Resurgence in Humans: Reducing Relapse by Increasing Generalization Between Treatment and Testing

• Published in: Journal of experimental psychology. Animal behavior processes 2019-07, Vol.45 (3), p.338-349
• Main Authors: Thrailkill, Eric A, Ameden, Wesley C, Bouton, Mark E
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Conditioning, Operant - physiology; Extinction; Extinction (Learning); Extinction, Psychological - physiology; Female; Generalization (Learning); Generalization, Psychological - physiology; Human; Humans; Male; Monetary Rewards; Operant Conditioning; Operant response; Reinforcement; Reinforcement, Psychology; Reward; Testing; Young Adult
• ISSN: 2329-8456; 2329-8464
• DOI: 10.1037/xan0000209

Resurgence is the increase in performance of an extinguished instrumental (operant) response that accompanies the extinction of a response that has been reinforced to replace it. Resurgence may involve processes that are relevant for understanding relapse in applied and clinical settings. While resurgence is known to be a robust phenomenon in human operant extinction, the processes that control it remain unclear. Here we asked whether human resurgence is controlled by processes that are similar to those that have been identified in animals by asking whether two methods that reduce resurgence in animals also reduce it in humans. Participants first learned to make an operant response (R1) for a tangible food reinforcer (O1). In a second phase (Phase 2), R1 was extinguished while a second response (R2) was introduced and reinforced with a virtual monetary reward (USD $0.10 coins; O2). In a test phase, extinction was then introduced for R2 and resurgence of R1 was assessed. In Experiment 1, resurgence that occurred after the treatment just described was attenuated if there had been periodic exposure to R2 extinction during the treatment phase (Phase 2). In Experiment 2, resurgence was prevented when O2, but not O1, was presented noncontingently during the test. The results are among the first to suggest a mechanism underlying resurgence in humans, namely, renewal caused by contextual change. They also provide initial evidence to suggest that resurgence may be the result of common processes in animals and humans.