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Abstract This study investigated how goal‐directed and habitual behaviors recover after extinction within the context of the resurgence effect, a form of relapse induced by the removal or worsening of alternative reinforcement. Rats were trained to press a target lever with one reinforcer (O1) for either minimal (4) or extended (16) sessions. An extinction test after the completion of O1 devaluation confirmed that minimal and extended training formed goal‐directed and habitual behaviors, respectively. Then, pressing an alternative lever was reinforced with a second reinforcer (O2) while the target response was placed on extinction. When O2 was discontinued, the minimally trained target response resurged with goal‐directed status as in the extinction test. However, the extinguished habitual behavior in the extensively trained rats did not recover as a habit but instead with goal‐directed status, possibly due to the context specificity of habits or the introduction of a new response–reinforcer contingency. The critical finding that reinforcer devaluation consistently led to less resurgence regardless of the amount of acquisition training provides a clinical implication that coupling differential‐reinforcement‐of‐alternative‐behavior (DRA) treatments with the devaluation of the associated reinforcer of problematic behavior could effectively diminish its recurrence.

Abstract Functional analysis methods allow clinicians to determine the variable(s) that maintain destructive behavior. Previous reviews of functional analysis outcomes have included large samples of published and unpublished data sets (i.e., clinical samples). The purpose of this review was to conduct a large retrospective consecutive controlled case series of clinical functional analyses. We sought to identify the prevalence of differentiation, procedural modifications for undifferentiated and differentiated cases, and identified function(s) of destructive behavior. In addition, we extended the existing literature by determining whether functional analysis differentiation and function varied when single or multiple behavior topographies were consequated in the functional analysis. We discuss our findings considering previously published functional analysis reviews, provide avenues for future research, and offer suggestions for clinical practice.

Abstract This article summarizes a review of the book The Supervisor's Guidebook: Evidence‐Based Strategies for Promoting Work Quality and Enjoyment Among Human Service Staff (2nd edition) by Reid, Parsons, and Green. We describe the book's organization and content. In addition, strengths and areas for improvement are noted. The book provides rich, relevant content to guide supervisory practices within a participative, evidence‐based approach that could be applied in various human service settings.

Abstract The peer‐review component of the editorial process is designed to facilitate quality control, legitimize scientific research, and self‐regulate scientific communities. Even though serving as a reviewer undoubtedly has direct and indirect benefits, the peer‐review system and the methods of teaching scholars to conduct reviews are nascent and relatively underdeveloped. This article describes the peer‐review process and provides recommendations for writing reviews for scientific journals. The recommendations were developed based on the expertise and preferences of editors in chief and associate editors for behavior‐analytic journals (Cengher & LeBlanc, 2024), and they include honoring your responsibility, knowing your audience, being constructive and kind, and carefully evaluating the merits of the study or review. These guidelines may serve as a primer for scholars who want to conduct reviews for scientific journals in behavior analysis.

Abstract This study investigated the effects of self‐monitoring and public posting on the cycling performance of competitive youth cyclists. We measured three primary dependent variables: performance volume, intensity precision, and performance‐duration deviation. In addition, we evaluated self‐monitoring accuracy and social validity. The participants were three males aged 14–16 years. We used an ABAB design to evaluate an intervention package that consisted primarily of self‐monitoring and public posting. Athletes self‐monitored their performance after training using an online summative Google Form. The coach publicly posted performance‐based rankings on the social media application WhatsApp. Results indicate that the intervention package positively improved all performance measures across all athletes. Social‐validity measures were also favorable.

Abstract In the dictator game, the evidence that giving is equivalent to taking is mixed. The purpose of this study was to investigate framing effects (giving/taking) on social‐discounting rates among young African adults from an informal settlement in South Africa. Employing a within‐participant design, these young adults completed a series of incentivized dictator games with an isomorphically equivalent giving and taking frame at each of eight social distances. Altruism was measured by the social‐discounting rate, and framing effects were assessed using generalized linear regression. The study provides empirical evidence that prosocial behavior among young South African adults is subject to framing because exponential, hyperbolic, and q‐exponential social‐discounting rates in all instances were lower in the taking than in the giving frame. This difference may be the result of greater “egalitarianism” and “selflessness” elicited by the taking frame, which likely is a product of the experiment's particular social and economic field context. More comparative research is required to establish the working of specific mechanics of morality that may operate differently in diverse socioeconomic contexts, thus contributing to elucidating the heterogeneous nature of findings in this area of study.

Abstract Goal‐directed and habitual actions are clearly defined by their associative relations. Whereas goal‐directed control can be confirmed via tests of outcome devaluation and contingency‐degradation sensitivity, a comparable criterion for positively detecting habits has not been established. To confirm habitual responding, a test of control by the stimulus–response association is required while also ruling out goal‐directed control. Here we describe an approach to developing such a test in rats using two discriminative stimuli that set the occasion for two different responses that then earn the same outcome. Performance was insensitive to outcome devaluation and showed stimulus–response specificity, indicative of stimulus‐controlled behavior. The reliance of stimulus–response associations was further supported by a lack of sensitivity during the single extinction test session used here. These results demonstrate that two concurrently trained responses can come under habitual control when they share a common outcome. By reducing the ability of one stimulus to signal its corresponding response–outcome association, we found evidence for goal‐directed control that can be dissociated from habits. Overall, these experiments provide evidence that tests assessing specific stimulus–response associations can be used to investigate habits.

Abstract Knee osteoarthritis is among the most prevalent chronic diseases. Total knee arthroplasty is a common solution that effectively addresses the continued structural degeneration of the articular cartilage. However, effective physical therapy is critical for recovery. Despite participating in physical therapy, many patients fail to recover. This study investigated the potential efficacy of a behaviorally informed approach to surface electromyographic biofeedback following total knee arthroplasty relative to the clinical standard, neuromuscular electrical stimulation. The surface electromyographic biofeedback procedure incorporated improved techniques for establishing a baseline and individualized and adjusting criteria for feedback. The findings suggest some advantages for surface electromyographic biofeedback over neuromuscular electrical stimulation in quadriceps strength, range of motion, functional recovery, and quality of life. Behaviorally informed surface electromyographic biofeedback holds promise for total knee arthroplasty recovery and these data suggest considerable room for collaboration between behavior analysts and physical therapists.

Abstract In treatments based on differential reinforcement of alternative behavior, applied researchers and clinicians often provide multiple, qualitatively different reinforcers (i.e., synthesized reinforcement) rather than a single reinforcer (i.e., isolated reinforcement) contingent on alternative behavior. Some research shows that providing synthesized reinforcement for alternative responses within such treatments produces more rapid and complete suppression of target behavior; however, there is limited research evaluating the durability of these effects during treatment disruptions. Conceptual explanations of resurgence (e.g., resurgence as choice, context theory) suggest that treatments that include synthesized alternative reinforcement may lead to more resurgence of target behavior when alternative reinforcement is disrupted relative to treatments using isolated reinforcement. We evaluated this hypothesis within a three‐phase resurgence evaluation. We exposed rats to isolated or synthesized reinforcement for alternative responding in the second phase, and we exposed rats to extinction in the third phase. Synthesized alternative reinforcement produced more rapid and complete suppression of target behavior than did isolated reinforcement in the second phase; however, exposure to extinction following synthesized reinforcement produced more resurgence. We discuss these results in terms of their implications for applied research and their support for current conceptual explanations for resurgence.