DEGRADING REINFORCEMENT QUALITY FOR TARGET BEHAVIOR DURING DIFFERENTIAL REINFORCEMENT WITHOUT EXTINCTION

Abstract

Differential reinforcement of alternative behavior (DRA) interventions that do not use extinction for target behavior offer a class of socially acceptable interventions that are feasible for decreasing target behavior and increasing alternative behavior. Past studies have investigated the influence of combinations of reinforcer dimension (i.e., quality, magnitude, immediacy) manipulations for the alternative response to favor alternative responding. An under-investigated area is reinforcer dimension manipulations for target behavior. If reinforcer parameter manipulations can be made to favor the alternative response that promotes allocation in this direction, reinforcer parameter manipulations can also be made that degrade reinforcement for the target response that may promote response allocation toward the alternative response. If effective, this unique approach may have clinical implications when reinforcement is concurrently available for multiple response options (e.g., DRA without extinction).We investigated if progressively degrading the quality of reinforcement for the target response resulted in decreased allocation toward this response option while simultaneously producing increased allocation toward the alternative response, even when the parameter for the alternative response remained unchanged or when it was associated with higher levels of effort in a translational paradigm. Results indicated that two of five participants demonstrated sensitivity to quality degradation such that an indifference point for quality was identified, and three participants demonstrated frequent switching such that indifference to quality was unclear.