Topic 6 Flashcards
Exctintion
Weakens behaviour by removing what maintained it
Operant Extinction
Stop delivering reinforcer that maintained a behaviour
A child cries at the store but usually you give him Candy to make him stop. One day when he cries, you dont give him candy. Overtime the crying decreases as it is no longer effective.
Classical Extinction
Present CS without US
Example: Dog salivates (CR) when it hears a bell (CS), expecting food (US). If the bell rings without food, salivation stops over time.
Extinction Burst
Spike in behvaiour when reinforcement stops
Vending machine stops working and you angrily jam the buttons
Operant Variability
Trying different behaviours to regain reinforcement
A pigeon trained to peck one button for food. When reinforcement stops:
It pecks other buttons.
Flaps wings or pecks differently, hoping something works.
Emotional Response
Heighten emotional state during extinction can lead to aggression
A toddler screams louder or hits because whining no longer gets them what they want.
Spontaneous Recovery
After extenction, a behaviour can randomly reappear later
our dog stops begging at the table after you stop feeding it scraps. Months later, you have pizza and—bam!—the dog begs again
Partial Reinforcment Effect (PRE)
behaviours on intermittent schedules are more resitant to extinction than those on a continious schedule
Slot machines (variable ratio schedule) → players don’t know when the reward will come, so they persist longer even when payouts stop.
Why use extinction
- nonaversive, functional treatment
- based on functional behavior assessment
- less harmful than punishment
Functional Assessment Process
- identify target behaviour
- baseline data collection
- functional assessment
- Develop and implement treatment
- evaluate
Types of Reinforcers
social and automatic
social reinforcer
behaviour of others
Automatic reinforcer
feels good physically
Can you control the reinforcer?
If it is innate, extinction may not be possible
Categories of reinforcment
- Social positive reinforcement
- social negative reinforcement
- automatic positive reinforcement
- automatic negative reinforcement
SPR and SNR
mediated by the action of others
APR and ANR
not mediated by the actions of others
