(7-3-18)
Extinction is a highly useful technique to reduce mild (and sometimes serious) problem behaviors. Be aware, most parents will assure you that they have tried “ignoring” and this did not work. The Ann Landurs/Dear Abby columns often run advice on ignorning undesirable behavior in children, unfortunately these columns seldom educate their readers about extinction effects (see below).
The best targets for extinction are:
- high frequency responses (extinction follows multiple unreinforced trials–low frequency behavior is difficulty to deal with by extinction)
- mild to moderate intensity responses (you need to be able to tolerate response bursting phenomena)
- (you are guessing) that are maintained by the environmental consequences that have followed in the past
- where you can control the reactions/responses/consequences which follow the target behavior (extinction will only occur if the connection between action and consequence is uncoupled–the behavior occurs but the expected response does not).
Remember there are predictable short term effects associated with extinction:
Extinction phenomena
- An increase in frequency of the response (“response bursting”)
- 2. An increase in the magnitude of the response
- 3. Variation in the topology (form) of the response
- 4. Emotional behavior
- (5.) Aggression (possibly)
Extinction is what you experience when you favorite pop/junk food machine “cheats” you by failing to deliver you selection. Consider you typical response: punch the button several more times, punch the button harder, hold the button depressed for a longer period, feel frustrated and angry, and (possibly) curse at or kick the machine. The machine has reliably functioned in the past and now appears to be broken–you make an effort to restore appropriate functioning. This is how an organism responds to being placed on an extinction schedule.