Andrew R. Craig

Resurgence refers to the relapse of a target behavior following the worsening of a source of alternative reinforcement that was made available during response elimination. Most laboratory analyses of resurgence have used a combination of extinction and alternative reinforcement to reduce target behavior. In contingency‐management treatments for alcohol use disorder, however, alcohol use is not placed on extinction. Instead, participants voluntarily abstain from alcohol use to access nondrug alternative reinforcers. Inasmuch, additional laboratory research on resurgence following voluntary abstinence is warranted. The present experiment evaluated resurgence of rats' ethanol seeking following voluntary abstinence produced by differential reinforcement of other behavior (DRO). Lever pressing produced ethanol reinforcers during baseline phases. During DRO phases, lever pressing continued to produce ethanol and food reinforcers were delivered according to resetting DRO schedules. Ethanol and food reinforcers were suspended during resurgence test phases to evaluate resurgence following voluntary abstinence. Lever pressing was elevated during baseline phases and occurred at near‐zero rates during DRO phases. During the resurgence test phases, lever pressing increased, despite that it no longer produced ethanol. The procedure introduced here may help researchers better understand the variables that affect voluntary abstinence from ethanol seeking and resurgence following voluntary abstinence.

Researchers have investigated several schedule‐thinning approaches during functional communication training (FCT), including FCT with delay schedules (Delay FCT), FCT with discriminative stimuli (Signaled FCT), and FCT with delay‐and‐denial tolerance training (DDTT). Despite many publications on these approaches, it is unclear how regularly, how often, and under what conditions behavior analysts use these FCT thinning strategies. We analyzed survey data from 129 board‐certified behavior analysts® to determine (a) how often they use the three thinning approaches during FCT, (b) their most preferred thinning method, and (c) the variables (e.g., years of experience, treatment setting) associated with their most used and preferred approaches. DDTT was the most commonly implemented and preferred FCT thinning strategy. Relative to DDTT, Signaled FCT was more frequently used and preferred by doctoral‐level behavior analysts and those working in clinical settings. However, regardless of approach, behavior analysts reported several challenges that hold implications for practice and research.