Efeitos da supressão da resposta alvo utilizando timeout na ressurgência do comportamento

Abstract

The recurrence of previously suppressed behavior when reinforcement conditions for the current behavior worsen is termed behavioral resurgence. While extinction is the most common procedure to suppress the target response, an alternative is the use of punishment, such as timeout. Timeout has proven effective in suppressing behaviors in basic contexts and is also a preferred choice in applied scenarios for being a less severe intervention. This study aimed to examine the effect of suppressing the target response using a timeout punishment contingency on the resurgence of behavior. For this, 18 rats underwent a resurgence procedure with three phases. In Phase 1, the target response was reinforced. In Phase 2, subjects were divided into two groups. For both groups, the alternative response was reinforced. For the EXT group, responses at the target bar produced no consequences (i.e., extinction). For the EXT + TO group, target responses also produced no consequences, but a timeout (60s) was superimposed in FR 1. In Phase 3, all consequences were discontinued. The results indicated that timeout produced greater suppression of the target response for the EXT + TO group compared to the EXT group during Phase 2. However, a higher resurgence of behavior was observed for the EXT + TO group compared to the EXT group during Phase 3. Possible variables influencing these results are discussed.