Recurrence of phonetic responding

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Early Childhood Education

Background:

• Understanding response resurgence is crucial for designing effective educational interventions.
• Previous research indicates that extinction of alternative behaviors can lead to the return of previously reinforced behaviors.

Observation:

• This study observed three kindergarten students during an academic task involving reading Greek letters.
• The researchers examined the recurrence of academic responding after alternative responses were differentially reinforced and then placed on extinction.

Findings:

• Resurgence of previously reinforced academic responding was reliably demonstrated across all participants.
• The magnitude of this resurgence was positively correlated with the rate of differential reinforcement for the alternative behavior.

Implications:

• These findings highlight the importance of considering reinforcement history when implementing extinction procedures in educational settings.
• The results suggest that the intensity of reinforcement for alternative behaviors may predict the extent of behavioral resurgence.