Adventitious reinforcement during long-duration DRO exposure.

Area of Science:

• Behavioral Psychology
• Applied Behavior Analysis

Background:

• Differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO) is a common intervention for reducing problem behaviors.
• The precise mechanisms underlying DRO's effectiveness, particularly the role of adventitious reinforcement of other behaviors, remain incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if adventitious reinforcement of other behaviors contributes to the effectiveness of DRO, especially under prolonged exposure.
• To compare the effects of DRO on target and other responding with control conditions.

Main Methods:

• Two experiments were conducted using a computer-based task with two response options.
• Target responding was reinforced on a variable-ratio schedule, followed by DRO, yoked variable-time, or extinction conditions.
• Response rates for both target and other behaviors were systematically compared across conditions.

Main Results:

• DRO effectively decreased target responding and increased other responding compared to control conditions.
• The increases in other responding were often transient and did not fully account for the sustained reduction in target behavior.
• Sustained reductions in target responding were observed even when increases in other responding diminished.

Conclusions:

• Adventitious reinforcement of other behaviors may play a transient role in DRO but does not fully explain behavior reduction.
• The discriminability of the DRO contingency appears to be a critical factor in reducing target behavior.
• Further research is needed to fully elucidate the complex mechanisms of DRO effectiveness.