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Contents 1 Behavioral Extinction 1.1 Descriptions and Definitions 1.1.1 Example of Extinction 1.1.2 Reinforcement of Inappropriate Behavior 1.2 Reinforcement Schedules Used for Extinction 1.2.1 Extinction by Omission 1.2.2 Extinction by Noncontingent Reinforcement (NCR) 1.3 Possible Responses to Use of Extinction 1.4 Current Use of Extinction in Practice 1.5 Evidence of Effectiveness 1.6 Personal testimony: 1.7 Related Wicked Topics 1.8 References

[edit] Behavioral Extinction

[edit] Descriptions and Definitions

Extinction of operant behavior involves the termination of the reinforcement contingency that maintains the response. The overall outcome of extinction is a reduction or elimination of the operant response (O’Reilly et al. 1999).

Extinction is defined as the withdrawal of the consequent stimulus that previously maintained the problem behavior (Shukla-Mehta). In other words, extinction is stopping the positive reinforcement that has been encouraging the inappropriate target behavior to continue (Wolfgang 38). It is important to note, that the teacher is typically unaware his or her behavior has been positively reinforcing the inappropriate behavior.

Extinction is the first step in the behavior analysis continuum of procedures that strives to decrease misbehaviors. Extinction is the least intrusive procedure in this continuum and as a result, can take some time for the behavior to stop. The most common method of implementing extinction is by not responding to the inappropriate target behavior, thus stopping the positive reinforcement (Wolfgang 38).

Extinction: From the "Behavior Analysis" model. It means "withholding reinforcement of a behavior by removing the student from the activity."

[edit] Example of Extinction

Peggy does not raise her hand and wait to be called on at circle time. Instead, she shouts out the answer. The teacher tolerates Peg’s behavior during the first few days of class, accepting her shouted answers. By the fourth day of school, the teacher decides to use extinction to stop Peg’s shouting. The teacher will not respond when Peggy shouts instead calling on those with their hands in the air and reinforcing those complying. When Peggy shouts, the teacher ignores her. When the teacher’s reinforcement stops, Peggy shouts louder and pushes here way to the front of the circle. When the teacher continues to ignore her, Peggy physically moves the teacher’s head to look at her. The teacher gently moves Peggy aside and out of her view. Peggy has a full-blown temper tantrum. The teacher ignores Peg’s tantrum and moves her own chair to another section of the circle so that all of the students are looking at the teacher with their backs to Peggy.

- From Wolfgang, 2001

[edit] Reinforcement of Inappropriate Behavior

Often, the inappropriate behaviors of students or children are inadvertently rewarded or reinforced in that the attention they were seeking was given to them. In many cases students consider this a reward despite the negative nature of the interaction with the teacher or authority figure. Simply put, in their efforts to punish these students or establish discipline, teachers are providing the students with something they want or need.

[edit] Reinforcement Schedules Used for Extinction

Extinction of inappropriate behaviors is generally accomplished by changing the schedule of reinforcement. Extinction can be accomplished in two ways: either by completely removing the reinforcing stimulus, or by breaking the contingent association between the behavior and the reinforcer (O’Reilly et al., 1999).

[edit] Extinction by Omission

This is the type of extinction from the example above. In these cases the teacher or authority figure completely removes any reinforcement in response to the student’s misbehavior. As seen above, this may require the teacher to completely ignore the student. Generally, in cases where omission is used the teacher can expect:

• An initial increase in the frequency of the unwanted behavior (O’Reilly et al., 1999)
• An escalation in the type of misbehavior the student is engaging in (Shukla-Mehta and Albin, 2003)
• An extended (and sometimes repeated) period of time for the treatment to take effect (O’Reilly et al., 1999)

[edit] Extinction by Noncontingent Reinforcement (NCR)

This type of extinction uses a schedule of reinforcement that is based on fixed time intervals. This means that the reinforcer is being given irrespective of the child’s behavior and the contingency that has been established between reinforcer and behavior is no longer salient. In studies comparing extinction by omission and NCR, misbehaviors treated with NCR resulted in a faster decrease of the unwanted behavior and fewer recurrences (Vollmer et al, 1993, O’Reilly et al., 1999).

[edit] Possible Responses to Use of Extinction

Before teachers use extinction, it is important to know that the possible student responses. Often times, students behavior will get worse before it improves. Also, other students may begin to replicate the inappropriate target behavior. Furthermore, extinction can result in students displaying more aggressive behaviors (Wolfgang 38). Therefore, extinction is only effective when teachers do not give in to the student’s behavior.

