An Investigation of Behavioral Contrast in a Simulated Workplace

ABSTRACT A common topic of study in the experimental analysis of behavior is behavioral contrast, which is said to occur when responding during an unchanged condition increases over baseline levels when an extinction procedure is used in a second, separate, condition. The current study consisted of two experiments in which behavioral contrast was examined with college students and described in terms of its relevance for organizational behavior management. Results were mixed, in that one participant demonstrated the behavioral contrast phenomenon. However, the procedure either failed to consistently occasion either extinction behavior or increased levels of responding above baseline levels in an unchanged condition for the remaining participants. These data suggest that while it is possible to demonstrate the behavioral contrast phenomenon with verbal adults using a typing task, the specific procedures necessary to consistently engender this phenomenon with this population have not yet been determined.