The effects of response cost in the treatment of aberrant behavior maintained by negative reinforcement

Positive reinforcement contingencies can sometimes be used to decrease problem behavior maintained by negative reinforcement (e.g., escape). In the current study we evaluated the extent to which response cost (i.e., contingent removal of a preferred stimulus) would compete with the negative reinforcer maintaining destructive behavior. The response cost contingency reduced destructive behavior by 87% from baseline levels even though the negative reinforcement contingency (i.e., escape) remained in place.