, the target response was on extinction and two alternative responses were reinforced in Context B. For the context-fading group, the background color shifted from Context B to Context A. For the no-fading group, Phase 2 occurred entirely in Context B. Context A was reintroduced during the renewal test, with reinforcement contingencies identical to those in Phase 2. Renewal occurred for 17 of 18 participants (94.44%) without fading and only nine of 18 (50.00%) with fading. The magnitude of renewal was also greater for the no-fading group. These findings suggest context fading may be an effective strategy to mitigate renewal, although it may also produce temporary increases in the target response during the fading process.

Schedule-induced polydipsia (SIP) arises when subjects consume excessive amounts of water during interval responding on operant tasks, a paradigm introduced and mostly developed in rats. Neuropharmacological studies conducted on SIP have mainly shown a prominent role of dopamine and 5HT in this adjunctive behavior. In particular, D₁/D₂ receptor antagonists decrease SIP, whereas low doses of dopamine reuptake blockers increase SIP. There is more specific evidence of a decline in SIP after lesions of the mesolimbic dopamine pathway. A decline in SIP is likewise observed after the injection of 5HT reuptake blockers and modulated by 5HT_2A/5HT_2C receptor agonists and antagonists. Despite more limited studies with other neurotransmitter systems, SIP has so far been shown to decline after the injection of muscarinic or NMDA receptor antagonists as well as benzodiazepine receptor agonists. Under some conditions, the role of neuroendocrine factors is shown by alterations in blood corticosterone levels during the course of SIP, indicative of its stress-reducing properties.

Alternative-reinforcement-based treatments are common strategies for reducing maladaptive behavior in humans. When conditions of alternative reinforcement are made worse in some way, however, behavior that was targeted for elimination may resurge. Previous research using rat subjects has demonstrated that high-magnitude (relative to low-magnitude) alternative reinforcement produces faster elimination of target behavior but more resurgence once removed. The purpose of the present experiment was to assess cross-species generality of these effects to mice. During Phase 1, lever pressing produced single food pellet reinforcers. Next, during Phase 2, lever pressing was extinguished and groups of mice experienced either small-magnitude (one pellet), large-magnitude (three pellet), or no alternative reinforcement for nose poking. All food was suspended in Phase 3 to assess resurgence. As an additional goal of this study, changes in resurgence across successive determinations were assessed by cycling between periods during which alternative reinforcement was present or absent. Large-magnitude alternative reinforcers produced faster suppression of target behavior but more resurgence when removed than did small-magnitude alternative reinforcers. Moreover, this effect endured across repeated resurgence tests.

Blakemore, E. T., & Morris, S. L. (2025). Testing the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics’ predictions about choice under concurrent random-ratio schedules. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 124(3), Article e70065. https://doi.org/10.1002/jeab.70065

The title was published as: Testing the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamic's predictions about choice under concurrent random-ratio schedules

It should have been: Testing the evolutionary theory of behavior dynamics’ predictions about choice under concurrent random-ratio schedules

This has been corrected in the article. We apologize for the error.