Extinction can also be used to decrease behavioral escalation by giving students more opportunities to act responsibly. Behavioral escalation is an event where a group of different problem behaviors occur in a sequential pattern in which responses grow in severity or intensity. Students choose how to act based upon their past experiences. Therefore, if an irresponsible behavior was being reinforced, then it is likely that the student will be motivated to continue displaying that behavior. Therefore, in order to give students more opportunities to act responsibly and thus decreasing behavior escalation, teachers need to put irresponsible behaviors that are often exhibited on extinction as soon as the teachers recognizes them (Shukla-Mehta).

It is important to note that using extinction for less severe behaviors may lead to behavior escalation by motivating the student to engage in more severe behaviors in order to arrive at the desired outcome. To avoid this behavior escalation, it is recommended that extinction be used in combination with differential reinforcement where the teacher prompts the student to a more socially acceptable response. It is important that the teacher follow the student’s compliance by acknowledging the appropriate behavior (Shukla-Mehta).

[edit] Current Use of Extinction in Practice

Currently, there are few papers and studies about the use of extinction in the school setting. Most research about treating children through extinction techniques is directed at those with developmental disabilities; particularly those that show a tendancy toward aggression or self-injury. This may be due to the conclusion by Stainback et al. (1979) stating that extinction was not only ineffectual for controlling inappropriate behaviors, but is also inappropriate for treating students whose behavioral problems are largely dealt with by authority figures other than the teacher (Stainback, 1979, Rutherford et al., 1995).

[edit] Evidence of Effectiveness

A case study that was conducted in a public school on Ben, a ten-year-old boy diagnosed with ADHD and Severe Emotional Disorder, illustrates the effectiveness of extinction. Ben often engaged in off-task behavior, property destruction, and physical aggression all of which were defined as his target behaviors. Observers defined his off-task behavior as: leaving the classroom without permission, wandering in the hallway, interrupting other classrooms, and talking to the administrative staff in the principal’s office. Data on Ben’s behavior was collected in all school settings. Researchers determined that Ben’s aggression occurred at the highest rate when it was followed by attention from others. Thus, attention-extinction was implemented. Attention-extinction is withholding the attention that follows the target behavior. Teachers would ignore Ben when he engaged in target behaviors by giving her attention to other students or activities. In Ben’s case, attention-extinction was very successful and target behaviors dropped enormously (Edwards).

[edit] Personal testimony:

I work at a bar and have often used this model and found it effective. It is interesting because I am using it on people who are my age or older but it still works so well! I am a bartender and often people wave money in your face because they think you will serve them first. I find this to be rude and always serve those people last or not at all. About 75% of the time, people realize that I am serving only the people who are waiting politely, and then their rude behavior stops...I love this method!! S. Peduzzi

I have found this particular part of this model to be very effective, but I try not to use it unless I have to because it doesn't necessarily make me or the other person feel very good. I have found that I use it less at the high school level, but when I taught k-6 in swim lessons, I used it several times.

Kathryn Milner

See intermittent reinforcement for more information about extinction and intermittent reinforcement in Operant Condition.

B.F. Skinner used the word extinguished to refer to what happens to behaviors that are not reinforced. I have used this “ignoring‿ technique in several instances in my own classroom. It seems to work best for those occurrences when a child wants attention and tries to get it by using inappropriate behavior. It does take much patience and follow-through for it to be a successful management technique. Connie Early

[edit] Related Wicked Topics

Behavior Modification

Behaviorism

Classical Conditioning

Law of Effect

Ivan Pavlov

Reinforcement

Reinforcement Theory

B.F. Skinner

E.L. Thorndike

[edit] References

Edwards, William H., Sandy K. Magee, and Janet Ellis. “Identifying The Effects of Idiosyncratic Variables on Functional Analysis Outcomes: A Case Study.�? Education and Treatment of Children 25.3 (2002): 317-330.

O’Reilly, M., Lancioni, G., and Taylor, I. An Empirical Analysis of Two Forms of Extinction to Treat Agression. Research in Developmental Disabilities, v. 20(5),(1999) pp. 315-325.

Rutherford Jr., R.B. and Nelson C.M. Management of aggressive and violent behavior in the schools. Focus on Exceptional Children, v.27(6)(1995).

Shukla-Mehta, S. & Albin, R. W. “Twelve Practical Strategies to Prevent Behavioral Escalation in Classroom Settings�?. The Clearing House 77.2 (2003): 50-56.

Stainback, W., Stainback, S., and Dedrck, C. Controlling severe maladaptive behaviors. Behavioral Disorders, 4. (1979) pp. 99-115

Wolfgang, Charles H. (2001). Solving Discipline and Classroom Management Problems (5th Edition). New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.