An evaluation of the effects of the presence of low-preferred items on the resurgence of communicative responses in persons with developmental disabilities

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the effects of the presence of low-preferred items during phase 3 on the resurgence of a previously taught communication response in persons with developmental disabilities and communication delays. To set up the phase 3 experimental condition, two phases occurred prior to the third phase, consistent with the resurgence paradigm (Epstein, 1983): (1) the reinforcement of communication target response 1 and (2) extinction of target response 1 and reinforcement of alternative response 2. During the third phase, all responses were extinguished across conditions, and conditions alternated every 2 min between (a) a condition where two low-preferred items were available and (b) no items were available. Results were discussed in terms of treatment relapse literature and some of the challenges facing both basic and applied researchers.