Persistence: the role of partial reinforcement in psychotherapy

Persistence, which refers to the ability of a learned behavior to survive protracted nonreinforcement (extinction), has been an overlooked dimension of clinical intervention. While persistence of newly acquired coping behavior is desired (and possibly assumed) by all psychotherapeutic procedures, few treatment programs possess features that operate to sustain responding in the face of a nonsupportive, nonreinforcing environment. The present article presents a treatment strategy designed to foster persistence based on the laboratory findings that partial reinforcement schedules produce greater resistance to extinction than continuous reinforcement schedules--a phenomenon referred to as the partial reinforcement extinction effect. The two major theories of persistence (Amsel's general theory of persistence and Capaldi's sequential theory) are discussed, and the basic principles of these models are extended to a number of therapeutic modalities including depression therapies, systemic desensitization, assertiveness training, and aversion therapy. In addition, procedural considerations including generalized and discriminated persistence are discussed.