Abstract
Schedule thinning is a common clinical procedure used to make behavioral interventions such as functional communication training more feasible in the community. Unfortunately, problem behavior is likely to recur when schedule thinning is conducted (i.e., resurgence). Recent research has identified resurgence in a rather significant number of outpatient schedule thinning applications and suggest resurgence is relatively common in clinical settings. To examine the consistency and generality of these findings, we replicated the procedures described by recent investigations to quantify the prevalence of resurgence of problem behavior following schedule thinning in an inpatient setting. We identified resurgence in 91% of schedule thinning applications, indicating that resurgence is likely to occur regardless of the treatment setting. Clinical implications, recommendations, and future directions for building more durable behavioral treatments are discussed.