Efeitos da exposição repetida do procedimento de ressurgência sobre a magnitude da resposta-alvo

Abstract

Resurgence is defined as the recurrence of a previously learned and then suppressed response when reinforcement for a more recently reinforced alternative response is discontinued or reduced. Previous studies investigating the effects of repeated exposure to the procedure have shown that resurgence is a replicable phenomenon. However, the results are divergent regarding changes in resurgence magnitude across exposures. The goal of the present study was to investigate the effect of repeated exposure to the conventional resurgence procedure on the magnitude of resurgence of the target response. Six rats were exposed to the resurgence procedure consisting of three phases: 1) Training of the target response; 2) Extinction of the target response simultaneous with training of the alternative response; 3) Extinction of both responses/Resurgence Test. All phases were repeated three times for all animals. The results showed that resurgence occurred repeatedly for all rats and that the magnitude increased across the repeated exposures to the procedure. Controlling variables that may have influenced these results, their similarities to previous resurgence studies, and implications for the applied context were discussed.