Resurgence
The return of a previously extinguished behavior when a more recently reinforced behavior is placed on extinction or receives much less reinforcement.
Resurgence usually involves two behaviors. First, a problem behavior was placed on extinction while an alternative behavior, such as a communication response taught through FCT, was reinforced. Later, the alternative behavior stops being reinforced or is reinforced much less often. When that happens, the older problem behavior may come back, even though it has not been reinforced for some time.
Resurgence is a real risk in everyday settings. It can occur when a caregiver does not respond to a client's break request, when a new staff member does not recognize the client's sign for help, or when the supervisor thins the schedule for the replacement behavior too quickly. Supervisors reduce the risk by having everyone respond consistently to the replacement behavior, thinning reinforcement gradually, and teaching the client to wait or accept a delay.
For the RBT, the key is to reinforce the replacement behavior exactly as the plan states, every time it is required, and to notice when problem behavior returns after a lapse in reinforcement for the alternative behavior. Recording both behaviors makes the pattern visible.
Resurgence differs from spontaneous recovery, which follows a passage of time rather than a loss of reinforcement for a different behavior, and from an extinction burst, which happens when extinction of the problem behavior first begins.
Example and non-example
| Example | A client learned to say "break, please" instead of hitting. At a new school, staff often ignore the request, and hitting, which had been near zero for months, starts again. |
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| Non-example | A client's hitting increases sharply on the first day it is placed on extinction. That is an extinction burst. |
Don't confuse it with
| Spontaneous recovery | Spontaneous recovery follows a passage of time, while resurgence follows extinction or reduced reinforcement of a newer alternative behavior. |
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| Extinction burst | An extinction burst is an increase in the behavior currently being extinguished, while resurgence is the return of an older, previously extinguished behavior. |
Test yourself
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Question 1What is resurgence?
Show answer
C: The return of an old behavior when an alternative behavior stops being reinforced. Resurgence happens when reinforcement for a recently learned behavior stops or drops, and a previously reinforced behavior, often the old problem behavior, comes back.
- A: That describes an extinction burst.
- B: That describes spontaneous recovery.
- D: That describes behavioral contrast.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 2A client learned to sign BREAK instead of hitting, and hitting had stopped. One day a substitute staff member does not honor the signs, and the client starts hitting again. What is this called?
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C: Resurgence. When the replacement behavior (signing) stopped being reinforced, the older behavior (hitting) returned. That is resurgence, and it shows why everyone must honor replacement behaviors consistently.
- A: Spontaneous recovery follows a break in time, not the loss of reinforcement for a replacement behavior.
- B: A burst would be an increase in signing, the behavior now on extinction, not the return of hitting.
- D: Hitting is an old behavior returning, not a new form of behavior.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
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Question 3What is the key difference between spontaneous recovery and resurgence?
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D: Spontaneous recovery follows a break; resurgence follows lost reinforcement for an alternative. Spontaneous recovery is an extinguished behavior coming back after a break, such as a weekend. Resurgence is an old behavior coming back because a newer alternative behavior stopped being reinforced.
- A: Both are discussed as effects linked to extinction; neither is defined by punishment.
- B: Both involve a previously reinforced behavior coming back.
- C: Neither is defined by a set duration.
Task D.6 · 40-hour curriculum section E
Answer every question to see your score.
On the RBT exam
This term belongs to task D.6 Secondary effects of extinction and punishment in content area D, Behavior Reduction, which is 14 of the 75 scored questions.