Chapter 6 Flashcards
What are the two parts to the principle of operant extinction?
(a) if an individual, in a given situation, emits a previously reinforced behaviour and that behaviour 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
What is the difference between forgetting and operant extinction?
Forgetting, a behaviour is weakened as a function of time following its last occurrence.
Operant extinction differs in that extinction weakens behaviour as a result of being emitted without being reinforced
If a behaviour that was maintained by positive reinforcement is not reinforced at least once in a while, what will happen to the behaviour?
When a behaviour has previously been reinforced is not reinforced anymore, the behaviour will become extinct.
Why is it necessary to consider the setting as a factor influencing your operant 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 changes of the behavior modifier persisting with the program.
What is the effect of continuous versus intermittent reinforcement on the resistance to extinction of an operant behaviour?
Continuous reinforcement is an arrangement or schedule in which each instance of a particular response is reinforced. Intermittent reinforcement is an arrangement or schedule in which a response is reinforced only occasionally. When a behaviour has always been reinforced and then abruptly is never reinforced, that behaviour extinguishes quickly. When intermittent reinforcement has maintained a behaviour (such as a pen writing agin each time after shaking it), that behaviour (pen shaking) is likely to extinguish slowly.
What is an extinction burst? Describe an Example.
An increase in responding during extinction. During extinction, behaviour may increase before it begins to decrease (ie. things may get worse before they get better). An example is a child in a classroom that constantly raises his or her hand and snapping his or her 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 (ignores the snaps) would probably observe an increase in finger snapping during the first few minutes of extinction before the behaviour gradually tapered off.
What is spontaneous recovery? Describe an example.
The reappearance of an extinguished behaviour following a break is called spontaneous recovery. Let’s reconsider the finger-snapping example. Suppose that the teacher initiates an extinction program for finger snapping when the student returned to school after lunch. During the 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 the 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
Briefly describe a pitfall of operant extinction. Which type of pitfall does your example illustrate?
Even when some individuals are knowledgeably applying behaviour modification in an effort to help behaviorally deficient individuals, others who are less knowledgable about operant extinction may undo their good work. Suppose, for example, that a child in a program for persons with developmental disabilities has been reinforced by an aid for dressing himself. Suppose also that this aide has been transferred or gone on vacation and is replaced by and aide who is less familiar with the principles of positive reinforcement and extinction. Confronted with one child who dresses himself and many children who cannot, the aide will likely spend a great deal of time helping the latter children but give little attention to the one child. This is referred to as the “Partial-knowledge pitfall”.
