Basic and Applied Research on Extinction Bursts

Summary

Although highly effective, treatments like FCT include extinction, which can have adverse side effects. The extinction burst, an increase in the frequency or intensity of destructive behavior at the start of treatment, is the most common side effect of extinction, and can increase the risk of harm to the patient and others. The goal of the current study is to evaluate the prevalence of extinction bursts when various parameters of reinforcement (i.e., rate, magnitude, quality) are manipulated.

Conditions

• Problem Behavior
• Aggression
• Self Injury

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Extinction-only condition

In this condition, therapists will place destructive behavior on extinction and deliver no reinforcement for functional communication responses (FCRs).

BEHAVIORAL

Rate-drop condition

In this condition,we will place destructive behavior on extinction and deliver the functional reinforcer contingent on the FCR on a VI 15-s schedule. This change from a VI 1.5-s schedule for destructive behavior in baseline to a VI 15-s schedule for the FCR during FCT will produce a large drop in reinforcement rate during FCT relative to baseline.

BEHAVIORAL

Rate-hold condition

In this condition, we will place destructive behavior on extinction and deliver the functional reinforcer contingent on the FCR on a yoked VI 1.5-s schedule that exactly matches the rate and timing of reinforcer deliveries for destructive behavior in baseline.

BEHAVIORAL

Magnitude-drop condition

In this condition, we will place destructive behavior on extinction and deliver the functional reinforcer contingent on the FCR according to a VI 1.5-s schedule, but we will deliver the reinforcer for just 6 s each time. This change from delivering 60 s of access to the functional reinforcer following destructive behavior in baseline to delivering 6 s of reinforcer access for the FCR during FCT will produce a large reduction in the magnitude of reinforcement relative to baseline.

BEHAVIORAL

Magnitude-hold condition

This condition will be identical to the magnitude-drop condition except that we will deliver 60 s of access to the functional reinforcer contingent on the FCR, so that the magnitude of reinforcement will equal that delivered in baseline for destructive behavior. To ensure that the magnitude of reinforcement does not drop in the magnitude-hold condition, we will yoke the rate and timing of reinforcer deliveries for the FCR during FCT to the rate and timing of reinforcer deliveries for destructive behavior in baseline.

BEHAVIORAL

Quality-drop condition

In this condition, we will place destructive behavior on extinction and deliver the reinforcer from the paired-choice assessment that the participant chooses approximately 1/12th as often as the highest preference stimulus from that assessment. This change from the most preferred stimulus from the paired-choice assessment to one chosen 1/12th as often will constitute a large drop in the quality of reinforcement during FCT relative to baseline.

BEHAVIORAL

Quality-hold condition

We will place destructive behavior on extinction and deliver the most preferred reinforcer from the paired-choice assessment on a yoked VI 1.5-s schedule that exactly matches the rate and timing of reinforcer deliveries for destructive behavior in baseline in this condition.

BEHAVIORAL

Rate-drop/quality-increase condition

In this condition, we will program the same large drop in reinforcement by delivering reinforcement on a VI 15-s schedule, but we also will increase reinforcement quality by simultaneously delivering the highest quality reinforcer identified during a competing stimulus assessment. We will use the competing stimulus assessment in Ex 4 because it directly assesses the quality of alternative reinforcement relative to the quality of the reinforcer for destructive behavior, whereas the paired-choice assessment could not guarantee that the selected stimulus would be of a higher quality than the reinforcer for destructive behavior.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

3 Years

Max Age

17 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2023-07-07

Primary Completion

2028-03-01

Completion

2028-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations