Behavior extinction in psychology refers to the gradual weakening and eventual disappearance of a learned behavior when the reinforcement or association that maintained it is no longer present. It's a fundamental concept explaining how conditioned responses fade over time.
This process involves a conditioned behavior eventually stopping. For instance, if you taught your dog to shake hands, but over time you stopped rewarding this trick, the dog might eventually stop offering its paw. The behavior, once learned, gradually decreases or disappears because it no longer yields the expected outcome or is no longer associated with a significant stimulus.
How Does Behavior Extinction Work?
Extinction isn't about forgetting the behavior but rather learning that the conditioned response is no longer effective or relevant. It's an active process of inhibiting the learned response.
The core mechanism of extinction varies slightly depending on whether the behavior was acquired through classical conditioning or operant conditioning.
1. Extinction in Classical Conditioning
In classical conditioning, extinction occurs when the conditioned stimulus (CS) is repeatedly presented without the unconditioned stimulus (UCS).
- Example: Imagine Pavlov's dogs learned to salivate (conditioned response) at the sound of a bell (conditioned stimulus) because it was always paired with food (unconditioned stimulus). If the bell is rung many times without any food following, the dogs will eventually stop salivating to the sound of the bell alone. The association between the bell and food has been "extinguished."
2. Extinction in Operant Conditioning
In operant conditioning, extinction happens when a previously reinforced behavior is no longer followed by any positive (or negative) reinforcement.
- Example: A child learns that throwing a tantrum in a store leads to getting a toy (positive reinforcement). If the parents consistently stop giving in to the tantrums, the child will eventually learn that tantrums no longer result in a toy, and the frequency of tantrums will likely decrease until they stop entirely. Similarly, the dog trick mentioned earlier (shaking hands) would become less interesting and eventually stop if it's no longer rewarded.
Key Concepts Related to Extinction
While extinction leads to a decrease in behavior, it's important to understand two related phenomena:
| Concept | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Extinction Burst | An initial, temporary increase in the frequency, intensity, or duration of the behavior being extinguished, often accompanied by frustration or agitation. | A child whose tantrums are being ignored might throw an even bigger tantrum at first. |
| Spontaneous Recovery | The temporary reappearance of a previously extinguished conditioned response after a rest period, without any new conditioning. | After extinction, the dog might spontaneously offer its paw again, even without recent rewards. |
Practical Applications of Behavior Extinction
Understanding extinction is crucial for various real-world applications, from managing everyday behaviors to therapeutic interventions.
- Parenting and Child Behavior: Ignoring mild misbehaviors (like whining or attention-seeking) can lead to their extinction, provided the behavior is not reinforced.
- Animal Training: When training pets, stopping rewards for unwanted behaviors can help eliminate them. For instance, if a dog jumps on guests, stopping all attention (no pushing, no looking, no speaking) whenever it jumps will eventually extinguish the jumping behavior.
- Therapy:
- Exposure Therapy: Used for phobias and anxiety disorders, this involves repeatedly exposing an individual to the feared object or situation without the negative consequence they anticipate. This gradually extinguishes the fear response.
- Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA): Often used for individuals with autism, extinction is a core strategy to reduce challenging behaviors by removing their reinforcing consequences.
Factors Influencing Extinction
Several factors can affect how quickly and effectively a behavior is extinguished:
- Original Strength of the Behavior: Behaviors that were strongly reinforced or learned over a long period may take longer to extinguish.
- Schedule of Reinforcement: Behaviors reinforced on an intermittent or variable schedule (e.g., gambling) are much harder to extinguish than those reinforced every time.
- Effort Required: Behaviors that require more effort from the individual may extinguish faster once reinforcement stops.
- Prior Extinction Experiences: If a behavior has been extinguished and recovered multiple times, subsequent extinction attempts might be faster.
Behavioral Psychology
