PSYC*2330 Chapter 9: Extinction of Conditioned Behaviour Flashcards
A reduction of a learned response due to the omission of the US or reinforcer is referred to as what?
Extinction
In classical conditioning, what does extinction involve?
Repeated presentations of the CS without the US
Does extinction of an S-O association stem from classical conditioning or instrumental conditioning?
Classical conditioning
In instrumental conditioning, what does extinction involve?
No longer reinforcing the instrumental response
Does extinction of an R-O association stem from classical conditioning or instrumental conditioning?
Instrumental conditioning
Why is extinction functionally important?
It allows a learned behaviour to change and adjust to environmental changes
T or F: Not many reinforcement schedules are in effect forever.
True
Is extinction an active or passive process?
Active
T or F: Extinction occurs due to forgetting.
False
What is forgetting
A decline in responding due to the passage of time
T or F: When forgetting, non-reinforcement is required to cause a decline in responding.
False. Non-reinforcement of the CS/instrumental response is not required.
Is forgetting an active or passive process?
Passive
What type of extinction procedure involves repeatedly showing a fearful cue in a nonthreatening or safe environment?
Exposure therapy
The inability to extinguish fear memories is a key feature of what disorder?
PTSD
T or F: Virtual reality technology can be used for exposure therapy.
True
What are the two basic behavioural effects of extinction?
- A decrease in the target response
- An increase in response variability
What is the extinction burst?
When the removal of a reinforcer causes a short-term increase in responding before the response rate decreases
What emotional reaction is induced by withdrawal of an expected reinforcer?
Frustration
T or F: In extinction procedures, frustration often energizes behaviour.
True
In extinction procedures, when is aggression most likely?
Early in the extinction period, but subsides thereafter
T or F: The decrease in behaviour observed in extinction is opposite of what occurs during acquisition.
True
T or F: Extinction reverses/eliminates the effects of acquisition.
False. Extinction does not reverse or eliminate the effects of acquisition.
What are four ways that an extinguished response can reappear?
- Spontaneous recovery
- Renewal
- Reinstatement
- Resurgence
What is spontaneous recovery?
The reappearance of an extinguished response caused by the passage of time
What is the critical factor in procedures of spontaneous recovery?
Introducing a period of rest between the end of extinction training and assessments of responding
What is renewal?
The recovery of an extinguished response due to a change in context
Why is extinction disrupted by a change in context, as seen in the renewal effect?
Memory of extinction is context-specific, and when cues change between the extinction phase and the testing phase, the retrieval of the memory of extinction is disrupted
Does the original acquisition performance generalize between contexts more or less easily than the acquisition of extinction performance?
Original acquisition generalizes easier than extinction
Why can spontaneous recovery be viewed as a form of renewal?
Spontaneous recovery can be thought of as being caused by a temporal shift in context
What is reinstatement?
The recovery of an extinguished response when re-exposed to the original US or reinforcer
Drug relapse precipitated by re-contact with an abused drug is an example of what type of reinstatement?
Stress-induced reinstatement
What is stress-induced reinstatement?
The reinstatement of an extinguished response due to stress
What is cue-induced reinstatement?
The reinstatement of an extinguished response caused by exposure to a cue previously associated with the US
What is resurgence?
The reappearance of an extinguished response caused by the extinction of another response
What are 7 ways to enhance extinction?
- The number of extinction trials
- The spacing of extinction trials
- The timing of extinction trails
- Repeated extinction/test cycles
- Extinction in multiple contexts
- Extinction retrieval cues
- Compound extinction
Is a more profound decrease in conditioned responding produced by a larger or smaller amount of extinction trials?
A larger number of trials produces a more profound decrease in responding
To produce a more rapid decrement in responding, are massed or spaced extinction trials recommended?
Massed
Is spontaneous recovery and/or renewal more likely when massed or spaced extinction trials are used?
Massed
What results in a more rapid loss of conditioned behaviour, conducting extinction trials immediately after acquisition or delaying extinction?
Conducting extinctions trials immediately after acquisition
Is spontaneous recovery and/or renewal more likely when extinction trials are conducted immediately after acquisition, or when there is a delay between acquisition and extinction?
More likely when extinction is conducted immediately after acquisition
In terms of memory consolidation, why are immediate extinction trials said to be more effective than delayed extinction trials?
By introducing extinction immediately, the memory of acquisition won’t be fully consolidated and is thus more susceptible to change by the extinction procedures
T or F: Extinction needs to happen immediately after a fear response for expose therapy to be effective.
False
With repeated extinction/test cycles, what pattern is observed in spontaneous recovery rates?
After each extinction/test cycle, less spontaneous recovery occurs
Does repeating the extinction/test cycle reduce or promote the reappearance of extinguished behaviour?
Reduces the reappearance of extinguished behaviour
Conduction extinction in multiple contexts can reduce, or even eliminate, what effect?
The renewal effect
Does introducing cues present during extinction training enhance or impede extinction performance?
Extinction retrieval cues enhance extinction performance
How might extinction cues reduce the renewal effect?
By reactivating cues associated with the extinction context in a new context
Does presenting two stimuli during extinction strengthen or weaken the extinction of those cues?
Strengthen/deepen extinction
T or F: Compound extinction prevents spontaneous recovery of an element.
True
The effectiveness of compounding cues suggests that extinction operates in part by an error-correction process similar to which model of classical conditioning?
The Rescorla-Wagner model
How can the prediction error be increased in an extinction trial when no reinforcer is presented?
By compounding two conditioned stimuli
Why is it more effective to have a larger prediction error in an extinction trial?
Because it will induce greater surprise and correction, leading to a greater reduction in responding
