Abstract:
Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR) has been shown as an effective treatment to reduce problem behaviours maintained by different functions, in different forms, and combined with other behavioural-reduction procedures. Behavioural momentum theory asserts that adding NCR to the same context where the problem behaviour is reinforced will be likely to increase resistance to change. Schedule thinning is one of the applicable solutions to reduce the resistance to change and enhance the treatment effectiveness in a long term. However, basic, translational, and applied research have demonstrated behaviour resurgence during thinning. Resurgence is often studied when thinning the alternative response in differential reinforcement of alternative behaviour (DRA), but little attention has been drawn on the NCR thinning process. Therefore, the present thesis made a translational evaluation of the effects of NCR and its subsequent thinning with two experiments, one with pigeons (Experiment 1) and one with university students (Experiment 2). Due to the research gap in NCR thinning and resurgence, the present experiments employed a similar three-phase procedure that was often used in DRA thinning literature to assess resurgence in the rapid and gradual thinning conditions. Both experiments demonstrated the disruptive effects of NCR on reducing the target behaviour and some degree of resurgence during NCR thinning. However, no systematic differences in target responding between the rapid thinning and gradual thinning conditions were found. The possible contributing variables to the present results and future areas of research were discussed. In general, the present thesis made the first attempt to address NCR thinning effects on resurgence and might provide insights for future research on assessing resurgence during NCR thinning process in a more systematic way.