Psych 282 - Chapter 5 - Extinction PDF

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Jeffrey Pisklak ...

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Chapter 5 – Extinction Instruction  Reinforcement is responsible for the acquisition and maintained of operant behavior  Extinction weakens operant behavior  Response Consequence  Rae puts money in the coffee machine No coffee comes out of coffee machine OUTCOME: Rae is less likely to put money in the coffee machine in the future Defining Extinction  Operant Extinction: The process by which, when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer followed by the reinforcing consequences, the frequency of the behavior decreases in the future  Respondent Extinction: The process by which, when a conditioned stimulus (CS) is no longer paired with an unconditioned stimulus (US), the CS gradually ceases to elicit the conditioned response (CR)  Occurs when… o A behavior that has been previously reinforced o No longer results in the reinforcing consequences o And, therefore, the behavior stops occurring in the future  As long as a behavior is reinforced, at least intermittently, it will continue to occur o If the behavior is no longer followed by a reinforcing consequence, however, the person will stop engaging in the behavior o When behavior stops occurring, because it is no longer reinforced, we say that the behavior has undergone extinction or that the behavior has been extinguished Talking About Extinction Correctly  It is correct to say you extinguished a behavior; it is not correct to say you “extincted” a behavior  It is correct to say you put a behavior on extinction; it is not correct to say you put a person on extinction  It is correct to say a behavior is extinguished; it is not correct to say a behavior is extinct Extinction Burst  One characteristic of the extinction process is that once the behavior is no longer reinforced, it often increases briefly in frequency, duration, or intensity before it decreases and ultimately stops  Extinction Burst: Increase in frequency, duration, or intensity of the unreinforced behavior during the extinction process  Novel behaviors (behaviors that do not typically occur in a particular situation) may occur for a brief period when a behavior is no longer reinforced  Emotional responses may occur during extinction bursts  Extinction burst, which involves an increase in the unreinforced behavior or the occurrence of novel and emotional behaviors for a brief period is a natural reaction to the termination of reinforcement Extinction Burst When behavior is no longer reinforced, three things may happen… 1. The behavior may briefly increase in frequency, duration, or intensity 2. Novel behaviors may occur 3. Emotional responses or aggressive behavior may occur Spontaneous Recovery  Operant Spontaneous Recovery: The process in which, when an operant behavior has been extinguished, the behavior may occur at a later time in circumstances in which it was usually reinforced o A natural tendency for the behavior to occur again in situations that are similar to those in which it occurred and was reinforced before extinction  Respondent Spontaneous Recovery: The process in which, when a conditioned response (CR) has been extinguished, the CR may occur at a later time when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is presented again  If extinction is still in place when spontaneous recovery occurs – that is, if there is no reinforcement – the behavior will not continue for long Procedural Variation of Extinction  Extinction of a positively reinforced behavior involves withholding the consequence that was previously delivered after the behavior o When the behavior no longer results in the delivery of the reinforcing consequence, the behavior no longer occurs  Extinction of a negatively reinforced behavior therefore involves eliminating the escape or avoidance that was reinforcing the behavior o When the behavior no longer results in escape or avoidance of an aversive behavior, the behavior eventually stops Procedural Variations of Extinction  The positive reinforcement is no longer delviered after the behavior  The aversive stimulus is no longer removed after the behavior A Common Misconception About Extinction

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Although extinction is procedurally different depending on the type of reinforcement for the behavior, the outcome is always the same: the behavior stops Extinction means withholding the reinforcer for a behavior – ignoring the problem behavior functions as extinction only if attention is the reinforcer

Factors That Influence Extinction  There are two important factors that influence the extinction process: the reinforcement schedule before extinction and the occurrence of reinforcement after extinction  When a behavior is continuously reinforced, it decreases rapidly once the reinforcement is terminated o Continuous reinforcement – every occurrence of behavior results in a reinforcer o i.e. If you put money in to a vending machine and push the button, you always get the item you want; you would not continue to put the money into a vending machine if you no longer got the item you paid for  Lack of reinforcement would be immediately apparent  When a behavior is intermittently reinforced, it often decreases more gradually once the reinforcement is terminated o Intermittent reinforcement – not every occurrence of behavior results in a reinforcer o i.e. If you put money into a slot machine, it is only occasionally reinforced by hitting the jackpot and winning money from the machine  Harder to stop because it is more difficult to determine that there is no longer reinforcement for the behavior  Resistance to Extinction: The tendency for a person to continue to respond after extinction is in effect for the behavior; intermittent reinforcement schedules make the behavior more resentment to extinction than do continuous reinforcement schedules  Continuous reinforcement before extinction produces much less resistance to extinction  Because of resistance to extinction, the reinforcement schedule before extinction has implications for the successful use of extinction in a behavior modification program  If reinforcement occurs in the course of extinction, it takes longer for the behavior to decrease Chapter Summary  Extinction is a basic behavioral principal o IT occurs when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer reinforced, and as a result, the behavior decreases and stops occurring  Extinction often is characterized by an extinction burst, in which the unreinforced behavior temporarily increases in frequency, intensity, or duration, or novel behaviors or emotional responses are exhibited temporarily  Procedurally, extinction is different for behaviors that re positively reinforced than those that are negatively reinforced o In each case, however, the particular reinforcer for the behavior is withheld, and the outcome is the elimination of the behavior o With extinction of appositively reinforced behavior, the positive reinforcer is no longer delivered after the behavior o With extinction of a negatively reinforced behavior, the aversive stimulus is no longer removed after the behavior  A common misconception about extinction is that extinction mean ignoring the behavior o Ignoring the behavior functions as extinction only if attention was the reinforcer for the behavior  The behavior decreases more rapidly during extinction if the behavior was reinforced on a continuous schedule before extinction and if the behavior is never reinforced during the extinction process Key Terms  Extinction: The process by which, when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer followed by the reinforcing consequences, the frequency of the behavior decreases in the future  Extinction Burst: The phenomenon in when, when a behavior is no longer reinforced, the behavior temporarily increases in frequency, duration, or intensity before it decreases; novel behaviors or emotional response may also occur in an extinction burst  Resistance to Extinction: The tendency for a person to continue to respond after extinction is in effect for the behavior; intermittent reinforcement schedules make the behavior more resentment to extinction than do continuous reinforcement schedules  Spontaneous Recovery: The process in which, when an operant behavior has been extinguished, the behavior may occur again in the future in circumstances in which it was previously reinforced

Practice Test 1. What is the behavioral definition of extinction?

2.

Provide an example of extinction.

3.

What is an extinction burst (what three things happen in an extinction burst)?

4.

Provide an example of an extinction burst.

5.

Draw a graph of extinction. Be sure to show the extinction burst.

6.

What is negative reinforcement? Explain the extinction of a negatively reinforced behavior.

7.

Provide an example of an extinction of a negatively reinforced behavior.

8.

Extinction is not the same thing as ignoring. Explain this statement.

9.

Explain how the reinforcement schedule for a behavior (continuous or intermittent) influences extinction of the behavior.

10. What happens to a behavior when it is accidently reinforced during the extinction process?

11. Draw a graph of extinction that shows what happens when a behavior is accidentally reinforced.

12. What is spontaneous recovery during extinction?...