An increase in behavior following the removal of the punishment contingency is called which term?

• A. Spontaneous recovery
• B. Resurgence
• C. Recovery from punishment
• D. Extinction burst

Answer: (C)

When the punishment contingent on a behavior is removed, the behavior can rebound. This rise is known as recovery from punishment. Punishment suppresses the response, and once that suppressive effect is gone, the previously punished behavior often increases again, sometimes returning toward its baseline level.

This is different from extinction burst, which refers to a temporary surge in responding at the start of extinction when reinforcement is no longer delivered. It’s also distinct from spontaneous recovery, which describes the return of an extinguished behavior after a period without exposure to the extinction conditions. Resurgence involves the reappearance of a previously reinforced behavior when reinforcement for a newer, alternative behavior is removed.