Chapter 5 Decreasing a Behavior with Extinction Study Questions 1 What are the two parts to the principle of extinction The principle extinction operant states a if in a given situation an individual emits a previously reinforced behavior and that behavior is not followed by a reinforcer b then that person is less likely to do the same thing again when next encountering a similar situation 2 Is telling someone to stop eating candies and the person stops an example of extinction Explain why or why not on the basis of the definition No because the person who is telling the other person to stop eating candies is reinforcing the behavior by acknowledging it 3 Is a parent ignoring a child s behavior an example of extinction Explain why or why not on the basis of the definition of extinction No because we don t know if the behavior was previously being reinforced 4 Suppose that immediately after an instance of swearing parents remove a portion of the child s weekly allowance and the result is that swearing decreases Is this an example of extinction Explain why or why not Yes because the weekly allowance reinforces doing chores If the child swears and some of his her weekly allowance is taken away then this puts swearing on extinction 5 What is the difference between forgetting and extinction Extinction differs from each of these in that extinction weakens behavior as a result of being emitted without being reinforced In forgetting a behavior is weakened as a function of time following its last occurrence 6 Explain the difference in terms of procedure and results between the loss of value of a conditioned reinforcer see Chapter 4 and the extinction of a positively reinforced behavior 7 If a behavior that was maintained by positive reinforcement is not reinforced at least once in a while what will happen to the behavior The behavior will eventually become extinct 8 Why did the mother s attempt to extinguish the child s cookie eating fail refer to Figure 5 2 The actual reinforcer for the behavior must always be withheld 9 Examine Table 5 1 Which of those examples involve positive reinforcement for an alternative response For those that do not indicate how positive reinforcement for an alternative response might be introduced Example 4 Keep ignoring the behavior but provide an example of correct behavior without actually talking to or acknowledging the person you are trying to positively reinforce 10 Why is it necessary to consider the setting as a factor influencing your extinction program It is important to consider the setting in which extinction will be carried out to a minimize the influence of alternative reinforcers on the undesirable behavior to be extinguished and b maximize the chances of the behavior modifier persisting with the program 11 Describe a particular behavior you would like to decrease in a child with whom you have contact Would your extinction program require a special setting Why or why not 12 13 14 15 16 17 I would like to decrease Andrew s rough housing behavior My extinction program would require a household setting because if I were to use my program in a public setting passersby might think I m deliberately verbally abusing my friend s child Define continuous reinforcement and give an example Continuous reinforcement is an arrangement in which each instance of a particular response is reinforced Suppose you are writing with a pen that suddenly stops What do you do You probably shake it up and down a couple of times and try to write with it a few more times If it still doesn t write you throw it away and get another pen Define intermittent reinforcement and give an example Intermittent reinforcement is an arrangement in which a response is reinforced only occasionally i e intermittently rather than every time it occurs Now suppose that you are writing with another pen This second pen occasionally skips You shake it a few times and write some more and then is misses some more Each time you shake it it writes a little more Now comes the question In which situation are you likely to persist longer in shaking and attempting to use the pen Obviously the second because the pen occasionally quits but it usually writes again What is the effect of continuous versus intermittent reinforcement on the resistance to the extinction of a behavior Extinction is often quicker after continuous reinforcement than after intermittent reinforcement If you try to extinguish a behavior that has been reinforced intermittently you must prepare for extinction to take longer What is an extinction burst Describe an example An increase in responding during extinction is commonly referred to as an extinction burst Suppose a child in a classroom is constantly raising her or his hand and snapping her or his fingers to gain the teacher s attention A teacher who keeps track of the frequency of finger snapping for a while and then introduces extinction that is ignores the finger snapping would probably observe an increase in finger snapping during the first few minutes of extinction before the behavior gradually began to taper off What is spontaneous recovery Describe an example The reappearance of an extinguished behavior following a rest is called spontaneous recovery Suppose that the teacher initiated an extinction program for finger snapping when the student returned to school after lunch During first hour 10 instances of finger snapping occurred and the teacher and the other students ignored each Let s suppose further that there were no instances of finger snapping during the remainder of the afternoon and that the teacher assumed that finger snapping had been successfully extinguished When the teacher returned to class the next morning however another five instances of finger snapping occurred during the first hour of school This would be spontaneous recovery of finger snapping In a sentence for each describe eight general factors influencing the effectiveness of extinction Controlling reinforcers for the behavior that is to be decreased 18 19 20 21 Extinction of a behavior combined with positive reinforcement for an alternative behavior The setting in which extinction is carried out Instructions use rules Extinction is quicker after continuous reinforcement Behavior being extinguished may get worse before it gets better Extinction may produce aggression that interferes with the program Extinguished behavior may reappear after a delay Describe two examples of extinction that you have