Resurgence of derived stimulus relations: Replication and extensions

Abstract

Resurgence typically refers to the recovery of a previously reinforced response when a more recently reinforced response is extinguished. Under conditions of punishment, Wilson and Hayes (1996) observed the recovery of derived stimulus relations that never had been correlated with differential consequences. The present study systematically replicated the findings of Wilson and Hayes by observing the recovery of derived stimulus relations under extinction conditions and with an additional equivalence class. College students received arbitrary-matching-to-sample training in Phase 1 that resulted in four 4-member stimulus-equivalence classes. These derived relations were not correlated with differential consequences. In Phase 2, with the same stimuli, the students received training that resulted in four different 4-member stimulus-equivalence classes. After the emergence and reinforcement of the latter derived relations, their extinction generated the recurrence of the derived relations from Phase 1. The implications of these findings for conceptualizing resurgence are discussed.