Chapter 6- Unit 2 Flashcards
- What are 2 parts to he principle of operant extinction?
- A) if, in a fifth situation, an individual emits a previously- reinforcer response that is not followed by the usual reinforcing consequence then b) that person is less likely to do the same thing again in that situation
- What is the difference between forgetting and operant extinction?
I’m forgetting, a behaviour is weakened as a function of time following its last occurrence. Extinction differs from this in that operant extinction weakens the behaviour as a result of being emitted without being reinforced.
- If a behaviour that was maintained by positive reinforcement is not reinforced at least once in a while l, what will happen to he behaviour?
It will decrease to its level of occurrence prior to being reinforced.
- Why is it necessary to consider the setting as a factor influencing your operant extinction program?
It is important to minimize the possibility that other people will reinforce the behaviour you are trying to decrease. Another reason is that it may be socially difficult or even impossible to carry out extinction in certain situations (ex. A tantrum in a grocery store will be hard to be extinguished by the mother due to the social pressure such as states from others in the store). It is important to consider the setting in which extinction will be carried out to minimize the influence of alternative reinforcers on the undesirable behaviour to be extinguished and to maximize the chances of the behaviour modifiers persisting with the program
- ex. Day care workers
- What is the effect of continuous versus intermittent reinforcement in the resistance to extinction of an operant behaviour ?
A behaviour is less resident to extinction if it had been reinforced continuously rather than intermittently.
- What is an extinction burst? Describe an example.
An extinction burst is an increase in responding during extinction. For example, suppose that such time a child snapped her fingers to gain attention of her teacher, the teacher responded , thereby reinforcing finger- snapping. Suppose further that the teacher decides to ignore that behaviour on all future occasions. At the beginning of extinction, finger- snapping may increase before it begins to decrease. The increase would be an example if an example of an extinction burst. Any appropriate example is acceptable.
- What is spontaneous recovery? Describe an example.
A behaviour that has disappeared during an extinction session may reappear; after some time has passed, at the next session or opportunity for the behaviour to occur. The next session or opportunity for the behaviour to occur. The reappearance of an extinguished behaviour following a break or rest is called a spontaneous recovery. Suppose that a child has learned to snap his fingers to gain his teachers attention. Suppose further that the teacher decides to extinguish that behaviour. If the behaviour decrease to zero during he first day of extinction, but finger snapping reappears at the beginning of the next day, the reappearance is the behaviour would be an example of spontaneous recovery.
- Briefly describe an example of pitfall of operant extinction. Which those if pitfall does your exam Ken illustrate?
A pitfall to operant extinction would be to apply to unknowingly to a friend who you ask to call you. Your friend dials you multiple times but you ignore all of their calls. In the future, they are less likely to fall you when you ask. This type of pitfall illustrates the unaware/ misapplication pitfall. Those who are unaware of operant extinction are apt to apply it unknowingly to friends of family whether they intend to or not.
