Date of Award:
5-2014
Document Type:
Dissertation
Degree Name:
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department:
Psychology
Committee Chair(s)
Timothy A. Shahan
Committee
Timothy A. Shahan
Committee
Gregory J. Madden
Committee
Amy L. Odum
Committee
Timothy A. Slocum
Committee
Michael P. Twohig
Abstract
Mary M. Sweeney, graduate student in the Experimental and Applied Psychological Sciences program at Utah State University, will complete this dissertation as part of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology.
One approach to reducing a behavior with a history of reward is to remove the reward for the target behavior to be reduced and introduce reward for an alternative behavior. When alternative reward is removed, though, relapse termed resurgence can occur. The broad purpose of this dissertation is to examine the variables that contribute to the persistence and resurgence of a behavior. The results of two experiments with pigeons suggest that the longer reward is removed for the target and alternative reward provided, the less resurgence should occur. Relapse can also occur when there is a change in environment or context from when the behavior was successfully reduced, called renewal. One study with rats as subjects proposed a novel methodology for studying resurgence and renewal together, and suggests alternative reward delivered in a different context does not make relapse worse than alternative reward removal or context change alone. The final study was conducted with college undergraduates, and attempted to develop a procedure for studying resurgence in adult humans that could easily test the generality of resurgence studies with animals. Although the participants’ behavior was shaped by reward, resurgence was never observed on the target beyond a control response that was never associated with reward.
Checksum
e4053cc71f83cf346edf9223a8b9ebbc
Recommended Citation
Sweeney, Mary M., "Predictors of Persistence and Resurgence: Evaluation of a Behavioral Momentum-Based Approach" (2014). All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023. 2182.
https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/etd/2182
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