Behavioral Contrast Effects

With multiple schedules of reinforcement, behavioral contrast may occur when a reduction in reinforcement on one schedule decreases the rate of the behavior on that schedule, and also increases the rate of the behavior on an unchanged schedule. The change in responding produced either by a decrease in reinforcement (including extinction) or an increase in punishment (or both) on one schedule changes the rate of the behavior on other schedules in the opposite direction

Behavioral contrast occurs when the rate of reinforcement for a behavior changes in one setting resulting in a change in the rate of that behavior, as well as a change in the opposite direction of the behavior in another setting with no change in the rate of reinforcement in the second setting. For example, a child teases a peer at school to get their attention, and teases his brother at home. The peer at school begins to ignore this behavior, so teasing the peer decreases while teasing the brother increases. 

Behavioral contrast is a name for a behavioral rate change that occurs in a direction opposite from that happening within the treatment setting, despite constant conditions in the non-treatment setting. Behavioral contrast has been observed in many cases when punishment is part of the treatment package.

When DRO contingencies are applied to behavior in a particular setting, the decrease in behavior in that setting may cause an increase in the same behavior in other settings. It is normally good practice to monitor the target behavior non-treatment settings, as well as to apply the same procedures, as this would not only control for behavior contrast, but facilitate generalization of treatment effects as well. 

A change in the schedule of reinforcement in one situation or setting may affect behavior in the opposite direction in other settings where schedules of reinforcement remain unchanged. This effect is referred to as behavioral contrast. For example, a child's father goes on a trip, leaving only his mother at home to attend to him. As a result, attention-seeking behavior decreases at home, but they increase at school although conditions in school have not changed. 

With multiple schedules of reinforcement, behavioral contrast occurs when a change in the rate of responding produced by a change in the schedule of reinforcement on one schedule changes the rate of the behavior on other schedules in the opposite direction. Therefore, an increase in reinforcement on one schedule increases the rate of the behavior on that schedule, and also decreases the rate of the behavior on unchanged schedules.