Abstract

VILLAS-BOAS, Alessandra; HAYDU, Verônica Bender  and  TOMANARI, Gerson Yukio. Behavioral resurgence: conceptual construction upon experimental foundations. Perspectivas [online]. 2010, vol.1, n.1, pp. 5-14. ISSN 2177-3548.

In a given situation, when a recently reinforced behavior is no more reinforced, behaviors that were previously reinforced under similar circumstances tend to re-occur. Behaviors that are re-emitted under such conditions have been analyzed in behavior analysis under the term behavioral resurgence. In the present article, we will initially describe historical studies on resurgence. Thereafter, we will analyze resurgence based on a series of factors that affect it, among which are the previous extinction of the resurgent behavior, the degree of reinforcement the resurgent behavior had been exposed to, the role of the reinforcer, the effects of response rates and reinforcer rates, the demonstration of resurgent stimulus classes, etc. Finally, we will analyze the concept of resurgence, considering other inter-related phenomenon, for instance, the behavioral variation that typically follows an extinction process, and the spontaneous recovery of a response. By doing that, we aim to identify the particulars of the concept of resurgence, assessing it with respect to its possible relevance.

Keywords : resurgence; behavioral variation; spontaneous recovery; behavior analysis.

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