Contingency discrimination training and resurgence: Effects of reduced extinction session durations

Area of Science:

• Behavioral psychology
• Animal behavior research

Background:

• Resurgence is a phenomenon where a suppressed behavior reappears after reinforcement for an alternative behavior is withdrawn.
• Contingency discrimination training (CDT), involving equal exposure to reinforcement availability and unavailability, has been shown to reduce resurgence.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the effects of reduced off-session durations in CDT on mitigating resurgence.
• To determine if minimizing extinction exposure during CDT is possible while retaining its resurgence-reducing effects.

Main Methods:

• Rats were exposed to different ratios of off-session to on-session durations during CDT.
• Experimental conditions included All On (0 min off: 30 min on), CDT 1:1 (30 min off: 30 min on), CDT 1:2 (15 min off: 30 min on), CDT 1:6 (5 min off: 30 min on), and CDT escalate (increasing off-session duration).

Main Results:

• Resurgence decreased as the duration of off-sessions decreased.
• CDT 1:2 significantly reduced resurgence.
• CDT 1:1 and CDT escalate eliminated resurgence and established control by reinforcement contingencies without increasing total target responses.

Conclusions:

• Reduced off-session durations in CDT are effective in mitigating resurgence.
• CDT protocols with shorter off-session durations offer a promising clinical approach to minimize extinction exposure.
• Resurgence as choice in context theory accurately models these findings, suggesting a linear relationship between the off:on duration ratio and the signaling properties of reinforcement contingencies.