8 - Extinction & stimulus control Flashcards
What is extinction?
- The non-reinforcement of a previously reinforced response (procedure), the result of which is a decrease in the strength of that response (process)
→ the procedure here being no longer providing food at the lever press
→ the process here being the lever pressing decreasing
→ the process of extinction is the result of decrease, while the procedure is the non-reinforcement - Extinction is not forgetting
→ Extinction is not simply a process of unlearning the conditioning
→ Extinction involves learning something new about the CS
→ Extinction involves learning that the operant response no longer predicts reward
If lever pressing ceases entirely, the response is said to have been ___.
Extinguished
If lever pressing has not yet ceased entirely, then the response has been only ___ ___.
Partially extinguished
What is the critical first step in extinguishing a behaviour? Give an example.
- Determining the effective reinforcer that is maintaining a behaviour
→ Child wines (R) -> Gets candy (Sr)
→ Child wines (R) -> Attention from parent (Sr)
→ it might not be necessarily getting candy which is reinforcing the child’s whining, but rather the accompanying attention from the parent
→ if it’s the latter, then withholding the candy might have little or no effect on the behaviour (in this case, the parents attention is the reinforcer, rather than withholding the candy)
→ another possibility is that whining is being maintained by both the candy AND attention, in which case withholding the candy would only partially extinguish the behaviour
→ this is why determining the effective reinforcer is a critical first step
→ Child wines (R) -> Gets no candy + Gets no attention (no reinforcer) -> no more response
When an extinction procedure is implemented, it is often accompanied by certain side effects that seem a lot like the 5 stages of grief; what are these side effects?
→ extinction burst (denial)
→ increase in variability (denial)
→ emotional behavior/frustration (anger)
→ aggression (anger)
→ resurgence (bargaining)
→ depression (depression)
→ acceptance ? (not a side effect of extinction)
What is extinction burst?
- A temporary increase in the frequency and intensity of responding when extinction is first implemented
→ Rat will press the bar rapidly when food is no longer delivered
→ The child may scream with increased enthusiasm when not rewarded.
→ Repeatedly hit the ’open door’ button when the elevator won’t move.
→ You push ‘on’ button repeatedly when your phone won’t respond
What is an increase in variability as a side effect of extinction?
- Trying a variety of methods for attaining the reward
→ Rat will try pressing the side of the bar, or using the left paw instead of the bar rapidly when food is no longer delivered
→ You rapidly push all the apps on your phone when it won’t respond
→ You hit all the buttons in the elevator when it won’t move
What is emotion behaviour/frustration as a side effect of extinction?
- We typically refer to these behaviors as frustration
- Examples:
→ Agitated behavior of a the rat
→ Screaming in the stuck elevator
→ Yelling at your phone
What is aggression as a side effect to extinction?
- An emotional response to extinction.
- Examples:
→ A rat whose lever pressing is placed on extinction may attack another rat
What is resurgence as a side effect of extinction?
- The reappearance during extinction of other behaviors that had once been effective in obtaining reinforcement
→ A rat may begin digging in the ground because it has previously found food in its bedding
→ You may try holding the power switch and the ‘on’ button
What is depression as a side effect to extinction?
- Low activity is a common symptom of depression.
- Example:
→ The hungry rat withdraws into the corner of the cage.
→ The guy with the broken iPhone withdraws into the corner of his cubicle - often associated with the loss of reinforcement, so if someone dies that is important to you and was a major source of reinforcement, you are essentially experiencing extinction and will become depressed over time
What are some problems with extinction side effects?
- Side effects of extinction impede successful implementation of extinction
- Side effects can be inadvertently strengthened if one suddenly gives in and provides the subject with the sought-after reinforcer
→ p.ex: if a parent suddenly gives in and buys the candy after their kid throws a temper tantrum, then the mother has essentially reinforced the wrong behaviour
→ parents can inadvertently strengthen temper tantrums - Kids who think it’s acceptable to throw temper tantrums become adults who think it’s acceptable to throw temper tantrums
What is resistance to extinction?
