Extinction & Punishment

Question 1

What were two techniques that were thought to be effective in reducing self-injurous behaviour in autistic children?

Answer 1

ignoring the self-injurous behaviour (thereby eliminating adult attention as a possible source of reinforcement) and simultaneously rewarding incompatible behaviours such as hand clapping & singing songs

Question 2

Discuss the experiment of punishment with self-injurous autistic John

Answer 2

• once a day John was taken out of restraints & given immediate electric chocks every time he hit himself
• during 1st 15 baseline sessions (without any intervention) John hit himself 250 times
• when punishment was introduced this behaviour disappeared almost immediately

Question 3

What are the factors introducing punishment?

Answer 3

• manner of introduction
• immediacy of punishment
• schedule of punishment
• availability of alternative behaviours
• stimulus control
• verbal
• emotional effects

Question 4

Discuss the manner of introduction as a way of influencing the effectiveness of punishment

Answer 4

first introduce mildest punishment & only increase if it is proved ineffective

Question 5

Discuss the immediacy of punishment as a way of increasing the effectiveness of punishment

Answer 5

A punisher that immediately follows a response is most effective in decreasing the fee

Question 6

Discuss schedule of punishment

Answer 6

It is suggested that the most effective way to eliminate behaviour is to punish every response rather than to use some intermittent schedule of punishment

Question 7

Discuss availability go alternative behaviours

Answer 7

Punishment is more effective when the subject is provided with an alternative way to obtain the reinforcer e.g. pigeons provided with a second key to peck, only pecking to the first key were punished

Question 8

Discuss stimulus control

Answer 8

another important factor in determining the effectiveness of punishment is the similarity between the conditions during training and testing- thus if you want to eliminate a behaviour in its entirety it might not be sufficient to punish it in only one situation e.g. the little girl learned that only head banging was punished in the clinic & not at home/school, when this changed the behaviour dropped to zero within a week

Question 9

Discuss verbal explanation

Answer 9

the extensive use of reasoning increases the effectiveness of punishment, relative to the use of punishment alone

Question 10

Discuss emotional effects

Answer 10

emotional effects such as fear, anxiety and anger are generally disruptive of learning

Question 11

what is one of the most common reinforcers to maintain unwanted behaviours is?

Answer 11

attention

Question 12

What sometimes increases at the beginning of an extinction process?

Answer 12

the unwanted behaviour

Question 13

Can episodes of spontaneous recovery occur after extinction?

Answer 13

yes

Question 14

What is the most important factor influencing resistance to extinction? Discuss

Answer 14

the schedule of reinforcement - behaviour that has been maintained on an intermittent (partial) schedule of reinforcement will extinguish more slowly than that on a continuous schedule

Question 15

Discuss the magnitude of a reinforcer as influencing extinction

Answer 15

large-magnitude reinforcers sometimes result in greater resistance to extinction than small-maginitude reinforcers

Question 16

Discuss the degree of deprivation in relation to extinction

Answer 16

the greater level of deprivation, the greater the resistance to extinction

Question 17

Discuss previous experience with extinction in relation to extinction

Answer 17

the greater the number of prior exposures to extinction the quicker the behaviour will extinguish during subsequent exposures

Question 18

what did skinner propose that spontaneous recovery was a function of, give e.g

Answer 18

discriminative stimuli e.g. for rat the experiencing of being taken from the home cage, weighed, and placed in a chamber is itself a signal for food - child who throws tantrum in supermarket to get lolly, entering supermarket itself is a discriminative stimulus

Question 19

what do the terms reinforcer and punisher refer to

Answer 19

the actual consequences of the behaviour

Question 20

what do the terms reinforcement and punishment refer to

Answer 20

the process or procedure

Question 21

what is positive punishment

Answer 21

behaviour reduction procedure where a behaviour is followed by the presentation of a stimulus that is unpleasant/aversive

Question 22

what is negative punishment

Answer 22

behaviour reduction procedure in which a stimulus is usually considered pleasant or rewarding, is removed if the behaviour occurs

Question 23

A stimulus that signals that a response will be punished iso called a …. for punishment

Answer 23

discriminative stimulus

Question 24

What is important for punishment to be effective?

Answer 24

for the punishment to be effective

Question 25

What did Seligman find about a limitation of punishment e.g. dogs not escaping shocks

Answer 25

can pose special dangers in education - it can lead to a dislike of a subject and even a deterioration in learning

Question 26

Discuss some more limitations of punishment

Answer 26

• punishment can sometimes lead to a suppression in all behaviours, not only the behaviour being punished
• punishment demands continual monitoring, reinforcement does not
• a practical problem is that individuals may try to circumvent the rules or escape the situation ( child may hide evidence of misbehaviour)
• reluctance to use punishmentî11

Question 27

what is a response cost

Answer 27

a type of negative punishment where a reinforcer is taken away whenever the target response occurs e.g. points/money