Extinction Flashcards
What is extinction?
It is a process where an association between 2 events is broken.
How is extinction accomplished?
By removing reinforcement for the behavior.
Example for extinction
A dog learned that barking would get its owner’s attention. The owners started to ignore the dog when it barked. Therefore, the dog stops barking for attention because it isn’t receiving any.
What is an “extinction burst”?
When there is a greatly increased frequency of the behavior initially before the decrease is seen.
Why can extinction be difficult to achieve?
- Sudden Withdrawal of reinforcement can lead to a certain amount of frustration in the animal.
- Reinforcement has not been accurately identified.
- Reinforcement is coming from more that one source.
- Behavior is self-rewarding and thus is self-reinforcing.
What is the best way to increase efficacy of extinction?
By positively reinforcing an alternative behavior.
Example of positively reinforcing an alternative behavior
A dog jumps on people as they enter the house. If everyone were to ignore the dog, turn away, not make eye contact, or speak to the dog, it will lead to extinction. Now, people can instead wait a couple of minutes until the dog calms down, all while ignoring it, and ask the dog to sit. They can praise the sit and this will get the dog to stop jumping on people and shift the focus to sitting because that is what gets the dog’s attention.
