Effect of timeout punishment of an alternative response on the target response resurgence

Resurgence of a target response is typically induced by worsening the alternative reinforcement conditions by extinction procedures and only a few studies have examined the effects of alternative devaluation procedures, such as timeout. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of punishing an alternative response with a timeout on the resurgence of a target response. Six rats were exposed to four experimental conditions sequentially. In Phase 1 the target response was trained (VI 10 s); In Phase 2, the target response was extinguished while an alternative response was reinforced (VI 10 s); In Phase 3, the alternative response continued to be reinforced but a 50 s timeout could be produced with a probability of .5 and the target response continued in extinction; and in Phase 4, the alternative response was extinguished. Timeout suppressed the alternative response and induced a resurgence for all subjects. To most of the subjects (4 out of 6), extinction produced a greater resurgence than timeout. The present study provides evidence that timeout can induce resurgence and highlights the need for future research to examine how variations in global and local reinforcement rates, as well as stimulus changes independent of reinforcement rate, may influence resurgence.