EXTINCTION

• A behavior that has been

a previously reinforced

• no longer results in the

b reinforcing consequences

• and, therefore, the behavior

c stops occurring in the future
• Behavior is reinforced even if the reinforcement
occurs intermittently
• Skinner and other behaviorists conducted
experiments on animals
• Williams (1959) illustrated the effectiveness of
extinction in decreasing the nighttime tantrums
of a young child
Response Consequence

Child’s tantrums at bed time no parental attention

• Hasazi and Hasazi (1972), who used extinction
to reduce arithmetic errors made by an 8-
year-old boy.
• Eliminating attention and extra help for doing
maths problems wrong…side by side praising
the correct answer.

• Read all other examples for extinction (Bring

Articles)
EXTINCTION BURST
 • The behavior may briefly increase
a in frequency, duration, or intensity.

• Novel behaviors may occur.

b

• Emotional responses or aggressive

c behavior may occur.
 SPONTANEOUS RECOVERY
• behavior may occur again
• situations that are similar to those in which it occurred before
extinction
• If behavior occurs during the process of extinction but no
longer reinforced it will go away
• Procedural Variation:
1. The positive reinforcer is no longer delivered after the
behavior.
2. The aversive stimulus is no longer removed after the behavior.
(going home late & lying to avoid parental punishment—but if it
no longer provide safety then lying will be eliminated)
Popular Misconception about Extinction: its simply ignoring the behavior

IT INCLUDES IGNORING BUT ONLY

IF ATTENTION IS A REINFORCER
DO MORE EXAMPLES (RESEARCH
EXAMPLES+EVERY DAY EXAMPLES IN
YOUR NOTE BOOK)
 FACTORSTHAT INFLUENCE EXTINCION

1. The reinforcement schedule before

extinction and
2. The occurrence of reinforcement after
extinction (if behavior is reinforced during
extinction)
Continuous: will decrease quickly
Intermittent: will decrease slowly
EXERCISE (MILTENBERGER PG:115-
117)