GS4 Student Scholars Symposium

ABA renewal is a treatment relapse phenomenon in which previously extinguished target behavior recurs upon returning to a familiar context. In renewal, a target response may receive reinforcement in an original context, referred to as Context A, but is extinguished in a separate context, referred to as Context B. Despite extinction, rates of target responding may be observed when the individual is returned to Context A. One method to mitigate renewal is to increase similarity between contexts by programming stimuli across both Contexts A and B. The current investigation had 31 college undergraduate students participate in a three-phase ABA renewal arrangement implementing differential reinforcement of alternative responses in a translational preparation. The results replicated previous research observing ABA renewal phenomena despite differential reinforcement and further observed that renewal may be less robust and more variable when stimuli are programmed using eye-tracking software.