| In the experimental literature, transitions with nonhuman animals are typically framed as inescapable changes in signaled reinforcement schedules resulting in a pause in responding unique to switches from rich-to-lean schedules of reinforcement. Pausing is considered to be a function of the aversive qualities of the contrasting reinforcement schedules. By contrast, transitions are typically framed in applied research as physical changes in location evoking problem behavior maintained by the escape of a programmed aversive event and/or resumption of a programmed preferred event. We attempted to translate the basic framing of transitions to behaviors and contexts of social significance (Experiment 1), create a model for the investigation of problems related to transitions (Experiment 2), and evaluate a novel treatment for the problems evoked during rich-to-lean transitions (Experiment 3). Pausing was more readily observed during transitions from rich-to-lean contexts across both qualitative and quantitative differences in reinforcement. All participants' pausing was treated with unsignaled and probabilistic rich-reinforcement presented in the lean context. |
