Economics of Extinction
Purpose:
To evaluate whether extinction bursts (i.e., temporary increases in rate or intensity of behavior during extinction) of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) are controlled by an interaction between the demand for reinforcers which maintain behavior and baseline schedules of reinforcement.
The outcomes of this project will provide insight into the ways in which researchers can mitigate the undesirable collateral effects (i.e., extinction bursts) of therapeutic action (i.e., extinction) against severe challenging behavior.