Evaluating effects of context changes on resurgence in humans

Area of Science:

• Behavioral psychology
• Experimental psychology
• Reinforcement learning

Background:

• Laboratory models are crucial for understanding challenges in behavioral treatments.
• Relapse can manifest as resurgence (worsening reinforcement) or renewal (context change).
• Differential Reinforcement of Alternative response (DRA) is a key behavioral treatment strategy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate factors influencing relapse in behavioral treatments.
• To examine the effects of removing alternative reinforcement and context changes on relapse.
• To evaluate the combined impact of reinforcement removal and context change.

Main Methods:

• Five experiments using online crowdsourced participants.
• Participants engaged in a button-pressing task for points exchangeable for money.
• Contexts were manipulated via background image changes, and reinforcement schedules were altered.

Main Results:

• Removing alternative reinforcement consistently increased relapse (resurgence).
• Returning to the training context or moving to a novel context exacerbated resurgence when reinforcement was removed.
• Context changes and reinforcement removal had additive effects on increasing relapse, with the combination yielding greater-than-additive effects.

Conclusions:

• The removal of alternative reinforcement is a primary driver of relapse in behavioral treatments.
• Contextual changes can significantly enhance relapse, particularly when combined with reinforcement withdrawal.
• Findings underscore the importance of stable reinforcement conditions and context stability in maintaining treatment gains.