- The extent to which responding persists after an extinction procedure has been implemented
- A response that is very persistent is said to have high resistance to extinction
→ p.ex: Begging continues for over an hour = high resistance - A response that disappears quickly is said to have low resistance to extinction
→ p.ex: Begging stops after 5 mins = low resistance
Persistence of responding may be influenced by the presence of a ___ ___.
Discriminative stimulus
→ Kid (Sd): Dog begs for food (R) -> Begging will be persistent (high)
→ Mother (Sdp): Dog begs for food (R) -> Begging will extinguish (low)
In relation to resistance to extinction, when trying to modify behaviour, ___ in the ___ of behaviour is important.
- Consistency in the outcome
→ Kid (Sd): Dog begs for food (R) -> Gets table scraps (Sr)
→ Mother (Sdp): Dog begs for food (R) -> Gets yelled at (Sp)
→ p.ex: you don’t say no to a kid for a few minutes and then give in, you stay consistent
Resistance to extinction can be affected by a number of factors, what are they?
- Schedules of reinforcement
- History of reinforcement
- Magnitude of reinforcer
- Degree of deprivation
- Previous experience with extinction
- Distinctive signal for extinction
Explain how schedules of reinforcement can influence extinction.
- Scheduled reinforcement is the most important factor influencing resistance to extinction
→ this is indicated by the partial reinforcement effect - Partial reinforcement effect
→ behavior maintained on an intermittent schedule will extinguish more slowly than behavior maintained on a continuous schedule
→ Resistance to extinction is particularly strong following a variable ratio schedule
→ the randomness in the schedule itself is providing strong resistance to extinction
Explain how the history of reinforcement can influence extinction.
- The more reinforcers an individual has received for a behavior, the greater the resistance to extinction
→ p.ex: 100 reinforced trials vs. 3 reinforced trials - Easier to extinguish an unwanted behavior when it first becomes evident
→ Kid (Sd): Dog begs for food (R) -> Gets table scraps (Sr)
→ Dog begs for food (R) -> Begging will be persistent (high resistance)
→ p.ex: If timmy whines for candy for a long time (several weeks) and they’ve gone through 100 reinforcers, it’ll be harder for him to quit (extinguish), than Alex who just recently started watching him and imitating this behaviour
Explain how the magnitude of the reinforcer can influence extinction.
- Large-magnitude reinforcers result in greater resistance to extinction than small-magnitude reinforcers
→ p.ex: small bag of food may not orient dogs attention as quickly as a large bag of food
Explain how the degree of deprivation can influence extinction.
- The greater the level of deprivation, the greater the resistance to extinction
→ A rat that is only slightly hungry will cease lever pressing more quickly than a rat that is very hungry - The ‘motivating operation’ plays a role in the susceptibility to extinction
Explain how previous experience with extinction can influence future extinctions.
→ When sessions of extinctions are alternated with sessions of reinforcement, the greater the number of prior exposures to extinction, the quicker the behavior will extinguish during subsequent exposures
Explain how a distinctive signal for extinction can influence extinction.
- Extinction facilitated when there is a distinctive stimulus/discriminative stimulus (SD) that signals the onset of extinction
→ Mother (Sdp): Dog begs for food (R) -> Begging will extinguish (low resistance)
What is differential reinforcement of other behaviour (DRO)?
- Reinforcement of any behavior other than the target behavior that is being extinguished
- Extinction can be greatly facilitated by both extinguishing the target behavior and reinforcing the occurrence of a replacement behavior
What is differential reinforcement of incompatible behaviour (DRI)?
- Reinforcing a behavior that is specifically incompatible with the target behavior
- With DRO & DRI, there is no deprivation of reinforcement and thus the likelihood of side effects is greatly reduced
→ p.ex: paying attention to a child if they’re doing anything other than fighting with their sister is a DRO procedure, and paying attention when they’re acting really friendly with their sister is a DRI procedure