Multiple‐context training mitigates renewal during differential reinforcement

Renewal occurs when a behavior is reduced in one context but reemerges when transitioning to a different context, which poses challenges for behavioral interventions. This preclinical research evaluated whether multiple‐context training could mitigate renewal of operant behavior eliminated with extinction and differential reinforcement of an alternative behavior (DRA + EXT) in humans recruited through crowdsourcing. In each of two experiments, three groups received conditioning, with point deliveries as reinforcers for a target‐button press within Context A. During DRA + EXT, multiple‐context training arranged nine alternations among three contexts (BCD) for one group, while the other two groups experienced equal DRA + EXT exposure but within a single context (B). During testing, the control group remained in Context B while multiple‐ and single‐context groups transitioned to either the original Context A (Experiment 1) or a novel Context E (Experiment 2). Both experiments provided the first evidence suggesting multiple‐context training can mitigate renewal with DRA + EXT contingencies. However, the present findings joined others showing multiple‐context training slowed reductions in target responding during DRA + EXT compared with single‐context training, suggesting trade‐offs in the use of this mitigation strategy.