Extinction And Reinforcement Essays Examples

What extinction is?

Extinction is a method uses to do away with the not required behavior or behavior that is not effective anymore (Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis, 2001).

Extinction in applied behavior

In applied behavior analysis, extinction is used to stop from occurring an old behavior again. Extinction is a method through which behavior can be decreased without punishing. A behavior can be reached extinction by ignoring a behavior, refusing to approach activities and by avoiding giving a sensory response. The purpose of this method is to give a specific message to the learner. This message can be communicated in the different way, and it depends on the behavior of the learner. What sort of behavior it is and in what ways the problematic behavior happen is essential to convey the message. The main function of extinction is to delete a behavior that is problematic and stop from working the appropriate behavior. It is proved that extinction is effective in various kind of problematic behaviors, behaviors that are related to homes, schools and communities. In other words, the application of extinction is not restricted to the particular behavior but is used to tackle a variety of unwanted behaviors.
The identification of the problematic behavior is the primary job in order to begin the extinction (Beaudoin & Head, 2004). In the process of identifying a problematic behavior, the expert gathers information from different sources, especially about the period, strength, and location. The teacher defines the nature of the interfering behavior by its strength, location, and its lasting period.

Three examples of how behavior might reach extinction

A behavior may reach extinction by giving informative feedback, ignoring and punishing or rewarding (Miltenberger, 2011).
1) A student has the habit of getting failed in the exam; a teacher works with the student and gives him about how to write effectively in the exams. The student after receiving the feedback from his teacher never fails again.
2) Ali has the habit of commenting on Sara, but Sara does not response to him. So, Ali’s habit slowly fades away
3) When a monkey asks money from people, it gets a banana. It is noticed that the monkey money when he is no longer feed with banana.

How extinction is related to reinforcement?

Reinforcement is much related to extinction (Domjan, 2014). In order to know how it reinforcement is related to extinction, one should know what is reinforcement? Reinforcement is a process that is used to enforce behavior. Reinforcement uses the reward and punishment technique to enforce a required behavior or to do away with an undesired behavior. Reinforcement can be positive and negative. When the result of the unwanted behavior is withdrawn, there is the strong possibility of developing a negative reinforcement. When the result of an appreciated behavior has the chance of strengthening the behavior then it would lead to positive reinforcement.
The purpose of both extinction and reinforcement is to treat abnormal behavior that hinders in the way of developing normal behavior and for this reason; both are very much related to each other.

Relation between extinction and reinforcement

A child has a habit of going out of the house in order to sit in the street. Whenever the child goes out in the street the mother, rebuke him. The mother’s rebuke makes the child stop going into the street, and slowly he forgets this habit. Here the rebuke of the mother is a reinforcement that enforces in the child the habit of staying at home as well as deletes the old habit.

References List

Beaudoin, A. B., & Head, M. J. (2004). The Palynology and Micropalaeontology of Boundaries. London: Geological Society of London.
Domjan, M. (2014). The Principles of Learning and Behavior. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Miltenberger, R. (2011). Behavior Modification: Principles and Procedures. Boston: Cengage Learning.
Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis. (2001). The Behavior Analyst. New York: Society for the Advancement of Behavior Analysis.