Instruction
Extinction can be a difficult concept to grasp, but have no worries! There are videos and examples just for you :-)
Extinction only works if ignoring the behavior will cause the future behaviors to stop. For example, if Emily runs away every time it is time to do homework, ignoring her running away will not decrease her running away when it is time for homework. In this case, the function of her behavior is ESCAPE from homework and she is still gaining reinforcement of doing no homework.
But let's say that Emily screams every time it is time for bed. She cries for mom/dad and in the past, they have gone to her and reinforced her crying behavior. So Emily will keep crying because she is getting exactly what she wants! in this example, her crying is ATTENTION maintained. So if mom and dad start ignoring her (withholding that attention), Emily will eventually stop crying at bedtime. But before Emily stops, she is going to test their inner gangster! Emily is going to realize that her normal crying isn't doing the trick, so she is going to go ALL OUT and have a full blown meltdown. As long as mom and dad continue to withhold their attention, what goes up must come down. Her extinction burst will eventually taper off.
BUT, if mom and dad get weak and crumble because they can't bear the sound of Emily crying and they GO CHECK ON HER, then they are providing intermittent reinforcement and that is the WORST form of reinforcement. They essentially become human slot machines with their attention being the monetary reward. Emily will keep crying (putting money in the machine) because she knows eventually it's going to pay off (intermittent reinforcement). This is why extinction procedures only work if the parties involved adhere to the protocol ALL THE TIME!! Not sometimes, not most of the time, not almost always. It is ALL OR NOTHING!
Now here is the catch. Extinction, or not giving attention to the behavior, can not be used for all behaviors. There are those with self-injurious behaviors (SIB), who engage in those behaviors for attention. YOU CANNOT IGNORE SEVERE SIB EVEN IF IT IS FOR ATTENTION!! Why? Because if ignoring the person results in serious bodily harm to themselves (or others), then it is unethical. I'm not going to put head slamming for attention on extinction if it means Little Susie is going to end up with a concussion, stitches, or goose egg. For Little Susie, we would block her attempts to head slam and provide her with a functional replacement behavior of getting attention (like asking for it). There are a number of ways to address her SIB that don't include extinction procedures. Some other examples of when the extinction procedure should not be used: running out into traffic, attacking others when frustrated, or engaging in severe SIB (head slamming, biting until skin breaks open, etc).
In the first Supernanny video, pay attention 1:30 (ish). The little girl is screaming and mom reacts just enough to show that the maladaptive behavior (tantruming/screaming/cursing) is working to get her attention. In the second Supernanny video, mom is being taught to ignore the crying WHILE teaching the toddler a functional replacement behavior (using his words). If you haven't been able to tell, Supernanny is a great way to identify functions of behavior, types of reinforcement, and come up with ways to replace some of those maladaptive behaviors. If this were a live class, we would do this as a class activity :-)
So now for your discussion post, give me two examples of a behavior you've witnessed that would benefit from the extinction procedure. Make sure to include a behavioral definition of the behavior (remember it has to be described in a way that can be visually seen), the function of the behavior, what the extinction procedure would look like (what reinforcer are you removing), and what replacement behavior (if any) could be taught. For example, if they are needing attention, how could they get it appropriately? If they want access to something, how could they access it appropriately?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfHW1tcZMrM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qfNlDVeNJQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEi3J8o-Xxs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0DUiAwATgg
MUST WATCH ALL VIDEOS
2nd Discussion post
Question: What are the ethical challenges in developing drugs for psychiatric disorders? What challenges do you see for the future?
To answer this question, you may want to conduct some research on the internet and read articles in your online library. If you decide to use sources, be sure to properly cite according to current APA style format. Also, this is a discussion, so try to include some question for your classmates. This makes it easier for them to join the discussion and keeps it interesting.
must include reference!!!