Extinction of Socially Reinforced Behavior

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• Extinction of Socially Reinforced Behavior

Lecture 4
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Quiz

• How was EXT implemented for PB maintained by
  escape?

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What Makes Extinction Work. Iwata et al.

• Function of the research
• Demonstrate that extinction can not be conducted
  unless you have targeted the reinforcer.
• Likely requires an FA to determine the reinforcer
  (but notice that he leaves out obvious
  reinforcers like candy and other more tangibles)
• Definition of extinction the removal of the
  reinforcer maintaining the behavior with
  accompanying decrease in the behavior.

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Refresher types of reinforcement

• Positive reinforcement A stimulus is provided
  immediately after the response and the response
  increases (or is maintained) in the future.
• Negative reinforcement (Escape Avoidance) A
  stimulus is removed immediately after a response
  and the response increases (or is maintained) in
  the future.
• In both cases you can think of the condition in
  which the person is in transitions to a better
  condition after the response (the response makes
  their world a bit better for them!). This
  perspective effectively deals with the issue of
  whether turning up the heat is positive or
  negative reinforcement
• Generate examples with kids.

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Reinforcers that Iwata et. al examine.

• Positive reinforcers (social reinforcers
  attention). Child gets comments, touch, etc. from
  adult for doing some behavior
• Negative Reinforcers (antecedent aversive
  condition such as demands - technically an MO).
  Child escapes from demand does not have to do
  math, fold laundry.
• Automatic Reinforcers the reinforcer is an
  integral part of the response, or inseparable
  from it, and thus difficult to manipulate. EX
  turning and seeing something new (or the person
  who just spoke). Blind people will likely orient
  like this less as there is no automatic
  reinforcement for new visual stimuli

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Behavioral Functions
Social implies a learning history, so
technically it is a conditioned reinforcer.
Automatic may also be a conditioned (learned) or
unlearned reinforcer
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Ways to remove reinforcers (to do extinction)
as Iwata et al does

• Positive reinforcers Attention removal or not
  provided (but many others, e.g. lock out channels
  from TV, switch letters that the keys display on
  computer screen, in both cases the response
  decreases/stops)
• For automatic positive reinforcement, reduces
  sensory input e.g. put on a helmet so the
  feeling of hitting ones head is muted.
• Negative reinforcers do not remove the
  antecedent aversive condition (behavior does not
  change the childs condition to better Child
  can tantrum but still has to do homework
  (tantrums stops), whacking the TV does not bring
  the picture back into alignment (whacking will
  stop)
• other types of extinction exist as well, such
  as respondent extinction

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Function-based Treatment for Problem Behaviors

• Treatment options
• Extinction (EXT)
• Noncontingent reinforcement (NCR)
• Differential reinforcement of alternative
  behavior (DRA)
• Differential reinforcement of other behavior
  (DRO)

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Extinction Applications
Type of Extinction
SIB Maintained by
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What makes EXT work? Iwata et al. (1994)

• 3 Ps w/DD, head banging (all same), but different
  R functions
• Functional analysis served to determine
  maintaining reinforcer and as baseline to compare
  treatment to
• EXT variations 2
• EXT (attention)
• EXT (escape)
• EXT (sensory)
• Results

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Alone
FA
Demand
Attention
Play (DRO 30)
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(No Transcript)
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(No Transcript)
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Discussion

• Arbitrary application of Tx may be dangerous
• Identify function (the reinforcer) before
  implementing TX