Extinction Behavior Modification

Extinction Behavior Modification

a how to...

K344!!

What is Extinction for Behavior Modification?

• Examine what reinforcements cause the behavior
• ➢ Social praise
• ➢ Privileges to desired activities or items
• ➢ Securing attention
• ➢ Accessing tangible items
• ➢ Escaping/avoiding a task or situation
• ➢ Sensory reinforcement
• • Requires
• ➢ Withholding of reinforces by ignoring the behavior
• ➢ Denying access to tangible activities or items
• ➢ Not allowing the students to escape or avoid a non-preferred task or situation

How do I implement the extinction method?

• Identify the unwanted behavior

• Gather baseline data

• Identify the reinforcer of the

problem behavior though a

functional assessment

• ➢ Antecedents?
• ➢ Consequences?

• Implement the intervention plan: eliminate the reinforcer after each instance of the problem behavior

• ➢ Reinforce alternative behaviors to replace the problem behavior

• Collect data results, and review data plan

Hey! Is Extinction Safe?

by Molly

and Megan Handel

• Do not use extension if the child is in danger

(running into the street- reinforcer is parent chasing child, please do not use extinction, go into the street and save the child!)

• Putting others in danger (aggressive behavior towards

others, biting defenseless students, reinforcer is

attention from staff who assist)

• “Cry it out” technique for infants. Arguments

for and against leaving a baby alone to cry it out.

Founding Fathers in Behavioral Analysis

• Ivan Pavlov(1849-1936) salivating dogs

• B.F. Skinner (1904-1990) showed extinction with laboratory animals

"My first extinction curve showed up by accident. A rat was pressing the lever in an experiment on satiation when the pellet dispenser jammed. I was not there at the time, and when I returned I found a beautiful curve. The rat had gone on pressing although no pellets were received. ... The change was more orderly than the extinction of a salivary reflex in Pavlov's setting, and I was terribly excited. It was a Friday afternoon and there was no one in the laboratory who I could tell. All that weekend I crossed streets with particular care and avoided all unnecessary risks to protect my discovery from loss through my accidental death" (Skinner, B. F., 1979).

Resources

Is it extinction evidenced based?

Yes!!!

• Miltenberger, R. G. “Behavioral Modification: Principles and Procedures”. Thomson/Wadsworth, 2008 p. 102.
• Skinner, B. F. (1979). The shaping of a behaviorist: Part two of an autobiography. New York: Knopf.
• Williams, C. D. (1959). The elimination of tantrum behavior by extinction procedures. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 59, 269.

Williams study from 1959.

• Child was crying at night before bed, behavior was reinforced by attention from parents. The tantrums had almost stopped, and then an aunt came to visit paying attention to the behavior and the behavior increase again. (Miltenberger,R. G. 2008)

What can benefit from extinction behavior modification?

• Can eliminate the following behaviors

Tantrums, swearing, aggressive behaviors, whining, self-injury, disruptive behavior

Disadvantages

• The undesired behavior is likely to increase and broaden as the child tries to find what will work

➢ Extinction bursts! Increase in duration, intensity, and frequency of behavior

➢ If the child is reinforced during an extinction burst the undesired behavior will return with more intensity

• The individual may become aggressive in an attempt to obtain attention.

• Must be consistent and persistent with all follow-through procedures

• The time involved in the procedure requires a commitment

➢ The schedule of reinforcement may determine how long it will take to extinguish a behavior can be gradual or sudden

Advantages

• It should eliminate a non-desired behavior

• It can produce a long-term effect

• It can be relatively simple (provided consistency and persistence are a given)

• It is considered a relatively non-aversive procedure

Extra Time? Watch operational conditioning in action...

with almost 500,000 views on youtube

FYI, it is not inline with ethical standards....