ABA and ABC Renewal during an Ongoing Fixed-Time Schedule

• Published in: The Psychological record 2023-03, Vol.73 (1), p.105-117
• Main Authors: Finch, Kacey R., Kestner, Kathryn M., Amanieh, Haleh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Analysis; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Differential reinforcement; Extinction; Methods; Mitigation; Original Article; Psychology; Psychology, Experimental; Reinforcement; Relapse; Renewal; Renewal theory; Schedules
• ISSN: 0033-2933; 2163-3452
• DOI: 10.1007/s40732-022-00513-1

Renewal refers to the relapse of a previously reduced response following a context change, and the occurrence of renewal is often countertherapeutic in clinical settings. In the extant literature, renewal has most often been studied following response suppression by extinction or differential reinforcement of alternative behavior. We conducted two human-operant experiments to evaluate ABA and ABC renewal following the suppression of a response by a fixed-time (FT) schedule of point delivery (commonly referred to as noncontingent reinforcement in clinical settings). During baseline, clicking on a moving circle was reinforced with one point according to a random-interval (RI) 5-s schedule in context A. During the FT phase, one point was delivered every 5 s in context B. In the renewal test phase, the FT 5-s schedule remained, and the background color of the screen returned to the baseline context (ABA renewal; Experiment 1 ) or changed to a third, novel context (ABC renewal; Experiment 2 ). We investigated within-subject repeatability of renewal using a six-phase reversal design. Renewal occurred in the first iteration of the three-phase arrangement for 11 of 12 participants. ABA renewal was repeated for two of six participants and occurred in the second iteration only for one participant. ABC renewal was repeated for five of six participants. These results extend the literature by demonstrating renewal of responses, previously decreased using FT schedules, following the reintroduction of a previous context or the presentation of a new context. Future research should investigate the occurrence and mitigation of renewal during time-based schedules.