C (11:14)
Where we're like, we fixed that problem and we're done. We wash our hands of it and we will never expect to see that again. Well, that is a little bit shortsighted. Just in the same way that train and hope isn't really preparing someone for the future. If we were to never anticipate that behavior might return under some set of conditions, that would also be shortsighted. So in fact, there are many times and ways in which this can happen. And we call it by many names. As we have already alluded to. The umbrella term is relapse here. And he. He's sort of like hems and haws about, should we call it relapse? Because that's something that. It's a lay term, but it actually is useful. But it's not only unwanted behavior, it can also be wanted behavior that returns. So eventually he was like, okay, the umbrella term of relapse is fine. But more, there are more specific terms and definitions that relate to, you know, particular, particular contextual reoccurrences of behavior. And we have Studies in this episode, no, in this issue that are going to address several of those. And so if, you know, the term resurgence that falls underneath this umbrella of relapse, renewal, reinstatement, reacquisition, and spontaneous recovery all have a certain set of conditions that, you know, precede them. And then when you see behavior pop back up under that set of conditions, it takes on that title. So we'll go over a few of those as we go over some of these studies. So, you know, they note here that there are just still lots of questions that remain about learning and extinction and suppression of responding under varying conditions. Do we really have an understanding of what extinction is doing when it's in place versus when we see, you know, other forms of behavior reduction strategies that are in place? It's likely that those have. Are decreasing or weakening responses under, you know, using different principles or properties of behavior. And therefore we might expect to see varying likeliness of behavior reoccurring later, depending on what that initial context was. The state and condition and context under which behavior is occurring as well can make a difference. He talks about is it the case where we see what he calls inhibitory learning? Right? So not, you know, no longer doing something that's really contextually dependent and that that may change based on the rate of responding and. Or the rate of reinforcement that's available there. And the summary of that is, gosh, there's just so many different variables that we don't necessarily know what all may be at play at any given time. So in this article, in this issue, they're going to go through several different looks at relapse under a variety of those names that I just mentioned. He notes that organisms seem to learn in experiments when there are fewer training trials per session leading to faster acquisition. But more training trials can also generate higher levels of responding. And then those higher levels of responding make greater spans of training, which could generate spontaneous recovery over time. So when a spontaneous recovery you see sort of re. Reemergence down the road of it previously extinguished behavior. So that is something to take into consideration. And then he brings up the question of delivery of the primary reinforcer. So is it possible that responding under a certain set of conditions after the behavior's been extinguished, right. When you then again see a cue that had been associated with a primary reinforcer in the past that has since been extinguished, when that is present, is more likely that you then see behavior reoccur? Is it possible that there's an increase in motivation for the primary reinforcer when you once Again, see that cue that's present. And if that's the case, then that might be why under that set of conditions, we see a resurgence of responding. And then some of the research in this area is based or has been done with addiction. Right. And so he talks again about just the highly reinforcing value of addictive substances and how there may be sort of a limited window in which that motivation is exceptionally strong. And once you're past that sort of temporally associated window, then behavior may be more likely to remain at low levels. So there's both contextual components here and temporal components that may increase the likelihood of behavior reoccurring.