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Previously reinforced responses can reappear when reinforcement is withdrawn from current responding. This is known as resurgence. Although resurgence of response topography, spacing, and patterns over time has been demonstrated, there is no evidence of resurgence of response duration. This experiment explored resurgence of response duration in humans. In Phase 1 a multiple schedule of reinforcement with two components was used. In each component a chained variable-interval 30 s, variable-ratio 3 schedule was implemented. In the terminal link of the chained schedule, response durations between 0.1 and 0.5 s were reinforced during one component, and between 2 and 8 s in the other component. In Phase 2, response requirement during the terminal link of the chained schedule was inverted between components relative to Phase 1. In Phase 3 the chained schedule was changed to a variable-interval 30-s, extinction 30 s. Resurgence of the durations trained during Phase 1 was observed. It was concluded that duration is a response dimension that reappears during extinction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two experiments were conducted to identify the conditions likely to produce resurgence among adult human participants. The preparation was a simulated caregiving Context, wherein a recorded infant cry sounded and was terminated contingent upon targeted caregiving responses. Results of Experiment 1 demonstrated resurgence with human participants in this negative reinforcement preparation. Results of Experiment 2 showed that responses with a longer history of reinforcement showed a stronger resurgence effect relative to responses with a shorter and more recent history of reinforcement. These results show that the resurgence phenomenon occurs across populations and types of reinforcers. Additionally, results indicate that length of reinforcement history is a variable that may affect the magnitude of resurgence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]